Ruffin joins a long list of comics to serve as the WHCA dinner’s entertainment, including, most recently, “Saturday Night Live”‘s Colin Jost and, before him, Roy Wood Jr. and Trevor Noah.
Comedian, actress and writer Amber Ruffin has been announced as the 2025 entertainer for this year’s White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner. The annual event hosted by the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) will honor the achievements of journalists covering the White House throughout the association’s 111-year history.
Ruffin joins a long list of comics to serve as the WHCA dinner’s entertainment, including, most recently, Colin Jost from “Saturday Night Live” and, before him, Roy Wood Jr. and Trevor Noah.
“When I began to think about what entertainer would be a perfect fit for the dinner this year, Amber was immediately at the top of my list,” said Eugene Daniels, president of the White House Correspondents’ Association and White House correspondent for Politico. “She has the ability to walk the line between blistering commentary and humor, all while provoking her audience to think about the important issues of the day. I’m thrilled and honored she said yes.”
Ruffin, 46, is an accomplished entertainer, having been nominated for Emmy and Tony awards for her late-night show, “The Amber Ruffin Show” on Peacock, and her book adaptation of the Broadway musical “Some Like It Hot.” The comedian and performer currently co-hosts CNN’s “Have I Got News For You,” a weekly comedy and news talk show, alongside Wood Jr. and Michael Ian Black. She also serves as a writer and on-air personality for “Late Night with Seth Meyers.”
The entertainer for the WHCA dinner has been a major component of the annual event, which traditionally welcomes the president and first lady of the United States and other senior government officials. For decades, the president and invited comedian speakers have participated in a comedy roast of Washington, D.C.’s press and the elected officials they cover.
During his first term, President Donald Trump notably declined to attend the dinner celebrating the White House press corps. Despite his penchant for press coverage and frequent interactions with journalists at the White House, Trump has disparaged the news media for years, calling them the “enemy of the people.” It is not yet clear whether he will attend during his second term.
Trump was notably roasted in 2011 by then-President Barack Obama, whose U.S. citizenship was called into question by Trump through a false and racist birther conspiracy campaign that compelled America’s first Black president to release his Hawaii birth certificate. Obama’s remarks that evening are significant in that they allegedly compelled Trump to run for president in 2016.
Daniels said Ruffin’s “unique talents are the ideal fit for this current political and cultural climate.” He continued, “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.”
The WHCA president added, “This dinner is about centering the importance of a functioning democracy and Amber is the type of entertainer who understands both the significance of that mission as well as the mechanics of power in this country.”
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