I guess I have no idea what’s going on anymore. When I wrote up that story about the White House Correspondents’ Dinner yesterday, in the early morning, I saw that all of the Deplorables were in full meltdown mode, whinging and crying about how the most powerful woman in the world, a minor comedian whom I had barely heard of, punched down and “attacked” all of the President’s Wingnuts (sidenote: All the President’s Wingnuts will be the title of the next Trumper book). I thought the story would last for a few hours into Sunday and then die as twenty other catastrophes swarmed. I thought that only a handful of journalists were really going to choose performative outrage towards Michelle Wolf. How wrong I was.
What ended up happening was a 36-hour full-fledged scandal about… a comedian who was hired to tell jokes. Who got up and told jokes. I have to wonder if the outrage would be this intense if the comedian was a dude? But if the comedian was a dude, half those jokes wouldn’t have landed like they did. Was Michelle Wolf harsh and obscene? YES. And that’s why her set was f–king priceless. This presidency is harsh and obscene, so birds of a feather. Anyway, because everything is bullsh-t, the White House Correspondents’ Association actually released a g–damn statement about Wolf’s set.
#WHCA Statement to Members on Annual Dinner pic.twitter.com/8DKoHNxpNi
— WHCA (@whca) April 30, 2018
No, seriously: WTF is happening here? Why all the pearl-clutching? Why are being told that Sarah Huckabee Sanders – a flaming a–hole who spews lies for a fascist white supremacist – is the real victim here, and that Michelle Wolf is somehow the biggest mean girl that all of DC’s sensitive souls have ever encountered?
The ❄️❄️❄️ response to @michelleisawolf is blowing my mind. If you're offended by a comedian mocking our sadistic rulers maybe shut up forever about college students and their safe spaces.
— Michelle Goldberg (@michelleinbklyn) April 29, 2018
where was this sisterhood of the traveling journalistic outrage during the 2016 campaign
— shauna (@goldengateblond) April 29, 2018
Watching a wife and mother be humiliated on national television for her looks is deplorable. I have experienced insults about my appearance from the president. All women have a duty to unite when these attacks happen and the WHCA owes Sarah an apology.
— Mika Brzezinski (@morningmika) April 29, 2018
If reporters and others were offended by Michelle Wolf—fine. But after rationalizing vicious insults for two years, all Trump supporters have forfeited all claims of outrage.
— Jonathan Alter (@jonathanalter) April 29, 2018
Photos courtesy of Getty.
Because she told the nonpartisan truth about corporate jounalism?
This!!!!
Exactly.
CORRECTAMUNDO!
Also, everyone projecting hard on SHuckS looks, whoopsie.
Because she is a woman and also I believe some tears are specifically because people often mistake her for a mixed woman (WOC) which she is not she is white
Oooooooh I didn’t think of this but you are RIGHT.
She’s a WOC? I had absolutely no idea. Where did you find this out? (She’s so little known, or was till the other night, that I have no idea how you’d get that info. ) Also, I thought she was alarmingly unfunny—but nowhere NEAR as alarming as the state of our nation and its president. Michelle’s major “sin” was to say what many around the world are thinking.
@ Anika
I specifically said she is NOT a WOC but is often mistaken for one , again IMO this is where some of the tears are coming from (some people are actually assuming she is black/mixed on SM )
This 100%. They are outraged that a WOMAN is calling them out. It’s the same reason 56% of white women voted for Trump. No matter how progressive people think they are, they still pull out those tired “Women must support other women” tropes. Women are not allowed to speak truth to power without being called shrill, ugly, and disgusting. If a man had done this routine, we would have gotten some complaints, but people wouldn’t have gone nuclear knickers in a twist.
Bingo
This ! And it tells us something about the state of the 4th power when you need comedians to be the ones to tell the truth.
Yup.
Yes. Jon Stewart was incensed about Fox News, calling them Bullshit Mountain ages and ages ago. Being dismissed as “just a comedian” must have been hard for him.
Stephen Colbert was the first person to call GW Bush and a compliant media out on the Iraq war at a WHCD. After he did, the floodgates opened. MSM maybe trying to stop that from happening again.
It was a thing of beauty. Go see it on YouTube.
@Esmom I don’t think he was angry being dismissed as just a comedian – he was disgusted that it took a comedian to be the one pointing this stuff out and then ripped Tucker Carlson a new one when Carlson flipped out about Stewart’s appearance on MTP because he was having an actual discussion about issues instead of just telling jokes like a comedian
Exactly! She spoke an uncomfortable truth to the people who control the story.
The dinner is to celebrate the relationship between the press and the administration, but WHY SHOULD WE BE CELEBRATING THIS RELATIONSHIP?
There is NO relationship between the admin. and the press, unless you count Faux News! That is what the problem is. As in any Fascist/Autocratic government, one of the first steps is to discredit a free press. I see little difference in what Dump is trying to do, crying “Fake News!” all the time, and calling reporters liars! Suckabee IS a liar, and actively spouts lies from the podium. And she has no shame in doing so. Michelle Wolf just told it like it is.
Our Founding Fathers were more afraid of a compromised press than coerced religion. Now we can see why.
YES.
Michelle nailed the relationship when she talked about the press creating the monster and then profiting off of it. And no one likes to be called out by the help…….
Good. For. Her.
