PUBLISHED: 23:18 EST, 26 April 2013 | UPDATED: 23:47 EST, 26 April 2013
The White House Correspondents’ Dinner is an annual tradition where Washington’s political elite and the journalists that cover them commune for some laughs, but some are smirking at the other guests who are making the cut.
NBC’s Tom Brokaw, one of the best-respected living journalists, announced that he is boycotting this year’s event because it has become too much of a Hollywood spectacle.
He even pointed to actress Lindsay Lohan as the tipping point, saying that when she was invited as a guest of Fox News, he felt enough was enough.
Out of hand: Longtime NBC journalist Tom Brokaw is speaking out about the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, saying that it has turned too ‘Hollywood’
Tipping point: Brokaw wasn’t in attendance at last year’s function where Lindsay Lohan was seen as a ‘star guest’, but he spoke out about it afterwards saying that it was wrong
‘The breaking point for me was Lindsay Lohan,’ he told Politico on Friday, the day before the dinner.
‘She became a big star at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Give me a break.’
The tradition of news outlets bringing some boldface names to their tables began when the cast of Saturday Night Live was brought down from New York to D.C. in the mid-1970s.
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That pairing seemed fair, the newsman deemed, because they devoted so much of their show to political satire, but the guest list has deviated in the following decades.
He said that the optics of the evening are particularly jarring, especially when public opinion of both politicians and journalists is low, and he decided to stop going when there was too much ‘sophomoric humor, a lot of people drinking way too much’.
Political reality: Kim and Kris Kardashian were invited by Fox and were the butt of some jokes in the speeches
Apolitical: Actresses Kate Hudson and Charlize Theron were in attendance in 2012 and Joan Rivers in 2011
Strange bedfellows: Actress Sofia Vergara was seated next to New Jersey Governor Chris Christie in 2012
‘It became more of a tabloid kind of dinner,’ he told Politico.
Among the ‘Page Six’ stars who have been taken as guests in the past are Kim and Kris Kardashian, Kate Hudson, Reese Witherspoon, the casts of both Glee and Modern Family.
‘What a collection of people! Here in one room we have members of the media, politicians, corporate executives, advertisers, lobbyists and celebrities: everything that is wrong with America is here in this room tonight,’ comedian host Jimmy Kimmel said at last year’s dinner.
Brokaw is certainly not the first to protest the coziness of the dinner.
Cozy: One of the problems that some in the media have with the dinner is that it shows a close relationship between politicians and stars rather than the people. Jimmy Kimmel was the comedian of choice in 2012
Understandable: George Clooney and Kerry Washington, who both attended in 2012, made sense because they campaigned for the President and are active in certain political causes
The New York Times announced that they would not be sending any journalists to the dinners starting in 2008 because they felt it shows the ‘crystallization of the press’s failures in the post-9/11 era’.
That doesn’t stop the Grey Lady’s journalists from heading to the afterparties, as David Carr reported how cavorted with director Judd Apatow, Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, and Academy Award winner George Clooney.
Coming back: Actresses Reese Witherspoon and Scarlett Johansson, who both attended in 2012, will be back this year
This year’s guest-list is expected to be similarly packed, with Michael Douglas, Nicole Kidman, Stephen Spielberg and the cast of hit political drama House of Cards including Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright. Scarlett Johansson and Reese Witherspoon are making a repeat appearance on Saturday.
Another returning customer will be Conan O’Brien, the headliner for the 2013 dinner. He previously performed at the dinner in 1995 when President Bill Clinton was in office.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2315617/Tom-Brokaw-blasts-White-House-Correspondents-Dinner-saying-fact-Lindsay-Lohan-invited-political-event-breaking-point.html#ixzz2RgTxdiv7 Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
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