White House Correspondents’ Dinner axes comedy slot after Trump administration pressure

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Taylor Budowich called Amber Ruffin a ‘garbage, hate-filled comedian’

There will be no comedy monologue at this year’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner after the organizers announced they have cancelled an appearance by Amber Ruffin, saying they don’t want to focus on “the politics of division.”

The comedic section of the annual event often makes headlines. Michelle Wolf’s jokes about Trump, abortion and gun control went viral in 2018, while Stephen Colbert famously skewered George W Bush back in 2006. In 2011, host Seth Meyers and President Barack Obama told a series of jokes mocking Donald Trump – who was sitting expressionless in the audience – which some have credited with cementing his determination to run for the presidency.

Ruffin, a 46-year-old stand-up comic and writer for Late Night with Seth Meyers, had been scheduled to perform at this year’s event.

However, on Friday White House Deputy Chief of Staff Taylor Budowich shared a clip on X of Ruffin being interviewed about her appearance. Budowich criticized the decision to book her, calling her a “2nd rate comedian” who “is previewing the event by calling this administration ‘murderers’ who want to ‘feel like human beings, but they shouldn’t get to feel that way, because you’re not’.”

The following day, Eugene Daniels, the president of the White House Correspondents' Association, which organizes the dinner, sent out a message to colleagues announcing that Ruffin would no longer be performing.

"The WHCA board has unanimously decided we are no longer featuring a comedic performance this year,” wrote Daniels.

Amber Ruffin speaking at the 16th Annual African American Film Critics Association (AAFCA) Awards in Beverly Hills in February 2025 (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

He continued: “At this consequential moment for journalism. I want to ensure the focus is not on the politics of division but entirely on awarding our colleagues for their outstanding work and providing scholarship and mentorship to the next generation of journalists.”

This year’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner is set to take place on April 26 at the Washington Hilton in Washington, DC.

Even after the announcement that Ruffin will no longer appear at the event, Budowich continued to criticize organizers.

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In a follow-up tweet he wrote: “No accountability at [the White House Correspondents' Association], just a cop out statement—pathetic!

“Many WHCA members are privately pointing the finger at Eugene for making the unilateral decision to recruit and sign this garbage, hate-filled comedian.

“Yet, they are all turning a blind eye to it publicly. It’s an indictment on how broken and useless this organization has become… so sad that such a storied and consequential group has been so quickly driven into irrelevancy. Oh well. Good riddance!”

The Independent has approached Ruffin for comment.