Weekend Update
by Anna FialhoAs the White House Correspondents’ Dinner has evolved over the years, it’s become a sort of roast of the president (all in good fun, of course). Past hosts/entertainers for the WHCD dinner include:
Did You Know
- Seth Meyers won Bravo’s Celebrity Poker Showdown in 2004 and donated his winnings ($100,000) to Boston’s Jimmy Fund, which specializes in cancer treatments.
- Comedy runs in the family: Meyers’ brother, Josh, starred on MADtv, which aired at the same time as SNL (sibling rivalry?) on Fox.
- Meyers is no stranger to the podium. He’s hosted the Webby Awards twice, and last year he hosted the ESPY Awards. He’s on tap to reprise the ESPY gig again this year.
- In addition to being the “Weekend Update” anchor, Meyers is also the head writer for SNL.
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Jay Leno, following his controversial return to (and ousting of Conan O’Brien from)
The Tonight Show. He was widely criticized for the jokes he told, many of which had been heard before.
2009 — Wanda Sykes, who was the first African-American woman as well as the first openly gay person to host (Cedric the Entertainer was the first African-American to host in 2005). She pulled no punches, the most memorable of which were directed at talk-show hosts Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, and Sarah Palin.
2008 — Craig Ferguson was another late-night television host who was tapped as the evening’s entertainment (he was asked less than a week after becoming an American citizen). While he delivered a few barbs at Dick Cheney and poked fun at the rivalry between Keith Olbermann and Bill O’Reilly, his main jabs were for the media, including
The New York Times, who sat that year’s dinner out. He was also one of the most good-natured hosts.
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