--- description: Hasan Minhaj, a Daily Show correspondent and comedian, will be the entertainer at the annual White House Correspondents' Dinner title: Comedian Hasan Minhaj Will Host the White House Correspondents' Dinner image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5236da7e8042f573/6988c2432dce016dec9ecfc7/hasan-minhaj-white-house-correspondents-dinner.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [White House](/tag/white-house/) ## White House Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Comedian Hasan Minhaj Will Host the White House Correspondents' Dinner by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Apr 11, 2017 11:43 AM CUT  Actor Hasan Minhaj attends the PaleyFest New York 2016 "The Daily Show with Trevor Noah" at The Paley Center for Media on October 13, 2016 in New York City. Actor Hasan Minhaj attends the PaleyFest New York 2016 "The Daily Show with Trevor Noah" at The Paley Center for Media on October 13, 2016 in New York City.Jim Spellman—WireImage by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Apr 11, 2017 11:43 AM CUT Hasan Minhaj, a _Daily Show_ correspondent and comedian, will be the entertainer at the annual [White House Correspondents’ Dinner](http://time.com/4730173/white-house-correspondents-dinner-woodward-bernstein/ "undefined"), the association’s president announced on Tuesday. “I am thrilled that Hasan will serve as our featured entertainer at this year’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner,” WHCA president and Reuters White House correspondent Jeff Mason said in a statement. “Hasan’s smarts, big heart and passion for press freedom make him the perfect fit for our event, which will be focused on the First Amendment and the importance of a robust and independent media.” President Trump will [skip the annual dinner](http://time.com/4683002/president-trump-skip-white-house-correspondents-dinner/ "undefined") this year, which typically brings a star entertainer together with the press corps, celebrities and White House staff. Trump’s adversarial relationship with the press prompted several news organizations to pull out of this year’s event and many celebrities have called for a boycott. Like the president, the White House staff will [not attend the dinner](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/28/us/politics/trump-white-house-correspondents-dinner-spicer.html?%5Fr=0 "undefined"). “It is a tremendous honor to be a part of such a historic event even though the president has chosen not to attend this year. SAD!” Minhaj said in a statement. “Now more than ever, it is vital that we honor the First Amendment and the freedom of the press.” The dinner will be held on April 29 at the Hilton in Washington, D.C. Samantha Bee, the host of TBS’s _Full Frontal_ and a former correspondent for the _Daily Show_, announced in January that she would host an alternative event on the same day as the dinner that she’s calling “Not the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.”She promised to donate proceeds from the event to the Committee to Protect Journalists. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4734249/hasan-minhaj-host-white-house-correspondents-dinner/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4734249/hasan-minhaj-host-white-house-correspondents-dinner/"},"headline":"Comedian Hasan Minhaj Will Host the White House Correspondents' Dinner","datePublished":"2017-04-11T11:43:19.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T04:20:00.343Z","description":"President Trump will not attend","url":"https://time.com/4734249/hasan-minhaj-host-white-house-correspondents-dinner/","keywords":["White House","Journalism","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5236da7e8042f573/6988c2432dce016dec9ecfc7/hasan-minhaj-white-house-correspondents-dinner.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mahita Gajanan","jobTitle":"Gajanan is an editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5236da7e8042f573/6988c2432dce016dec9ecfc7/hasan-minhaj-white-house-correspondents-dinner.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"PaleyFest New York 2016 - \"The Daily Show With Trevor Noah\"","caption":"PaleyFest New York 2016 - \"The Daily Show With Trevor Noah\"","creditText":"Jim Spellman—WireImage","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4734249/hasan-minhaj-host-white-house-correspondents-dinner/","name":"Comedian Hasan Minhaj Will Host the White House Correspondents' Dinner"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"President Trump Announces He'll Skip White House Correspondents' Dinner","description":"President Donald Trump announced in a tweet Saturday that he will skip this year's White House Correspondents' Dinner.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/0aSyctpG/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-02-26T17:27:53.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/0aSyctpG.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4734249/hasan-minhaj-host-white-house-correspondents-dinner/","duration":"PT1M34S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4734249/hasan-minhaj-host-white-house-correspondents-dinner/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```