Roy Wood Jr. is used to dishing on politics as a correspondent on The Daily Show, but now the comedian will get to address the country’s leaders face-to-face at the White House Correspondents’ Association’s dinner on Saturday, April 29.
As reported by Deadline, Wood Jr. has been announced as this year’s featured entertainer for the annual dinner, which takes place in the White House’s Washington Hilton ballroom. The event is usually attended by around 3,000 guests, including members of the press association and the United States president and vice president.
“Roy Wood Jr. brings a journalistic eye to his comedy. He’s hilarious — but also makes sure his audiences are thinking as they laugh,” Tamara Keith, the WHCA president and White House correspondent for NPR, said in a statement (via Deadline).
She continued, “My aim for this year’s dinner is to lift up the importance of a free and independent press to a functioning democracy, so I am thrilled to be able to feature a comedian who gets what journalism is all about.”
Wood Jr. joined The Daily Show in 2015, having worked for several years as a news host on the radio, including WBHL in Birmingham, AL, and WALR in Atlanta, GA. He began performing standup comedy in 1998 and, in 2010, finished third in the seventh season of NBC’s Last Comic Standing.
He’s since gone on to host three Comedy Central specials, including Father Figure (2017), No One Loves You (2019), and Imperfect Messenger (2021), the latter of which is currently streaming on Paramount+.
Speaking about the upcoming White House dinner, Wood Jr. said it’s “an honor to be part of a long-running tradition of celebrating those members of the media, who work so hard to uncover the truth, and hold our government accountable. It will be a great night that will go down in the history books, or not, depending on which state you live in.”
Former Daily Show host Trevor Noah hosted last year’s dinner. Previous hosts have included Michelle Wolf, Hasan Minhaj, Cecily Strong, Jimmy Kimmel, and Conan O’Brien.
There is no word yet on where the 2023 dinner will air. Last year’s event streamed on Hulu, as well as CNN and Fox Nation.
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