Amber Ruffin Claps Back At Correspondents Dinner Snub

Amber Ruffin has responded to being snubbed by the Washington press corps — with jokes.

The comedian stopped by Late Night with Seth Meyers on Monday, March 31, and laughed off being disinvited from the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner with late-night host Seth Meyers.

Ruffin was scheduled to host the glitzy D.C. event on April 26, but her appearance was abruptly halted over the weekend after she apparently angered the Trump administration.

Fast forward to Monday night. Ruffin and Meyers — who go way back — traded jokes about the politics of division.

“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 explained.

“Amber, when people are objectively terrible, we should be able to point it out on television,” Meyers responded.

“I thought that too… on Friday. 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. When you watch The Sound of Music, you have to root for the singing children and the other people,” she said.

“You mean the Nazis?” Meyers replied.

“Calling them that is so one-sided,” Ruffin quipped.

“We have a free press so we can be nice to Republicans at fancy dinners,” she continued. “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. Glad to find that out now, because if they had let me give that speech, oh baby, I would have been so terrifically mean.”

On Friday, March 28, The Daily Beast published an interview with Ruffin about her upcoming gig hosting the correspondents’ dinner and she called Trump officials “a bunch of murderers.” The comic also revealed she was being asked to tone down her material for the gathering.

The next day, CNN’s Brian Stelter and People reported Ruffin had been dropped as headliner of the event.

A short time later, White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) President Eugene Daniels released a statement confirming the event would not have a host.

“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,” the statement read.

Ruffin, an Emmy and Tony-nominated writer, is known for her work on Late Night with Seth Meyers and as host of The Amber Ruffin Show on Peacock. She has also contributed to CNN’s comedy-news series, Have I Got News For You.

Watch her appearance from Monday night below: