Comedian Amber Ruffin has broken her silence after being dropped as the featured entertainer for this year’s White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) dinner over her derogatory comments about the Trump administration by doubling down.
The 46-year-old comedian, who works on “Late Night with Seth Meyers” as a writer and performer, appeared the show on Monday, days after learning WHCA dropped her performance from the annual dinner.
Ruffin had been set to perform at the high-profile, black-tie event in Washington on April 26. The dinner, which former President Donald Trump did not attend during his first term, has long been a staple of the Washington political scene.
WHCA President Eugene Daniels justified the decision in an email to members that stated, “At this consequential moment for journalism, I want to ensure the focus is not on the politics of division but entirely on awarding our colleagues for their outstanding work and providing scholarship and mentorship to the next generation of journalists.”
During her appearance on “Late Night,” Meyers signaled his disapproval of the WHCA’s decision. “I’m a big fan of Amber Ruffin and I would’ve loved to hear what she had to say,” Meyers stated before inviting her on stage.
Ruffin responded by ridiculing the rationale behind the decision, interrupting Meyers as he was setting up a joke about a New York City bodega robbery.
“Obviously I’m going to make a punchline and make fun of the guy who robbed the bodega,” Meyers began.
“See, the problem is that’s divisive. Take it from me: If there’s one thing I learned from this weekend, it’s you have to be fair to both sides,” Ruffin shot back.
Meyers pushed back, saying, “Amber, when people are objectively terrible, we should be able to point it out on television.”
“I thought that too…on Friday,” Ruffin responded. “But today is Monday and Monday’s Amber Ruffin knows that when bad people do bad things, you have to treat them fairly and respectfully.”
She then alluded that conservative lawmakers were Nazis, comparing the situation to 1965 Julie Andrews musical “The Sound of Music.”
Amber Ruffin said Trump supporters are not human beings and The View hosts laughed.
This is why we are so divided. pic.twitter.com/i8AEC9GOri
— Brigitte Gabriel (@ACTBrigitte) March 31, 2025
“When you watch ‘The Sound of Music,’ you have to root for the singing children and the other people,” she ridiculously quipped.
“You mean the Nazis?” Meyers asked. “Calling them that is so one-sided,” Ruffin spat back.
She then took a direct swipe at the media’s approach to political neutrality, joking, “We have a free press so that we can be nice to Republicans at fancy dinners. That’s what it says in the First Amendment.”
Ruffin continued, “The point is that you’re sowing the seeds of discord. And I used to be the same way. I thought, when people take away your rights, erase your history and deport your friends, you’re supposed to call it out. But I was wrong.”
She concluded with a pointed jab at the WHCA, saying, “Glad to find that out now, because if they had let me give that speech, oh baby, I would have been so terrifically mean.”
Ruffin was removed from the event on Saturday after the Trump administration took issue with her remarks during an appearance on “The Daily Beast Podcast” with hosts comedian Samantha Bee and Daily Beast’s Chief Creative and Content Officer Joanna Coles.
During the Thursday podcast, Ruffin revealed she had no intention of balancing her jokes to target both political parties, despite being told to do so by the WHCA.
“They were like, ‘You need to be equal and make sure that you give it to both sides,’ and I was like, ‘There’s no way I’m going to be freaking doing that,'” she stated. “Under no circumstances.”
She went further, making inflammatory remarks about the Trump administration, saying they are “kind of a bunch of murderers” and claiming that presenting them as equal to their political opponents “makes them feel like human beings, but they shouldn’t get to feel that way, ’cause they’re not.”
This year’s @whca dinner will be hosted by a 2nd rate comedian who is previewing the event by calling this administration “murderers” who want to “feel like human beings, but they shouldn’t get to feel that way, because you’re not”
What kind of responsible, sensible journalist… pic.twitter.com/tZCJS9fNOT
— Taylor Budowich (@Taylor47) March 29, 2025
On Friday, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Taylor Budowich drew attention to Ruffin’s remarks in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
“This year’s @whca dinner will be hosted by a 2nd rate comedian who is previewing the event by calling this administration ‘murderers’ who want to ‘feel like human beings, but they shouldn’t get to feel that way, because you’re not,’” Budowich wrote, sharing a clip from the podcast.
“What kind of responsible, sensible journalist would attend something like this? More importantly, what kind of company would sponsor such a hate-filled and violence-inspiring event?”
Let’s see if I got this right…
This year the White House Correspondence Association will give special honor to “journalistic excellence and a robust and independent media”.
So they cancelled Amber Ruffin’s performance cuz the WH doesn’t like her.
— Ellen Barkin (@EllenBarkin) March 30, 2025
The decision to cancel Ruffin’s appearance sparked backlash from liberal figures, who accused Daniels and the WHCA of failing to stand up for free speech.
Actress Ellen Barkin criticized the WHCA’s actions, writing, “Let’s see if I got this right. This year the White House Correspondents’ Association will give special honor to ‘journalistic excellence and a robust and independent media.’ So they cancelled Amber Ruffin’s performance cuz the WH doesn’t like her.”
Reporter Rodrigo Azurmendi was even more direct in his condemnation, saying, “Amber Ruffin is awesome and Eugene Daniels is a feckless coward and a sellout. Your decorum and empty values won’t save you from Trump either. The WHCA is a joke.”