Highlights, Drama, And The Best Parties From The 2023 White House Correspondents’ Dinner Weekend

Mediaite descended on Washington, D.C. this weekend for the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, the annual black tie gala featuring a speech from the president of the United States, buffeted by a series of parties thrown by news networks, talent agencies, and political organizations vying for influence.

The weekend-long event is an annual excuse for journalists and the powerful people they cover to get together and drink. This year struck a more somber tone than usual, however, given the wrongful detentions of American journalists abroad.

“Journalism is not a crime,” Biden said in his speech, addressing the detentions of Evan Gershkovich in Russia and Austin Tice in Syria. “I promise you, I’m working like hell to get them home.”

Notably, WNBA star Brittney Griner, who was freed from a Russian prison last year, attended the event with her wife and had a meeting with President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden.

While there are events dotted throughout the week — Mediaite was devastated to miss the Power to the Patients event which apparently featured performances from Rick Ross, French Montana, Fat Joe, Busta Rhymes — the weekend truly kicks off on Friday, with a pair of events from the two top talent agencies in the news business: CAA and UTA.

CAA launched the weekend with a party at The Henri, honoring CAA client and dinner host Roy Wood Jr. and attended by a number of top journalists and politicos.

UTA, which always throws one of the best parties of the weekend, was next up. Hosted by UTA vice chairman Jay Sures, the bash at Fiola Mare featured appearances from California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), Rep. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Pamela Brown, Second Gent Doug Emhoff, Jim Acosta, Jen Psaki, Astead Herndon, Justin Theroux, Brian Stelter, Kal Penn, Kara Swisher, Elie Honig, Kate Bolduan, Ariana Madix, Sara Fischer, Kevin O’Leary, Molly Jong-Fast, Rosario Dawson, Norah O’Donnell, Rachael Bade, Oliver Darcy and Dana Bash.

Don Lemon, who days before was ousted by CNN, made a surprise appearance with husband Tim Malone by his side. The pair looked dashing as usual — and spent most of the night wading through a throng of well-wishers. CNN CEO Chris Licht was also in attendance, but the network chief and his former anchor appeared to avoid running into each other.

If Friday night is a sprint, Saturday is the marathon. The day kicks off with Tammy Haddad’s famed Garden Brunch, so if you’re really leaning in you can start drinking at noon. For those keeping track: If you’re also one of the last people dancing when festivities wrap up around 3 a.m. Sunday morning, that equates to roughly 15 hours of imbibing.

We digress. The big dinner is at 8 p.m., but before that, a series of pre-receptions are held at the Washington Hilton. We opted for the CBS News x Politico event, hosted by CBS News co-president Neeraj Khemlani and Politico CEO Goli Sheikholeslami.

It was the right call, save for a near disaster: Mediaite’s Colby Hall nearly stepped on the train of Julia Fox’s dress, a literal faux pas the Mediaite founding editor would likely not have survived. Page Six would have been unforgiving. The crisis was averted, and Fox posed for pictures with Norah O’Donnell and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY).

The CBS x Politico reception was a star-studded affair. Rebecca Romijn and Jerry O’Connell mingled with Justin Hartley and Sofia Pernas. Brittney Griner posed for photos with Gayle King.

Licht chatted with top network talent, while Axel Springer CEO Mathias Döpfner — who now owns Politico — towered over every guest (he’s 6 foot 7 but looks 8 foot 2 next to some of the more height-challenged members of the media).

Döpfner spent part of the reception engaged in vigorous conversation with New York magazine writer Shawn McCreesh, who previously profiled the billionaire German media executive.

Politicians were out in force too: DHS Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas and FBI Director Chris Wray, Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) and Reps. Nancy Mace (R-SC) and Maxwell Frost (D-FL), as well as one member of Congress who cut in front of Mediaite in line for a drink because they apparently could not wait a second longer for a large glass of Chardonnay.

Mediaite spotted John Legend and Chrissy Teigen dodging fossil fuel protestors (“The media is complicit!” they chanted) to enter the Hilton for the dinner.

