Amber Ruffin Has Something To Say About Getting Disinvited From the White House Correspondents’ Dinner

LATE NIGHT WITH SETH MEYERS — Episode 1636 — Pictured: (l-r) Amber Ruffin and Seth Meyers during the sketch “Both Sides” on Monday. March 31, 2025 — (Photo by: Lloyd Bishop/NBC via Getty Images)

In February, comedian Amber Ruffin was invited to perform at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, and it felt significant that despite everything going on with the current administration, they chose a Black queer woman as their comedian for the evening. Of course, that proved too good to be true when they rescinded that offer, with Deputy White House Chief of Staff Taylor Budowich saying Amber Ruffin said “hate-filled and violence-inspiring” things on a podcast. Ironic, considering the administration.

The board decided to eliminate the comedy portion of their show altogether after a unanimous vote, which came in response to Ruffin refusing to “take both sides” and provide the same “false equivalency that the media does” in her set.

The comedian took to the set of Late Night with Seth Meyers, where she is a writer and often comes out to tell “jokes Seth can’t tell” with Jenny Hagel, and interrupted a segment where he was talking about a fictional bodega robbery. She accuses him of not doing journalism and said, “If there’s one thing I learned from this weekend, you have to be fair to both sides.” They then do a hilarious back and forth about how utterly ridiculous it would be to be “fair” and neutral about both sides when one is obviously doing bad and harmful things. It was funny yet effective at demonstrating her point.

Of course, the WHCA is being cowardly and claimed they were “re-focusing” the dinner on the awards and scholarships, but it is clear this is just another example of people bending to the will of the narcissist in chief and his band of bullies. (Who didn’t even attend any of these dinners during his first run as president.)

Hopefully we will still get to hear some of Amber’s set though. One option Amber Ruffin has was born of most of the ladies of The View disagreeing with this decision. Whoopi Goldberg specifically said this could be a sign of the more infringements on free speech to come; she rightly points out that the board knew exactly who Amber Ruffin was and what she stood for and what her comedy was like before asking her in the first place, and that uninviting her makes Goldberg uncomfortable at best. Two of the hosts concluded their segment by inviting Amber to do the set on their show, though I have a feeling not all of them would be so supportive of the idea. Ironically, The View seems to be a show that likes to “be fair” to all sides, so I’m not sure Amber Ruffin would take them up on this offer (especially since she’s already employed on a talk show) but hopefully we’ll get to hear some of that lost set in one way or another someday.

Either way, I am glad Amber Ruffin put her foot down and refused to be watered down, and rightfully called out the people trying to make her play nice with an administration that is actively trying to strip her of her rights, among other atrocities.

An Encore of News

+ Peppermint discusses the trans “fairytale wedding” in Survival of the Thickest

+ Liza Minnelli is going to guest star and be honored on the season finale of Ru Paul’s Drag Race

+ Country singer (and Beyoncé collaborator) Tanner Adell came out as pansexual

+ I am literally screaming in anticipation of Jennifer Kaytin Robinson’s I Know What You Did Last Summer reboot

+ Doechii freed the nip on the red carpet this weekend in a lovely sheer dress

+ If you have any burning questions for Ani DiFranco, now’s your chance to ask them

+ House of the Dragon Season 3 has kicked off filming

+ Meryl Streep’s queer daughter Louisa Jacobson is a masc dreamboat in new ads

+ Our true American Idol, Kelly Clarkson promoted a compilation album of trans artists on her talk show for Trans Day of Visibility

+ And last but not least, in case you missed it, Pose star Indya Moore is engaged!

Before you go! Autostraddle runs on the reader support of our AF+ Members. If this article meant something to you today — if it informed you or made you smile or feel seen, will you consider joining AF and supporting the people who make this queer media site possible?

Join AF+!