The White House Correspondents’ Association said Friday that Colin Jost of “Saturday Night Live” will be the featured entertainer at its annual dinner on April 27.
Mr. Jost is known for anchoring the “Weekend Update” segment of SNL with co-host Michael Che. He also wrote a New York Times best-selling memoir, “A Very Punchable Face” and is married to actress Scarlett Johansson.
“Colin Jost knows how to make Saturday nights funny, and I am thrilled Colin will be live from the nation’s capital as the headline entertainer for this year’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner,” said Kelly O’Donnell, president of the White House Correspondents’ Association and NBC News senior White House correspondent.
The annual dinner is designed to finance the association of reporters who cover the White House. It also supports and awards scholarships for student journalists.
It is sometimes described as a “nerd prom” for D.C. insiders and celebrities.
Serving as the entertainer is a notoriously difficult job, with a room full of political partisans or ostensibly objective journalists questioning when to laugh as the comedian roasts the president and other Washington figures.
At the same time, the evening is praised as a celebration of First Amendment rights because entertainers can roast the leader of the free world without fear of reprisal.
The president typically does a round of jokes, too, providing balance to the evening.
President Biden has attended the dinners during his term but former President Donald Trump skipped the event as part of his criticism of mainstream media.