TGIF! I'm on a train to DC to cover this weekend's White House Correspondents' Dinner. Here's the latest on Paramount, Meta, Stars & Stripes, TMZ, Shelly Kittleson, The Atlantic, Beehiiv, and many more... |
Guess who's coming to dinner? |
In the same way that President Trump's second term is unlike any other, this weekend's White House Correspondents' Dinner will be unlike any other.
Trump is ending a years-long boycott and attending the gala for the first time as president. He'll be speaking before thousands of journalists and politicos — leaving attendees to wonder what he'll say and how the room will react.
Will the president use a dinner dedicated to the First Amendment to attack journalists and air his well-worn grievances? Or will he deliver the barbs with a lighter touch, perhaps in the joking, back-slapping manner he sometimes adopts around reporters?
Trump has hired joke writers, according to his daughter-in-law Lara Trump, who recently said on a podcast that "I think everyone should get ready because he’s going to do some roasting, and we know that he doesn't hold anything back."
I mentioned earlier this week that this year's WHCA president Weijia Jiang will give remarks about the essential role of the press corps. Usually scholarships and journalism awards are presented first; then the WHCA president speaks; then the US president speaks; and then a comedian roasts everyone in the room.
But the WHCA has not shared the rundown for Saturday night yet. So: Will the president and First Lady Melania Trump be on stage for the journalism awards and greet each awardee, as has been custom with past presidents? (If so, it could get awkward, given that some of the winners are being recognized for work the president lambasted.)
Earlier this week a Daily Beast story indicated that Trump plans to "miss the presentation of press awards." I reached out to Jiang about that possibility this morning, and didn't hear back.
This year, partly to sidestep the potential backlash a comedic performance can cause, Jiang and the board booked mentalist
Oz Pearlman instead. If the performance is anything like Pearlman's appearance on CNN's New Year's Eve show, it's going to be incredible. But this raises another question: Will the president stick around for the mentalist and partake in having his mind read?
Pearlman talked with NPR about his preparations for the night, and said "my job is to bring us together." That would be more than a magic trick, that would be a miracle 😉
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Arguments for and against dinner |
Al Drago/Getty Images
Saturday's dinner – which you can watch live on CNN starting at 8 p.m. ET – is the centerpiece of the weekend’s social calendar, surrounded by more than a dozen brunches, ceremonies, receptions and late-night parties.
Attendees generally say the gladhanding and networking can be valuable in a city that runs on tips and leaks. But the appearance of reporters and politicians yukking it up together invites derision every year, all the more so this time because Trump is attending.
Critics say this year's soirée risks normalizing Trump's anti-democratic assaults on the press. Trump's entire presidency is “an affront to a free press," HuffPost editor in chief Whitney Snyder wrote in a letter explaining why his publication is skipping the dinner for the first time in 17 years. He dismissed the idea "of raising a glass to the power of journalism with him" as "ridiculous and embarrassing."
But HuffPost is the exception to the rule. The dinner is completely sold out. Organizers view the president's attendance as a step in a productive direction.
By showing up, Trump is embracing a tradition that dates back one hundred years: The association has been inviting the sitting president to the dinner ever since President Calvin Coolidge attended in 1924.
Moreover, during her term as WHCA president, Jiang has sought to repair strained relations with the White House press office. Trump's appearance may be a mark of success. (Though that sentence might be up for reevaluation depending on what happens inside the ballroom of the Washington Hilton.)
>> Here's what I tried to emphasize in a CNN live shot this morning: Despite Trump's almost endless stream of threats and taunts, as well as his administration's actions to undermine news coverage, the White House press corps is still doing the day-in, day-out work of informing the public about the presidency. That's worth a toast on Saturday night. My full curtain-raiser is up on CNN.com...
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A peek inside Paramount's dinner with Trump |
Trump is already getting in on the "fun:" Last night he motorcaded over to a dinner hosted by Paramount, which is awaiting Trump administration approval for its bid to buy CNN's parent Warner Bros. Discovery. The dinner invite said Paramount would be "honoring the Trump White House and CBS White House correspondents." Anti-Trump and anti-Paramount protesters held signs and wore costumes outside, some ridiculing David Ellison by name." "Block the Trump-Ellison merger," one of the signs said.
For purposes of the president's travel, the dinner was deemed "closed press," which meant the TV press pool representative (who happened to be from CBS!) and other pool journalists were not allowed inside. Some of my CBS sources are still being tight-lipped this morning. But I'm told that editor in chief Bari Weiss and president Tom Cibrowski were both there, along with a handful of CBS correspondents from the DC bureau who were invited and attended in an off the record capacity.
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The Paramount-WBD political football |
Yesterday underscored how much Paramount-WBD has become a political football. The day began with an anti-merger protest outside WBD's headquarters in NYC. The city's mayor Zohran Mamdani also added his name to the list of opponents.
Then the virtual WBD shareholder vote took place and, as expected, the deal was "overwhelmingly" approved. Trump allies like Jason Miller, who reportedly advised an investor on Paramount's side, celebrated on social media.
Democrats like Sen. Elizabeth Warren quickly came out and said "the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger isn't a done deal. State attorneys general across the country are stepping up to stop this antitrust disaster. We need to keep up this fight."
California AG Rob Bonta, appearing on MeidasTouch with Scott MacFarlane, strongly suggested that his office will sue to block the deal in the coming weeks. There are "red flags everywhere," he said. But he also noted that "we haven't decided yet our formal position."
The day concluded with Trump and Ellison breaking bread together off-camera. Paramount execs continue to project confidence that they'll receive all the necessary regulatory sign-offs between now and September...
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WBD shareholders weighed in on the exec $$$
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While shareholders easily advanced the Paramount deal, they did not approve the other measure that was up for a vote. That one focused on compensation packages for outgoing WBD CEO David Zaslav and other executive officers.
