For one weekend a year in Washington D.C., the prestigious annual White House Correspondents Dinner is held. At the dinner the president, Washington correspondents and famous media figures come together to talk and eat the finest of food. Among the guests this year at the 98th version of the dinner were the Obamas, Rick Santorum, Colin Powell the former Secretary of state, and… Kim Kardashian?
Since the year 1920 when the tradition began, the Correspondents Dinner has been a highly acclaimed event. It was created by the White House Correspondents Association to bring together politics and the media. Recent dinners have consisted of a comedian as the designated speaker for the night. They perform a type of roast with jokes and insults made towards the president. The president as well gives a speech where he mocks himself.
Only the most respected Hollywood celebrities and media figures get invited to the dinner. Why were Kim Kardashian and Lindsay Lohan invited then? Most feel that Kardashian became famous for all the wrong reasons, and that for the past few years Lohan
has been on a rollercoaster going nowhere but down. These two women do not seem like the likely guests that would attend the dinner.
According to Yahoo News, Kardashian and her mother Kris were given tickets by Fox News. During the dinner Kardashian tweeted a photo of her and her mother. Making a cameo in the picture was Modern Family TV star Sofia Vergara. Many websites have poked fun at the picture. Celebitchy, a website that criticizes celebrities, felt that Kardashian looked “dumpy” next to Vergara. Another person who poked fun at Kardashian was Jimmy Kimmel.
“If you’re looking for the greatest threat to America right now, she’s right there. She’s Kim Kardashian,” joked Kimmel, the dinner’s host, during his speech. “When you took office, the Kardashians had one reality show,” he said. “Now they have four. This is not a good trend.” Obama himself cracked a joke on Kardashian while giving his speech asking, ‘what is she famous for anyway?’
Lohan can thank Greta Van Susteren, a commentator on Fox News, for her invitation. According to TMZ, Susteren invited Lohan because she “loves comebacks” and wanted to “see her succeed.” With Lohan’s new movie coming out, Susteren thought Lohan could possibly make a comeback. “I’m hoping things work out for her,” Susteren continued to say.
Critics of the dinner claim that it has become more of a joke in its recent years. Gawker.com describes it as “the single most revolting annual gathering of pseudojournalistic ****suckery in all the land” and makes “the average American vomit in disgust.” If celebrities like Kardashian and Lohan keep making their way to the guest list, then who knows where the status of the dinner will end up. Others feel that the jokes Kimmel made were not even funny.
“Funny that Jimmy Kimmel ripped me after his people desperately wanted me to fly to LA to be on his show this past Wednesday,” tweeted Keith Olbermann, former Current TV host. Many people thought the jokes about eating dogs, Mitt Romney’s bank account, and Chris Christie’s weight was more offensive than they were humorous.
In another 361 days the White House Correspondent’s Dinner will be held again. The president, highly notable politicians, media figures, and Hollywood celebs will all return. We can only guess that next year’s attendance list will include the Charlie Sheens of Hollywood.