There was also some vintage Trump-era drama, reported by Semafor’s Max Tani: apparently Kellyanne Conway confronted Molly Jong-Fast at the Hilton, calling her “a mess.” Jong-Fast, the popular liberal writer, is friends with Kellyanne’s ex-husband George.

Now for the real highlight: The after-parties. NBC and CBS threw the most coveted events of the night. Mediaite went first to the CBS News event at the sprawling residence of French Ambassador Laurent Bili — the host of many a star-studded D.C. bash.

The party was a rocker — revelers danced into the wee hours of Sunday morning — featuring appearances from A-Listers including Brittney and Cherelle Griner, Roy Wood Jr., Rosario Dawson, Zooey Deschanel, Jerry O’Connell, Rebecca Romijn, Sophia Bush, Justin Theroux, Tim Daley, Jason Isaacs, Justin Hartley and Sofia Pernas.

Cable news stars and top journalists were also in attendance. Mediaite spotted CNN This Morning co-hosts Kaitlan Collins and Poppy Harlow chatting on a sofa. Olivia Nuzzi and Ryan Lizza zoomed around the large residence.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken made an appearance, as did Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, Ashley Etienne, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE), Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Biden press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, Ashley and Naomi Biden.

Paramount chief Shari Redstone attended alongside Neeraj Khelmani, Gayle King, Norah O’Donnell, Tony Dokoupil and Nate Burleson.

Norah O’Donnell, among other stars, held court until 2 a.m. The bash, we are told, didn’t wrap until after 4 a.m.

Around midnight, Mediaite made its way to the Comcast-NBCUniversal party, hosted at a stone monolith just steps from the White House. There, Doug Emhoff chatted with NBC News Chief White House correspondents Kristen Welker and Peter Alexander, while NBCU chairman Cesar Conde mingled with Rosario Dawson and John Leguizamo as a DJ blasted house music.

Mediaite also spotted Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX), Sen. Amy Klobuchar, MSNBC president Rashida Jones, Lester Holt, Chris Licht (intranetwork camaraderie!), Jen Psaki, Ana Navarro, Kate Bolduan, Jim Cramer, Yamiche Alcindor, Symone Sanders-Townsend and Andrea Mitchell.

The after-parties present enough glad-handing to satisfy one journo for a lifetime. For those who want more, there are daytime events on Sunday, including CNN’s Hangover Brunch. Mediaite was nearly too hungover to attend, but a self-administered slap in the face and a splash of water served as a sufficient bandaid.

The brunch, held at the Line Hotel in Adams Morgan, featured a Bloody Mary bar, a fried chicken station and a surprise performance from Tiesto. Wolf Blitzer, Jim Sciutto, Phil Mattingly, Pamela Brown, Poppy Harlow, Kaitlan Collins, Chris Wallace, Roy Wood, Jr., Education Sec. Miguel Cardona, Ukrainian Ambassador to the U.S. Oksana Markarova were in attendance. CNN comms executive Matt Dornic danced on stage with Tiesto, naturally.

The other must-attend event of the day is the always glamorous brunch hosted by Politico at the Georgetown mansion of Politico founder Robert Allbritton and wife Elena. The Tuscan-themed event featured cypress trees, espresso, limoncello and Aperol spritz bars, and even a Politico-branded Vespa.

Attendees included Antony Blinken, Karine Jean-Pierre, Anthony Fauci, Goli Sheikholeslami, Matt Kaminski, Mathias Döpfner, Eugene Daniels, Margaret Brennan, Fred Ryan, Cesar Conde, Sophia Bush, Gary Cohn, Kristen Welker, Tammy Haddad, Vivek Ramaswamy, Kellyanne Conway, Robert Costa, Peter Alexander, Phil Rucker, Kaitlan Collins, Alayna Treene, Ali Vitali, Sally Quinn, Ed O’Keefe, Kate Bennett and Jonathan Capehart.

Arrivederci!