Stars shine at correspondents’ dinner

The love affair between celebrities and journalists continued Saturday night at President Obama’s first White House Correspondents’ Dinner at the Washington Hilton.

The annual event, which began in 1920 and has been attended by each president and vice president, is known around the Beltway as Washington’s prom, fusing the elite from the worlds of journalism, Capitol Hill and Hollywood. However, this year’s constellation of stars was even more robust and dazzling, thanks to Mr. Obama’s wild popularity among those in the arts and entertainment industry.

Among the Hollywood luminaries expected to attend the $200-per-ticket dinner: Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Eva Longoria Parker, Ashton Kutcher, Alicia Keys, Jimmy Fallon, Samuel L. Jackson and Jon Bon Jovi.

Aside from shop talk, the night’s other chatter centered on fashion, with many appearing reticent when asked “who they were wearing” in deference to the nation’s economic woes.

“It’s by Zegna,” said Hootie & the Blowfish frontman Darius Rucker (a guest at The Washington Times’ table), when queried about his dapper tuxedo.

Diana Taylor, New York state superintendent of banks and significant other of New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, was somewhat more reserved. “It’s by Ralph Lauren,” she whispered when asked about her elegant black sheath.

Also up for discussion: the city’s humid air made even more so when coupled with the body heat at the crowd at the pre-dinner receptions.

When asked why he was in the reception room for CNN, MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann replied, “I’m looking for any place that’s cool.”

Meanwhile, the Creative Coalition, the industry’s nonprofit advocacy organization (also known as TCC), appeared to observe the inroads its presence in Washington had made prior to the dinner. Since its arrival in advance of the dinner, the group has held a series of events designed to heighten awareness among its high-profile supporters.

“I’ve been to several of these dinners, but stopped going about four years ago during the Bush years, because I thought they were very boring,” actress Dana Delaney, known best to fans of ABC’s “Desperate Housewives” TV series as the manipulative Katherine Mayfair told The Washington Times during a private TCC-sponsored dinner Thursday May 7 evening.

Fittingly, the Coalition held a Friday night screening of “PoliWood,” a “film essay” documenting the collision of politics, media and Tinseltown, directed by acclaimed Baltimore-born filmmaker Barry Levinson.

Mr. Levinson said that there’s something special about this weekend’s rare gathering of stars and politicos. “Nothing like it [in Los Angeles],” he noted, adding that’s why he and Robin Bronk — the co-producer of the film and TCC’s executive director — decided to premiere “Poliwood” in Washington this weekend.

“Politicians are impressed with celebrities. Celebrities are impressed with politicians. I think people are enthralled with what they don’t know,” said actor Tim Daly of ABC’s “Private Practice,” explaining that the connection between entertainers and public officials is a mutual admiration society.

Actress Kerry Washington of the 2004 movie “Ray” said she came to town “to celebrate journalism and the people who help us understand the decisions being made in the White House.”

Story Continues →