Those who arrived early Friday night at a party hosted by Hollywood powerhouse Creative Artists Agency seemed to be pondering the same question. “How relaxing can you expect to be at this year's White House Correspondents' Association dinner weekend?”
Their game of chicken didn't last long. By 8 p.m., guests at the talent agency's event at La Grande Boucherie in Washington had temporary tattoos on each other's necks to prevent drinks from splattering on the baby's grand piano. I was about to go.
The main event of the weekend, known as “Nard Prom,” is a banquet held Saturday night at the Washington Hilton Hotel. There, “Saturday Night Live's” Colin Jost plans to gently criticize President Joseph R. ing.
In addition to the annual dinner party, April has been a busy month for Washington, D.C.'s socialites, as the media and political class intertwine to celebrate themselves with a flurry of receptions and parties.
Despite wars, campus unrest, and former President Donald J. Trump's criminal trial, many journalists and power brokers seemed determined to make the most of this year's schmoozefest.
“It's really exciting to be able to put politics aside for one beautiful weekend,” said Desi Riddich, senior correspondent for “The Daily Show.” “So are our ethics.”
The CAA party was held in honor of Mr. Jost, who toured with his wife Scarlett Johansson. Mr. Jost's boss, “Saturday Night Live” creator Lorne Michaels, marched to the dining table as soon as he arrived. When asked what he found to be delicious, he answered, “Vegetables.”
Other guests included Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, and news anchor Andrea Mitchell. Representing Hollywood are actors Rosario Dawson, Chris Pine, and Kyle MacLachlan, whose political career includes playing the fictional mayor on Portlandia. CAA's contingent was led by the company's CEO Brian Lard and his agents Rachel Adler and Joe Macciota.
Located in a former bank on 14th Street, La Grand Boucherie is a stately two-story restaurant decorated with stained glass and gilded ceilings. Unlike married couples who break up at parties and work in separate rooms, CAA clients Jost and Johansson worked in tandem. At one point, while they were walking around the Demi-Clad statue, Mr. Jost was trying his best to fend off questions about his role as host of this year's dinner.
“I'm very nervous right now,” he said.
Upstairs, there are few celebrity sightings more exciting than when Naomi Biden, the president's eldest grandson, happened to meet Ariana Madix from “Vanderpump Rules” at a gala event last April. He said no. “I thought, 'I feel like I'm the only person thanking you for being here,'” Biden recalled.
But cheese can stave off talk of challenges in the media industry, including newsroom layoffs, the threat of artificial intelligence, and the imprisonment of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich in Russia more than a year ago. Boards are limited.
“The underlying tone this weekend is: What are we going to do about Evan Gershkovic?” said Sarah Fisher, senior media reporter at Axios. “Every time I have a glass of champagne, my editor is talking about him now.”
The social agenda began Thursday night when Politico hosted a kick-off reception at the British ambassador's residence on Embassy Row.
Designed in the 1920s by architect Sir Edward Lutyens, the 17,000 square foot mansion is a slightly smaller version of an English country mansion. A sign emblazoned with the royal coat of arms chased some guests away from a room lined with white upholstered chairs, telling them: “No red wine in the reception room.”
Attorney General Merrick B. Garland held court in a garden filled with fragrant spring peonies. Nearby, Politico CEO Gori Sheikhoreslami was in an intense conversation with Lyft CEO David Risher, standing near Whoopie Pie's tower.
It's rare these days to have a big-name festival without a sponsor or some kind of brand presence, and the party at the embassy was no exception. A friendly server with a cigar clipper in hand offered us an assortment of Diamond Crown cigars. One of the guests was observed smoking meditatively on a bench in the garden.
“This weekend has been a highlight on Washington's social calendar,” Shekoleslami told the audience. “What started as 'Geeky His Prom' ended up becoming somewhat like DCpalooza.”
But even amidst the merriment and peacocking, external events couldn't help but interrupt the party. British Ambassador to the US Dame Karen Pearce, who co-hosted the event with Mr Shekoleslami, said she had attended a memorial service that morning for seven aid workers who died while delivering food to the World Central Kitchen in the Gaza Strip that morning. .
“The world is going through a very difficult time,” she said.
Some of the most coveted invitations came from a new class of digital news startups. Former House Speaker John Boehner was among the guests who rode the elevator to the top floor of the Riggs Washington, D.C., luxury hotel in Penn Quarter, where Pack was hosting a party with talent agency William Morris Endeavor. .
Screenwriter and playwright Aaron Sorkin was interviewed by Pack screenwriters Matthew Belloni and Peter Hamby, recorded for Belloni's podcast The Town. Sorkin shared his thoughts on TikTok and artificial intelligence before the presidential campaign began.
“Would you take Aaron Sorkin’s anxiety test about Joe Biden and his chances of re-election?” Mr. Hamby asked.
Sorkin replied, “I'm as worried as I can be.”
While Sorkin delivered a monologue about Meta's handling of misinformation in the 2020 election, guests who weren't in the mood for casual conversation were asked to sit in another room at Snapchat (formerly known as Snapchat). I was taking a selfie at a kiosk provided by.
Joanna Coles, a former Hearst Magazines executive who was recently named head of content at The Daily Beast, navigated the podcaster over an espresso martini. What are the Beast's areas of interest under her leadership? “Money, ambition, power, revenge, betrayal,” she said. “And of course we're obsessed with Lauren Sanchez.”
Nearby, Jon Favreau, Obama's speechwriter-turned-host of “Pod Save America,” observed that the weekend social scene seemed to be revitalized since the coronavirus-era lull. . “A lot of people are like, 'I'm out, I'm back, it's a party,'” he says. “It's like a high school reunion as an adult.”
The next night, the social whirlpool moved to the Kalorama district, where a party for the digital news organization Semaphore was held at a private house not far from the Obamas' residence, under the watchful eye of Secret Service agents.
The house belongs to former Bloomberg Media CEO Justin Smith, who launched Semaphore in 2022 with former BuzzFeed News editor-in-chief Ben Smith.
Justin Smith, standing in his kitchen, said his teenage son was upstairs playing video games and his Nova Scotia duck tolling retriever, Teddy, was in the basement. He lamented that the dog didn't have a more distinctive name. He did not repeat this mistake when naming semaphores.
Ben Smith, who has been a media columnist for the Times for about two years, was also spotted joking with White House communications director Ben LaBolt. Other guests included Vox Media CEO Jim Bankoff and CNN This Morning host Kasie Hunt.
Justin Smith seemed bullish about his strategy, but said he was stressed about how the news media would cover the upcoming presidential election. “The amount of misinformation, the amount of polarization, the amount of bias is in some ways unprecedented,” he said.
He continued: “Can anyone appeal to their better angel and somehow get past all of this and really look at things objectively, factually and independently?” Ta.
In the backyard, illuminated by magenta floodlights, a photo backdrop featuring Semafor branding was installed next to a basketball hoop. DJ Lance Reynolds played relaxing music from the patio while guests sipped rum punch with their backs to the pool. Everyone seemed a little wary of dancing and seemed to dance too easily.
