The annual White House Correspondents' Dinner, scheduled for April 29 in Washington, D.C., on April 29 will face a “counter-event” in the nation's capital hosted by Samantha Bee, the foul-mouthed host of the Full Frontal weekly program on TBS.
Entitled “Not the White House Correspondents' Dinner,” the “alternative gala” was announced on Monday by Bee, who was a correspondent on Jon Stewart's The Daily Show before getting her own program in February.
In a Turner press release, Bee took a shot at NewsBusters:
All proceeds for "Not the White House Correspondents' Dinner" will go to the Committee to Protect Journalists (cpj.org), whether they like it or not. They certainly didn't ask for the support of a woman whom Newsbusters once called "an unfunny, feminist battle ax." [That's from a few weeks ago.]
According to an article written by liberal culture reporter Dave Itzkoff of the New York Times, the annual custom “suddenly seems uncomfortable if not untenable:”
Journalists mingling with Trump administration aides who loathe them, celebrities decrying Trump White House policies and an entertainment headliner grappling with the tone and boldness of jokes about President Trump himself....
Ms. Bee said that it was not an attempt to comment on or compete with that other, better-known banquet, but a night to include jokes about Mr. Trump that she and like-minded comedians want to make.
“We’re not trying to supersede it,” she said in a telephone interview. “We just want to be there in case something happens — or doesn’t happen — and ensure that we get to properly roast the president.”
Ms. Bee said that she and her “Full Frontal” producers got the idea for their event after Mr. Trump’s election in November.
“We were talking out loud about whether we thought the White House Correspondents’ dinner would change during a Trump presidency, or if it would even exist,” she said. “And then we thought, Why don’t we just do one, just to do it in the way that we would want it done if we were hosting it?”
Bee announced “The event will probably be shown on TBS in some form,” she stated while noting that those details were still being worked out, as was a lineup of talent. “We don’t have any specifics to offer yet,” Bee said.
“The decades-old dinner, … which advocates press accessibility at the White House and gives out journalism awards and scholarships, has come under scrutiny in recent years,” Itzkoff asserted. “Some news organizations and observers regard it as a too-chummy atmosphere for reporters to hobnob with the officials they are supposed to be covering objectively and adversarially,” he added.
“Given the open hostility that Mr. Trump and his administration have displayed for the news media, some journalists have wondered if the Correspondents’ Association dinner is a tradition worth preserving,” Itzkoff wondered.
Nevertheless, White House Correspondents’ Association president Jeff Mason announced “looks forward to hosting our annual dinner this year as we do every year to celebrate the First Amendment, reward some of the finest reporting of the past year and recognize promising young student journalists.”
Addressing the Correspondents’ Association, Bee said: “I honestly can’t imagine what they’re thinking, but I really wish them well. I think that’s going to be very challenging.”
As NewsBusters previously reported, Bee filled her first episode by berating Iowa Caucus winner Ted Cruz as a “fish-faced, horses**t salesman” while playing with a noose.
In a curious move, Bee interviewed then-President Barack Obama on Halloween and was praised by the Washington Post, which “is in the tank” for “the unfunny feminist battle-ax” since reporter “Marc Silver gushed that she is funnier than all the late-night hosts … combined!”
Unfortunately, many “comedians” often mistake vulgarity for comedy, and Bee leads the pack with one profane “joke” after another on a weekly basis. Perhaps her program should instead be called Full Frontal Vulgarity.
