'Nerd Prom' to Air Live Saturday Night

Journalists, politicians and entertainers will gather tonight to eat, laugh and raise money at the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner.

President Joe Biden will attend and speak at the event, which some have jokingly dubbed “nerd prom.” “Saturday Night Live” veteran Colin Jost will be the featured entertainer.

The dinner begins at 8 p.m. Eastern at the Washington Hilton Hotel and will be televised on C-SPAN. ABC News Live, CNN and MSNBC are also airing coverage.

FOX News Channel’s Jimmy Failla will host FOX News Saturday Night from the red carpet at the 2024 White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner. Emanating from the Washington Hilton from 9-11 PM/ET, Failla’s show will feature interviews with celebrities in attendance, as well as FOX News Media personalities attending the dinner, including White House correspondent Peter Doocy, FOX News Sunday anchor Shannon Bream and America Reports co-anchor Sandra Smith, among others. Failla will also react to President Joe Biden and host Colin Jost’s speeches during the dinner.

NY1,com reports the dinner, which began in 1921, raises money to support journalists who cover the president, provides scholarships for future reporters and educates the public about the value of a free press.

“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,” WHCA President Kelly O’Donnell of NBC News, who is hosting the event, said in a statement in February when the association announced Jost would be performing.

Aside from Jost and Biden, this year’s dinner guest list includes actors Rachel Brosnahan, Fran Drescher, Jon Hamm, Scarlett Johansson (who is married to Jost), Andrew McCarthy, Chris Pine, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Molly Ringwald and Hiro Sanada, as well as rapper Quavo. 

Among the political figures expected to attend are Vice President Kamala Harris; first lady Jill Biden; Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.; Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.; Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash.; Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, and New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu. 

“My hope is that we can use this night overall to remind people about why a free press is so vitally important, especially in a campaign year,” O’Donnell told Deadline. “I want the night to also reflect on members. I want them to see themselves in the evening. When we gather for these White House Correspondents’ dinners, there’s always a lot of fun, a lot of energy, all of those good things. I wanted to also feel like it’s about the story of the press corps and why our work matters.”