WME’s Ari Emanuel, UTA’s Jay Sures + ‘Spotlight’ Cast & Journos Among White House Correspondents’ Dinner Guests – Update
3RD UPDATE, 9:32 AM: West Coast A-listers are starting to jump on flights today to D.C. for President Barack Obama’s final White House Correspondents’ Dinner. But there will be some marquee East Coast journalists in the crowd as well in the real-life Boston Globe Spotlight reporters depicted in the Oscar-winning film, who will attend along with the likes of Fox News’ Megyn Kelly and MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski.
In addition, one particular uber-agent will be in the room as WME co-CEO Ari Emanuel is planning on attending Saturday, I’ve learned. No stranger to the WHCA shindig and D.C. corridors of power, Emanuel is of course the brother of Obama’s first chief of staff and current mayor of Chicago Rahm Emanuel. The Windy City mayor will not be going to the WHCD this year, we’re told by his office.
UTA Managing Director Jay Sures will be there too as a guest of his client Larry Wilmore. The Nightly Show host is the host of this year’s WHCD.
Depicted in the Oscar-winning Tom McCarthy–directed Spotlight, the real-life Walter Robinson, Mike Rezendes, Sacha Pfeiffer, Matt Carroll and Ben Bradlee Jr will be in the Washington Hilton ballroom. They will be joined at the Globe table by McCarthy plus Spotlight screenwriter Josh Singer, who took home an Oscar too with the helmer, and actors Mark Ruffalo and Rachel McAdams — the latter is repped by WME.
Undoubtedly there will be more last-minute names, and we’ll update as we get ’em.
2ND UPDATE, APRIL 27 PM: She was in, was said to be out, and now Priyanka Chopra is definitely going to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday, I’ve learned. Seemingly originally invited as a guest of USA Today, the Quantico star supposedly had to drop out of her nerd prom debut this week due to production scheduling conflicts.
Chopra’s star-power absence from the ballroom of the Washington Hilton seemed to become less certain when she tweeted to a fan on Tuesday that “Yes I will be attending” the WHCD. Now sources confirm Chopra indeed will be sitting with the ABC gang for President Barack Obama’s final WHCD routine and Larry Wilmore’s first turn as host.
Having just wrapped the first season of her recently renewed FBI drama on the Disney-owned net, Chopra is filming the Baywatch reboot as the beach baddie.
UPDATE, APRIL 26 AM: The D.C. shindig is just days away, but the guest list for this year’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner is still in flux. On the dropping-off list is Quantico‘s Priyanka Chopra and The Good Wife‘s Alan Cumming. Both have had to miss out on being USA Today‘s guests at the 90th annual dinner due to production scheduling issues, I’ve learned.
On the addition list, President Barack Obama will have another fictional POTUS in the Washington Hilton ballroom as Morgan Freeman is coming to break WHCD bread on Saturday as a guest of CBS. The Story of God host and Madam Secretary EP was, of course, President Tom Beck in 1998’s Deep Impact. Also joining as guests of CBS are Billions‘ Damian Lewis and Showtime chief David Nevins, I hear.
Pretty sure that won’t be the last WHCD additions before the April 30 event, hosted by The Nightly Show‘s Larry Wilmore.
PREVIOUS, APRIL 25 AM: The final White House Correspondents’ Dinner of President Barack Obama’s administration takes place on Saturday but the star power of the guest list is only now truly coming together. Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith may not have attended the Oscars this year but they’re coming to the WHCD as guests of ABC, I’ve learned.
And there will be a bit of a worldsavers throwback to the 1990s reunion as well – thanks to Fox News Channel
Today FNC once again held on to their title as the tables to watch with the news that Independence Day: Resurgence cast members like Jeff Goldblum will be their guests along with AMPAS President Cheryl Boone Isaacs. MPAA boss Chris Dodd will also be there breaking FNC bread on April 30 with megastar Megyn Kelly, Bret Baier and other big names from Roger Ailes’ team. The 90th annual WHCD marks the debut of Comedy Central’s Larry Wilmore as host. While 1996’s Independence Day was a breakout role for Smith, the star does not appear in the sequel, which is out June 24 from 20th Century Fox. Smith’s supervillain team-up pic Suicide Squad opens on August 5 from Warner Bros.
Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton may be staying away this year to save their best lines for the marquee slot in 2017 but in typical DC manner of fact melding with fiction, Netflix’s political drama House of Cards and ABC’s Scandal are back in the room again. HoC’s Michael Kelly returns as a guest of Thomson Reuters at the nerd prom while Nerve Campbell is at one of USA TODAY’s tables at the Washington Hilton.
While it feels like the overall star power is dimmed from past years, ABC has stacked the Shonda Rhimes deck for April 30 with the TGIT EP a guest of the Disney-owned net. Powerhouse producer Rhimes is joined by repeat attendee Kerry Washington, Scandal’s POTUS Tony Goldwyn and co-star Scott Foley. Pushing their breakout FBI drama, NBC News has Blindspot star Jaimie Alexander coming as well as Morning Joe’s Mika Brzezinski and a lot of other talking heads. Priyanka Chopra, the star of ABC’s new FBI drama Quantico, is a guest of USA TODAY in her WHCD debut.
No doubt like the comedic remarks and audio visual gags expected from headliner Obama and host Wilmore, big media is still finessing who will be bringing their Hollywood to the ballroom. In the meantime, here is the Tinseltown guest list so far – we’ll add more as we get them
FOX NEWS CHANNEL
Cheryl Boone Isaacs (AMPAS President)
Chris Dodd (MPAA CEO)
Vivica A. Fox (Independence Day: Resurgence)
John Cena and Nikki Bella (WWE)
JC Chasez (N’Sync)
Ryan Kwanten (True Blood)
Sela Ward (Independence Day: Resurgence)
Jeff Goldblum (Independence Day: Resurgence)
Cheryl Ladd (Charlie’s Angels – 40 year anniversary of the show)
Gladys Knight
Tony Romo (Dallas Cowboys)
Tamera Mowry-Housley (The Real co-host/spouse of FNC’s Adam Housley)
Toks Olagundoye (Castle)
Related‘Independence Day: Resurgence’ Trailer: Promo Is Fox’s Earth Day Gift
ABC NEWS
Will Smith (Suicide Squad)
Jada Pinkett Smith (Magic Mike XXL)
Shonda Rhimes (Scandal EP, among many other things)
Kerry Washington (Scandal)
Tony Goldwyn (Scandal)
Scott Foley (Scandal)
Anthony Anderson (black-ish)
Tracee Ellis Ross (black-ish)
Kenya Barris (black-ish creator/EP)
Whoopi Goldberg (The View)
Joy Behar (The View)
Paula Farris (The View)
Raven-Symone (The View)
Michelle Collins (The View)
Priyanka Chopra (Quantico)
THOMSON REUTERS
Michael Kelly (House of Cards)
Illana Glazer (Broad City)
Abbi Jacobson (Broad City)
Michelle Dockery (Downton Abbey)
Von Miller (Denver Broncos, Super Bowl MVP)
Odell Beckham, Jr., (New York Giants)
CHRISTIAN BROADCASTING NEWORK
Candace Cameron Bure (Fuller House/The View)
BLOOMBERG
Gugu Mbatha-Raw (God Particle)
NBC NEWS
Jaime Alexander (Blindspot)
USA TODAY
Neve Campbell (House of Cards)
Gabrielle Union (Being Mary Jane)
Alan Cumming (The Good Wife) – NOT ATTENDING NOW
Rosario Dawson (Daredevil)
Miles Teller (Divergent franchise)
Kendall Jenner (Keeping Up With The Kardashians)
Wendi McLendon-Covey (The Goldbergs)
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Ed Burns (Public Morals)
Christy Turington Burns
CBS NEWS
Morgan Freeman (Madam Secretary EP)
Damian Lewis (Billions)
David Nevins (Showtime President & CEO)
BOSTON GLOBE
Tom McCarthy (Spotlight)
Josh Singer (Spotlight)
Mark Ruffalo (Spotlight)
Rachel McAdams (Spotlight)
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