The association hosting the White House correspondents’ dinner has cancelled its headline comedy performance for this year’s event after tensions with the Trump administration.
Comedian Amber Ruffin was scheduled to perform at the annual dinner next month, but the White House Correspondents’ Association announced on Saturday that it has scrapped her appearance.
In a memo to members, the association said the event’s “focus is not on the politics of division,” rather it is to honour the work of White House journalists.
The move comes after the White House had attacked the association for choosing Ruffin as a headliner due to her criticism of US president Donald Trump.
Taylor Budowich, the White House deputy chief of staff, reacted to the association’s decision to scrap Ruffin’s performance by saying it is a “cop out.”
“No accountability at the WHCA, just a cop out statement – pathetic!” wrote Budowich on Saturday in a post on X.
He went on to criticise Ruffin, an Emmy and Tony nominated comedian and writer, as “hate-filled”.
WHCA President Eugene Daniels announced Ruffin as the headliner last month, saying she was chosen because her “unique talents are the ideal fit for this current political and cultural climate”.
Ruffin, a writer for NBC’s Late Night with Seth Meyers, has mocked the Trump administration in recent weeks in her segments on the show, including his order to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.
The WHCA has been at odds with the Trump administration in recent weeks.
Among other issues was the decision to bar the Associated Press from covering certain events, and the White House’s decision to directly control the press pool – the group of journalists who cover the White House and travel with the US president.
It is unclear whether Trump will be attending this year’s correspondents’ dinner. Guest entertainers for past dinners include Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Conan O’Brien, Jay Leno and others.