The golden parachute proposal "did not receive sufficient votes and did not pass," a rep said at the end of the virtual meeting. However, the vote was merely advisory, not binding in nature, which means the WBD board of directors may still move forward with the payouts. Here's my full story on the votes...
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Pentagon fires Stars & Stripes ombudsman |
"Three months after the Pentagon decried the U.S. military newspaper Stars and Stripes as 'woke' and announced it would be overhauled, Defense Department official Sean Parnell fired the publication's ombudsman, a role charged by Congress with safeguarding the paper’s editorial independence," WaPo's Liam Scott and Scott Nover reported last night.
>> Jacqueline Smith "said she believed she was fired for speaking out against the decision to overhaul Stars and Stripes..."
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👀 on the Pentagon presser |
The questioners at this morning's Pentagon press briefing included reps from Epoch Times, Real America's Voice, and O'Keefe Media. If you haven't heard of those before, well, that's the point. TMZ's new DC operation also managed to get two questions from two different reporters. Maybe Pete Hegseth can answer more questions at the dinner Saturday night; he is reportedly sitting at one of the CBS tables… |
A few more DC notes & quotes |
Waiting for Ahmed's release
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Kuwaiti-American journalist Ahmed Shihab-Eldin was acquitted of all charges in Kuwait yesterday. We're still waiting on definitive word that he has been released.
But as Ashish Prashar, who helped lead the campaign for Shihab-Eldin’s release, wrote on X, the news of the acquittal was a "huge relief."
"I hope every journalist in danger gets the love, support and collective organizing he received. If we stood up for all journalists the way we did for him, they would not be so easily targeted," Prashar wrote.
>> As CNN's Liam Reilly and I wrote, Shihab-Eldin's detention highlighted the draconian steps that some Gulf countries have taken to stop people from posting images of Iran war damage and debris. We've got more on that here…
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'I remember screaming...' |
That's the beginning of Shelly Kittleson's essay for The Atlantic recounting her kidnapping and captivity in Iraq.
"If I tried to escape, I was told, I would be killed," Kittleson writes, describing how she was held in multiple locations, interrogated "extensively," and given a farcical scripted "confession" to read. Read on...
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Lebanese PM: Targeting journalists constitutes 'war crimes' |
Lebanon’s prime minister "has accused Israel of war crimes after an airstrike in the south of the country on Wednesday killed one journalist and seriously wounded another," CNN's Tamara Qiblawi, Sana Noor Haq, and Dana Karni report.
"Lebanese authorities also accused Israeli forces of trying to prevent emergency workers from rescuing them, with Red Cross workers taking Faraj to a hospital under 'hostile gunfire.'" Details here...
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Fitzpatrick says she's been 'inundated by additional sourcing' |
One week after publishing her "FBI director is MIA" story, and a few days after being sued over it, The Atlantic's Sarah Fitzpatrick is hearing from more sources.
On "Radio Atlantic" she said, "I think one of the things that has been most gratifying, after—immediately after the story published was, I have been inundated by additional sourcing going up to the highest levels of the government, thanking us for doing the work, providing additional corroborating information."
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Pats stand by Vrabel as more photos surface |
"The New England Patriots are backing head coach Mike Vrabel after a second report in the New York Post raised questions about the reigning coach of the year’s relationship with a former reporter from The Athletic,” CNN's Kyle Feldscher, Jill Martin, and Jacob Lev report.
Page Six published a head-spinning story showing Vrabel and Dianna Russini "all over each other" from six years ago. Hours later, TMZ published a photo of the pair from two years ago at the Beau Rivage Casino in Mississippi. You'll recall that The Athletic said last week that it would continue its inquiry about Russini even though she resigned...
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>> Beehiiv, one of the many startups holding a WHCD-adjacent party in DC this weekend, has announced a raft of new features, including "webinars, AI analytics for podcasts, metered paywalls, and paid trials," Lauren Forristal writes. (TechCrunch)
>> Justice Department officials "met with broadcast-television station operators earlier this week as part of its antitrust investigation into the sports-media marketplace," Joe Flint and Dana Mattioli report. (WSJ)
>> Front Office Sports is launching a "a 30-minute, nationally syndicated show" this fall. "The timing is ideal," Jeff Zucker says. "Sports and information is what's really driving broadcast television these days." (Variety)
>> Bob Iger "is returning to venture capital as he charts his next act after running Disney," taking on "an advisory role at Thrive Capital, the venture firm founded by Joshua Kushner." (WSJ)
>> Among NYMag's new hires: Michael Calderone, most recently of TheWrap, is joining the Intelligencer vertical as deputy editor. (X)
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Meta confirms big cuts are coming |
Meta "said on Thursday it plans to lay off roughly 10% of its workforce, or about 8,000 people," and is "also closing around 6,000 open roles," per CNN’s Lisa Eadicicco and Clare Duffy. The cuts will go into effect on May 20...
>> "Microsoft is offering long-tenured employees voluntary buyouts, a first for the software giant as it continues to reorganize staff around its push to accelerate its artificial-intelligence efforts," Sebastian Herrera reports for the WSJ.
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A few Hollywood headlines |
>> "'Michael' is starting strong at international box office, generating $18.5 million on opening day." (Variety)
>> "Maggie Gyllenhaal will be heading up the jury judging films in competition at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival." (TheWrap)
>> On last night's "Late Show," Stephen Colbert announced that Barack Obama will be his guest on May 5. It will be Obama's "first interview from the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago."
>> Last but not least: To mark its 20-year anniversary, Spotify has "shared its list of the most streamed artists, songs, albums, podcasts and audiobooks in its history." (Billboard)
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