White House Correspondents’ Association drops Amber Ruffin from 2025 dinner

The White House Correspondents’ Association announced Saturday that its annual dinner will not feature comedian Amber Ruffin, nearly two months after it announced her as its selection.

In fact, this year’s show won’t have any comedic performances at all.

Eugene Daniels, president of the WHCA, told members that the association’s board unanimously voted to remove the comedic performance for the April 26 event.

“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,” he said.

Daniels, who did not mention Ruffin by name in the memo, said the board is planning a “re-envisioning of our dinner,” adding that he will reveal more details later.

Ruffin, who hosted a talk show on Peacock and has been a longtime writer and performer for “Late Night with Seth Meyers,” did not immediately comment about the cancellation of her performance, which the WHCA had announced in February. She has long lampooned and poked fun at Washington politics, especially the Trump administration, during her routines.

Ruffin talked about her preparation for the event in a podcast this week with the Daily Beast.

“News is happening at such a freaking clip that how are we supposed to hit this moving target?” she said.

“I love laughing about things when they get terrible,” she added. “You can’t help but to laugh.”

When the WHCA announced Ruffin as this year’s dinner feature, Daniels said in a statement that her “unique talents are the ideal fit for this current political and cultural climate.”

“Her perspective will fit right in with the dinner’s tradition of honoring the freedom of the press while roasting the most powerful people on all sides of the aisle and the journalists who cover them,” Daniels added.

The annual charity dinner has taken place since 1921 and features entertainers who poke fun at current events and politics, often with jokes about the political players in attendance.

President Donald Trump has never attended the dinner while in office, and he and his staff have frequently criticized the WHCA and past comedians who hosted the dinner..

Although Trump has not indicated if he will attend this year’s dinner, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on “The Sean Spicer Show” two weeks ago that she will not attend.

“This is a group of journalists who’ve been covering the White House for decades,” she said. “They started this organization because the presidents at the time were not doing enough press conferences. I don’t think we have that problem anymore under this president.”

ABC News’ Karen Travers contributed to this report.