Comedian lost White House Correspondents’ dinner gig because she ‘was gonna act all the way out’

Comedian and writer Amber Ruffin doesn’t seem to be too nonplussed that she was disinvited to headline the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner.

In fact, she’s taking it all in stride.

Ruffin and her cohosts on “Have I Got News for You,”– CNN’s Saturday news and comedy show– traded jokes about the situation during the episode’s “Offend-O Meter,”– a segment where teams run down weekly topics that made people mad, naming the offender, the infraction, and of course, who was offended.

The show’s host, Roy Wood Jr., gave a humorous introduction to the subject, naming the offender (Ruffin) and the offended (The White House and the White House Correspondents Association), along with a nod to the movie, “Friday.”

“Amber, following in the tradition of Craig from Friday, was fired on her day off as she was uninvited from the White House Correspondents dinner when she said that she intended to make fun of the current administration.”

Next, Wood asked Ruffin for her reaction.

“Amber, do you think you lost the gig because you said too early what you were going to do about going in on Republicans?”

“I mean, Oh my God! I could f**king talk for the next three hours!” Ruffin replied as the audience and hosts erupted into laughter and thunderous applause. “I lost the gig because I was out here talkin’ shit.”

“And I think it’s a good thing that I lost the gig, because I was gonna show up there and act all the way out,” Ruffin continued as the audience resumed clapping.

“Also, it’s not anyone’s fault. Because when I was hired, we were like “aww yeah, we’ll give it to everybody,” noting that she planned to taunt both the Democrat and Republican parties.

 “Then, they started fucking disappearing people to a prison in El Salvador. They rolled back fucking civil rights. So I was like ‘If I make this equal, then I’m also a piece of shit. I can’t fucking do that.”

The White House Correspondents’ Association annual dinner launched in 1921. Entertainers poking fun at politicians and current events is an integral part of the occasion, and the association normally names comedians to host the event. Over the decades, the lineup of hosts have included Richard Pryor, Conan O’Brien, Wanda Sykes, Trevor Noah, and Alabama’s Roy Wood Jr., who hosted the event in 2023.

This year, the White House Correspondents Association unanimously decided to cancel the comedic performance for the annual April dinner, according to Politico.

WHCA President Eugene Daniels wrote in email to members that event’s focus this year is “not on the politics of division” but rather on “honoring the work of the association’s journalists,” Politco reports.