Roy Wood Jr. hosted the 2023 White House Correspondents’ Dinner and skewered recently fired cable news hosts Don Lemon and Tucker Carlson.
Wood, who plays a reporter on The daily showhad the crowd laughing Saturday night at the Washington Hilton with jokes about President Biden, Cardi B, Gwyneth Paltrow and the Dominion ballot lawsuit that cost Fox News $787.5 million.
Then he turned his attention to ‘a hole’ Don Lemon and the ‘hated’ magnet Tucker Carlson
Related story: Don Lemon has ‘no regrets’ after CNN exit: ‘I’m not looking back’
Both Lemon and Carlson were fired from their cable news hosting jobs on Monday morning. While the two worked for different networks, Wood said they were both frequently plagued by “scandals.”
“Tonight, we are all united by one thing, and it’s scandal,” joked the comedian. “Scandals have devoured careers this year.”
“Don Lemon released a statement saying he was fired from CNN, and then CNN released a statement saying they offered Don a reunion,” Wood said. “They had to part ways because Don Lemon can’t even accurately report a story about Don Lemon.”
“Letting Don go was a bad decision,” he added. “You shouldn’t have let him go, not so soon CNN. First of all, Don was fine when you let him drink, you shouldn’t have cut him off. You don’t fire your host after the first two scandals. The scandals piled up. You need to get the notes. Yes, Don Lemon was a diva and he said two women had their faces ragged. But it’s a promotion at Fox News!
The comedian compared Carlson to Vanderpump Rules star Tom Sandoval, who was caught cheating on his longtime girlfriend and co-star Ariana Madix with their co-star, Raquel Leviss.
“Tucker got caught up. I was caught like this guy from Vanderpump RulesWood joked. ” I do not know what Vanderpump Rules is on point, I’ve watched it many times. My friends told me it was like BMF but for white people. Where is it Succession? No, Succession East Power for whites. No, Tucker Carlson is Power for whites. No, it’s white power, you know what, too bad.
Wood urged President Biden to push for Carlson to get his job back.
“We have to get Tucker Carlson back on the air, Mr. President, because right now there are millions of Americans who don’t even know why they hate you,” he said with a laugh.
He also took aim at Fox News.
“Fox claimed that Dominion conspired with the Democrats to rig the (2020) election. Democrats should be flattered to think you were smart enough to rig an election,” he joked.
The rally was broadcast live on C-SPAN. The annual event is held to support the White House Correspondents Association and to raise scholarships for aspiring journalists, the WHCA says on its website.
The dinner was attended by President Joe Biden, First Lady Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, cable news stars and celebrities such as Gayle King, Sunny Hostin, Rosario Dawson, Chrissy Teigen and John Legend, Winnie Harlow, Ego Nwodim, Brittney Griner and Cherelle Griner, Jerry O’Connell and reality TV stars Lisa Vanderpump and Ariana Madix.
Watch the video of Wood’s comments below:
