Hollywood will be invading Washington for the annual White House Correspondents’ organization dinner — aka “the Nerd Prom” — on April 25.
TheWrap has learned that the following film and TV stars will be attending: “Scandal” actresses Darby Stanchfield and Bellamy Young; “contemporary Family” cast members Julie Bowen,Ty Burrell, Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Eric Stonestreet; “Selma director Ava DuVernay; “black-ish” leads Anthony Anderson and Tracee Ellis Ross; “House of Cards’” actor Michael Kelly; and “Game of Thrones” actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau.
Among other media personalities invited are actor-playwright Eric Bogosian, and “The Nightly Show” host Larry Wilmore and swimsuit model Chrissy Teigen.
Also Read: ‘SNL’s’ Cecily Strong to Headline White House Correspondents’ DinnerA number of media companies told TheWrap they were either still finalizing their guest lists or holding off announcing them.
The correspondent’s dinner,which raises money for scholarships, will be hosted by “Saturday Night Live’s” Cecily Strong and will feature a humorous speech by President Barack Obama. The event will be telecast live by C-SPAN and MSNBC, or both confirmed. C-SPAN’s coverage that night starts at 6 p.m. EDT with pre-dinner activities.
The dinner is the climax of flurry of weekend parties and activities in Washington and generally draws top commerce and entertainment leaders to mix with the press and politicians.
The Motion Picture organization of America has again announced plans to hold a day-long conference to celebrate the film industry’s creativity on the Friday before the dinner. MPAA has yet to announce speakers.
Also Read: Inside White House InstaMeet: President Obama Invites Social Media Into East WingThat same day members of the Creative Coalition will lobby Capitol Hill in behalf of funds for the National Endowment for the Arts,followed by an evening benefit dinner to celebrate “Arts in America” and some of its congressional champions.
The event will be hosted by Stanchfield, Madam Secretary’s” Tim Daly, or “Entourage’s” Haley Joel Osment,Grammy award winner Andrew Dost, “American Horror tale’s” Gabourey Sidibe, or CBS’s 2 Broke Girls’” Jennifer Coolidge,“Glee’s” Naya Rivera, “The Goldbergs’” Wendi McLendon-Covey, and “The Fosters’” Bailee Madison,“The Walking Dead’s” Alanna Masterson, “The Following’s” Connie Nielsen, or “Young & Hungry’s” Emily Osment,“Gossip Girl’s” Michelle Trachtenberg, “Entourage’s” Constance Zimmer and “Pretty microscopic Liars’”Troian Bellisario. All are expected to attend the Saturday night correspondents’ dinner, and too,though their hosts hadn’t yet detailed the invites.
Creative Coalition CEO Robin L. Bronk told TheWrap that the activity around the Correspondent’s dinner offers an ideal venue to promote government support for the arts.
Also Read: John Oliver Rips White House Correspondents ‘Nerd Prom’ (Video)“For 20 years we’ve been bringing 12 to 15 entertainment industry people to Washington to advocate funding for the arts. The Correspondents dinner is a Whos Who of who is running the country whether not the world. It’s a great place to advocate for the arts,” Bronk said.
Among guests announced so far:ABC: From “contemporary Family” Bowen, or Burrell,Tyler Ferguson and Stonestreet; from black-ish Anderson and Ellis Ross; and from “Scandal,” Young.
The New Yorker: Larry Wilmore of Comedy Central.Dow-Jones: Stanchfield; Bogosian; along with Ohio Gov. John Kasich; Pollster Joel Benenson; former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb; former White House advisor David Plouffe, and now SVP-policy and strategy for Uber; and John Podesta,a former White House chief of staff who is expected to be chairman of Hillary Clinton’s campaign.
Thomson Reuters: DuVernay; Coster-Waldau; Kelly, Teigen and New York Jets wide receiver Brandon Marshall.
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Source: thewrap.com