Flighty Celebs at the White House Party: Bennifer, Ashton and Demi, Whoopi, Jon Bon Jovi

May 9th, 2009 3:01 PM

The White House Correspondents Dinner has become quite an occasion for Hollywood’s flightiest celebrities to bring their famous (or merely semi-famous) faces to the nation’s capital. WHC Insider has a list. For example, Fox News landed Chace Crawford – of the CW show Gossip Girl – and to balance out up and coming with down and going, they have...Matthew Modine. (Yes, the crazy liberal guy.) They also have Todd Palin for a fair and balanced table.

Thanks to the latest Twitterfest on Larry King Live, CNN is boasting Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore, as well as possibly aspiring politician Val Kilmer, Tyra Banks, and Kyra Sedgwick (she’s on TNT, so it’s corporate synergy).

ABC grabbed Jon Bon Jovi and two of their Private Practice stars, Kate Walsh and Taye Diggs. They’ll host Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia and a raft of top Obama folks: David Axelrod, Rahm Emanuel, budget director Peter Orszag, Leon Panetta, Susan Rice, Valerie Jarrett, and Jackie Norris, Michelle Obama’s chief of staff. ABC also grabbed the media’s favorite new Republican, Meghan "Moon Unit" McCain.

CBS grabbed Bennifer (Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner). For a CBS tie-in, there’s Julia Louis-Dreyfus and her old SNL co-star husband Brad Hall, one of the Weekend Update anchors, so he’s got a shred of journo-cred. There’s country star Brad Paisley for a little red-state balance. Their Obama list is on a lower level: Arne Duncan, Lisa Jackson, Stephanie Cutter, Tom Donilon and Michelle Flournoy. They also have moderate Republicans (Lindsey Graham, and if Obama voters count, Colin Powell).

NBC had the worst luck in attracting top names. They have former SNL stars Mike Myers and Jimmy Fallon, as well as Samuel L. Jackson and Denis "the anti-Catholic menace" Leary. Their Obama links are weak (just national security adviser Jim Jones, two brothers of Rahm Emanuel and informal economic adviser Warren Buffett). They have some fervent liberal celebs (John Cusack and Whoopi Goldberg). Their hottest celeb couple is Desperate Housewife Felicity Huffman and Willam H. Macy.

USA Today grabbed a helping of crazy-left celebrity in Richard Belzer. They also recruited ABC star Tim Daly and Justin Long (of the Apple commercials).Their Obama list is Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, deputy chief of staff Mona Sutphen and Michelle aide Jocelyn Frye.

Newsweek landed several Obama heavyweights: TurboTax Tim Geithner, Eric "Nation of Cowards" Holder, and foreign-affairs troubleshooter Richard Holbrooke. Their crazy-left celebs are Arianna Huffington and the gorgeous Natalie Portman. For plain crazy, there’s actor Owen Wilson. Rep. Eric Cantor add a dash of conservatism to the bunch (unless you’re nervous that it’s a sign of Strange-New-Respect-seeking.), balanced out by liberal House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer.

The Hill has more on the stars in DC, including a People magazine/Time magazine party: 

Meghan McCain, wearing a feathered, ruffled headpiece, stopped by. Kevin Bacon and Ludacris held court at the bar.

MSNBC anchor Chris Matthews made sure to say "hi" to Bacon. He noted the actor would be his first choice to portray him in a film.