--- title: who is the white house correspondents dinner 2018 comedian description: Comedian Michelle Wolf will host the annual White House Correspondents' Association Dinner, an honor previously given to Hasan Minhaj. canonical: https://time.com/5170753/white-house-correspondents-dinner-2018-comedian/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-02-22T19:44:15.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:02:49.728Z og:title: What to Know About Michelle Wolf, Your 2018 WHCA Dinner Host og:description: Wolf is a stand-up comedian and 'Daily Show' correspondent with an HBO special og:url: https://time.com/5170753/white-house-correspondents-dinner-2018-comedian/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: What to Know About Michelle Wolf, Your 2018 WHCA Dinner Host twitter:description: Wolf is a stand-up comedian and 'Daily Show' correspondent with an HBO special twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Michelle Wolf Is This Year's White House Correspondents Dinner Host. Here's Everything You Need to Know About Her. ## Video: The 5 Best Jokes From the White House Correspondents' Dinner [Watch (HLS stream): The 5 Best Jokes From the White House Correspondents' Dinner](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/lFg4V29B.m3u8) (1:48)  _Published 2017-04-30. The White House Correspondents' Dinner, usually a night where celebrities, politicians and the media team up for a night of laughter, was a different affair Saturday than in years past._  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Feb 22, 2018 7:44 PM UTC  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Feb 22, 2018 7:44 PM UTC On Thursday, the White House Correspondents’ Association [announced](https://twitter.com/whca/status/966704850594545664) their host for the [annual WHCA Dinner](http://time.com/4734249/hasan-minhaj-host-white-house-correspondents-dinner/): Michelle Wolf, a stand-up comedian and [_Daily Show with Trevor Noah_](http://time.com/5124559/trevor-noah-hillary-part-of-problem-sexual-abuse/) correspondent who is about to become _much_ more well-known. “Our dinner honors the First Amendment and strong, independent journalism,” the WHCA noted in their statement. “Her embrace of these values and her truth-to-power style make her a great friend to the WHCA. Her Pennsylvania roots, stints on Wall Street and in science and self-made, feminist edge make her the right voice now.” Wolf follows last year’s host, [Hasan Minhaj](http://time.com/4761644/hasan-minhaj-white-house-correspondents-dinner-speech-transcript/), and a historically impressive lineup of comedians, including Stephen Colbert, Conan O’Brien, and Jimmy Kimmel. Notably, she’s the fifth woman ever tapped to [host the dinner.](http://time.com/4734249/hasan-minhaj-host-white-house-correspondents-dinner/) Tradition dictates that the president is the most high-profile attendee of the event; however, President Trump [skipped the event](http://time.com/4751756/trump-pennsylvania-rally-white-house-correspondents-dinner/) last year. There’s no word yet on his plans for the evening of Saturday, April 28 this year. Here’s what you should know about rising comedy star Wolf. > [](https://twitter.com/michelleisawolf/status/966705858825551873) ## She didn’t start out as a comedian Wolf didn’t find comedy until well after starting her career. She studied kinesiology in college and [was a track-and-field athlete](http://thecomicscomic.com/2016/06/18/book-excerpt-meet-the-regulars-with-sasheer-zamata-and-michelle-wolf-by-joshua-d-fischer/) at the College of William & Mary. After graduating in 2007, she went to [work in finance](http://splitsider.com/2014/08/balancing-standup-and-writing-for-late-night-with-michelle-wolf/) in New York City, right before the 2008 recession. “I always loved comedy, but in my mind it wasn’t a viable career option,” she said in an interview with [_The Wrap_](https://www.thewrap.com/how-daily-shows-newest-correspondent-michelle-wolf-went-from-wall-street-to-comedy-central/). But that changed: she [started taking](https://www.thedailybeast.com/michelle-wolf-is-the-future-of-stand-up-comedy) improv classes after watching a _Saturday Night Live_ taping and moved to an easier non-finance job so she could focus on improv and writing jokes on Twitter. “I would just read the news and tweet jokes about the news. It teaches you an economy of words,” she told[ the _Daily Beast._](https://www.thedailybeast.com/michelle-wolf-is-the-future-of-stand-up-comedy) ## Seth Meyers, Trevor Noah, Chris Rock and Louis C.K. have all given her platforms After getting fired at her previous job — since she was spending so much time distracted by comedy — she ended up landing a gig with _Late Night with Seth Meyers_ in 2014, mostly working in the writers’ room. She eventually [moved to the _Daily Show_](http://deadline.com/2016/04/the-daily-show-with-trevor-noah-michelle-wolf-contributor-writer-1201731581/) in 2016, popping up onscreen in sketches and continuing as a writer. In her appearances on Trevor Noah’s show, she’s made quick work of finding the humor — and political commentary — in everything from [sexual