Wanda Sykes has reported that she will be the featured performer at this year’s White House Correspondents Dinner, scheduled for May 9. Sykes will be – I’m guessing – the first openly gay person to headline the 89-year-old event.
If the news hounds are looking for relevance at this year’s dinner, they’ve found two of the year’s biggest news topics (African Americans and gay marriage), all in one woman.
(Sykes talks about both in this interview on the topic, in the current issue of The Advocate. It’s also The Advocate‘s photo at right.)
The black-tie dinner is an annual event, and it’s expected that President Obama will not only attend, but perform his own comedy routine, in the the tradition of previous presidents.
“The first thing I did when they asked me to do this gig — I made sure my taxes were paid,” quipped Sykes, taking a dig at the withdrawal of former U.S. Sen. Tom Daschle from Obama’s cabinet due to unpaid taxes.
Sykes is a DC native who worked for the National Security Agency for 5 years. Hopefully her insider’s view will help her to aim a few jokes under the Beltway.
Sykes, 44, announced last year at a Sacramento rally in opposition of Proposition 8 that she is gay, and married to a woman.
Sykes appears on “The New Adventures of Old Christine,” and first made a name on TV with stints on “The Chris Rock Show” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”
Last year’s dinner featured Craig Ferguson, of CBS’s The Late Show, and Bush conducting the Marin Corps Band.
Look at what a difference less than 100 days can make.
Here’s Sykes on the bailout plan:
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