The upcoming White House Correspondents’ Dinner will be a little less festive after Time Inc. on Monday decided it will not hold its night-before party.
In recent years, the publisher’s People and Time magazines hosted a party at Washington’s St. Regis Hotel.
“This year we have decided to focus on supporting the White House Correspondents’ Association, which plays a crucial role in advocating for the broadest possible access for the press at the White House,” Alan Murray, Time’s chief content officer, said in a statement.
Time Inc. still plans on sending journalists to the April 29 dinner, although People will not be buying its usual table at the event. It will make a contribution to the nonprofit White House Correspondents’ Association.
President Trump’s administration has blasted the media as the “opposition party” and the president, breaking with tradition, has decided to skip the dinner — which raises money for scholarships.
Every president since Ronald Reagan has attended the WHCD and enjoyed the gentle ribbing tossed at him from the media and the dinner’s celebrity emcee. The commander-in-chief would then return the favor and crack wise at the media.
Trump said he would not pretend to like the media for a single night.
Earlier, Vanity Fair Editor Graydon Carter and former Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s company, Bloomberg LP, said they were canceling their joint “afterparty,” which was usually heavily attended by politicians and celebrities.
The New Yorker Editor David Remnick said he also was skipping hosting a party this year.