harassment](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K56EfuG92Tc) allegations to Ivanka Trump’s [approach to feminism](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Kv4F0D210A). “Men don’t know anything that’s going on with women. You think you understand vaginas because sometimes you put your penis in one. That’s like me saying I understand engineering because I once drove through a tunnel,” she’s joked. And Noah has only had praise for her. “If we’re all normal people, she sees the code of comedy like Neo in _The Matrix,”_ he [told the _Village Voice_](https://www.villagevoice.com/2017/11/30/michelle-wolf-is-the-voice-comedy-needs-right-now/) last year, calling her “pure comedy perfection.” Chris Rock is also a fan: he tapped her to help write for him for his [2017 Oscars](http://time.com/4680665/oscars-2017-political-moments/) hosting gig and has had her [as an opener](https://twitter.com/chrisrock/status/935553304582434816?lang=en) on his 2017 tour. And Louis C.K. also gave her a platform, making her [his opener](http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/theater/comedy/ct-louis-ck-chicago-theatre-ent-0603-20160602-story.html) during his 2016 comedy tour and featuring her as an actor in [his web series](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5425186/fullcredits?ref%5F=tt%5Fcl%5Fsm#cast) _Horace and Pete_. (So chances are, even if you don’t know her face yet, you’ve heard her jokes before.) ## She has plenty of experience with stand-up and shows Wolf is a regular at New York City’s famed Comedy Cellar; for a while, she was trying to perform [a show a night](http://splitsider.com/2014/08/balancing-standup-and-writing-for-late-night-with-michelle-wolf/) for years. She also hosted a 2015 web series, [_Now Hiring_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qZLdnDdKf0), which is available on YouTube via Comedy Central. And in 2017 _Michelle Wolf: Nice Lady_ came out on HBO. It’s an hour-long stand-up ride that should give viewers a good introduction to her brand of cutting and timely comedy. In the special, she makes no qualms about satirizing the experience of being a woman in the world today. “I want equal pay — and a chardonnay,” she jokes, deadpan, about her brand of feminism. _Nice Lady_ got [glowing reviews](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/michelle%5Fwolf%5Fnice%5Flady/) from critics, too, and has a 92% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes. ## Netflix just snagged her for a new show The popular streaming giant has added Wolf to their roster of stars, tapping her for a weekly late-night comedy show. Currently it’s still untitled and details are slim on the ground, but we do know that it’s slated to premiere at some point [later this year](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/daily-shows-michelle-wolf-lands-her-own-netflix-late-night-show-1083705). And don’t expect her to filter her jokes: “You can expect the types of jokes my former bosses would tell me we couldn’t do on TV,” she’s said about her Netflix plans. ## She hasn’t hesitated to pull punches on powerful people Wolf has been an advocate of feminist issues and liberal causes, but that hasn’t held her back from speaking her mind on popular personalities. “I do have a theory on why Hillary lost: I think it’s cause no one likes her,” Wolf jokes [in her HBO special](https://www.thedailybeast.com/michelle-wolf-is-the-future-of-stand-up-comedy), going on to elucidate her reasoning: “You _shouldn’t_ like Hillary. She’s a b—h. You have to be a b—h to be that powerful. We’re never going to have a nice lady run for president. Nice ladies aren’t in charge of things, and if you’re in charge of something and you think you’re a nice lady, no one else does.” She’s also not a fan of Caitlyn Jenner (“I still f–king _hate_ your personality”), [Donald Trump](https://twitter.com/michelleisawolf/status/911653168186052608) (“I’d call Trump ‘petty’ but it’s too close to ‘pretty’ and he’s not good enough with words to understand the difference”), [Steve Bannon](https://twitter.com/michelleisawolf/status/898631190919364609) (“At least Steve Bannon already looks unemployed”), or [the NRA](https://twitter.com/michelleisawolf/status/966704887051554816) (“According to the NRA, if you’re worried about the flu, just buy a gun and shoot the flu away”). And then there’s her Twitter, which is equal parts divisive and unifying in its observational humor. > [](https://twitter.com/michelleisawolf/status/954794646571507715) > [](https://twitter.com/michelleisawolf/status/948646158032875520) > [](https://twitter.com/michelleisawolf/status/966541851988815874) > [](https://twitter.com/michelleisawolf/status/898410049801920512) ## Bonus fact: She has a tendency to wear brightly-colored sneakers when performing stand-up. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5170753/white-house-correspondents-dinner-2018-comedian/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5170753/white-house-correspondents-dinner-2018-comedian/"},"headline":"Michelle Wolf Is This Year's White House Correspondents Dinner Host. 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