Because when they go low, we go high….or are supposed to. The real issue is that the WHCD is a joke and has needed to be reformatted for a long time. I think that will actually happen now, which is a good thing.
Why is it a joke? It’s been a legit event for more than 100 years. I guess I side eye people questioning the event at the same time Trump and his minions are trashing norms and denouncing the press.
“The real issue is that the WHCD is a joke…”
No, no, no.
Since 1983, the speaker has been a comedian who roasts the president and his administration. Please do not accuse anyone of “going low” when this has been a tradition for nearly 4 decades!!!!
Satire and humor plays an incredibly important role in democracy and a free press.
You must have missed Stephen Colbert eviscerate GW Bush at a time when no one would speak out against him. After 9/11, to speak out against the Iraq war was to be complicit with terrorists. It is a great thing, speaking truth to power. Sadly, we need comedians to do it for us.
Amen and for the sin of being female. I’d be mad if she wasn’t hilarious, but she was spot on.
And none of ’em are gonna say it, but I think a lot of these access journos were veeeery uncomfortable with Wolf’s targeting Trump’s image of wealth as a front. Publications that do a Who’s Who of rich people, like Forbes (which got conned by Trump in the past), make money off selling us plebes supposed glimpses into the lives of the rich, as do fashion mags and society publications. If the hoi polloi get the notion that a substantial fraction of these rich people are actually hugely overextended and financing their lifestyles with other people’s money and unstable pyramids of debt, maybe those stories won’t be so tantalizing and sell so well and drive so many clicks anymore. And maybe those shiny “rich” people won’t be so interested in posing for glossy pics and lifestyle puff pieces. There’s a whole sector of the journalism industry (or, in this case, “journalism”) built on sycophantic symbiosis with the ostensible rich, and it’s axiomatic not to question the sources of funds for their lifestyle.
Oh, and I don’t think they liked being called out for acting as a platform for transmitting Kellyanne’s lies, either.
That and because she’s a woman.
She spoke truth to power. This is the real reason she is being skewered. Chaplain Conroy was also skewered for speaking truth to power. If speaking truth to power in the US is no longer safe; then we have no freedom of speech and have lost our liberties. All b/c of old white people being racist, misogynistic an xenophobic. All things normalized under this horrid person who holds the office of the President.
The greatest threat to despots is truth.
It’s insane that anyone was outraged by Michelle Wolf when they condone trump – Mika included. She and Joe acted pally with trump well into him assuming the presidency.
Journalists and media personality who act outraged are upset because Michelle called them out for profiting on trump, for using him to sell their product. She was right, they know it, and they are pretending to be upset.
Michelle made a joke about Mika and Joe being metoo with a happy ending. So her faux outrage has a personal reason.
Bingo! All this faux outrage has distorted her actual jokes, which were aimed at several complicit folks.
Mika was also “Me, me, me” as she admittedly referenced her faux outrage through her own lens of how she had been insulted by the Rump.
No sympathy Mika, no sympathy.
I finally had time to watch this video – and I kept waiting for something outrageous to happen, or lines to get crossed drastically….
… and it never happened.
She was FUNNY. I loved this. The only thing that I felt slightly awkward watching was when SHS chin started to kind of quiver and it looked like she was fighting tears. But it wasn’t awkward because I felt BAD for her. It was only awkward because I’m sitting there watching a grown woman who lies so much get decimated by some comedic criticism. I thought it was going to be brutal, but it really wasn’t.
It’s so bizarre to me that this was an issue. Because I’ve heard worse – this was someone who played up the awkward a bit, and kind of hit at everyone. I thought she did a great job and I LOVED her suit with the lace.
I watched it live and could not understand the complaining that began immediately after her routine. This event’s comedy has always been like the 1970s era celebrity roasts. It’s very biting.
For someone who is regularly rude and condescending, I think Sarah seems very thin-skinned. Those jokes could have been much worse.
Completely agree Erinn. I was waiting for the oh no that’s too far but never came. She did her job well. It was a roast.
So hypocritical of these trumpettes.
The Ann Coulter pile on from someone else’s roast was way more brutal.
PPP – I assume you mean the “hatchet face” mess? I took too much joy in that one. But you’re right – this was nowhere near that.
@Erinn: yeah, I felt similarly to Jewel. As a feminist, these comments are awful! As a hater of Anne Coulter, they’re delightful!
I thought Sanders and Conway looked like five year olds who had just been caught doing something that are not supposed to. A mix of disappointment, guilt, and shame.
She said nothing bad about Huckabee’s looks at all, she just called her out for lying which is fair game. Michelle was funny!
I personally think Michelle Wolfe deserves a Pulitzer Prize more than whoever is going to get it this year.
You know why it was awkward and painful at times? Because roasts are mostly about caricaturing people. This is just everyday reality, it wasn’t exaggerated. SHS ís exactly like she described. Trump actually says and does these things she described. It’s almost impossible to enlarge these traits they have. They already are caricatures of the roles they play. You could just describe any of these people and it would be funny as hell. That is if it wasn’t the truth.
Because the media tends to act like republicans when they get held accountable for their role in what’s currently going on. They don’t like to hear that they were complicit before during the election and they certainly don’t push back at all now. Some of them have sources that are high ranking officials.
So they are mad because they are complicit.
I think the part they hated the most is when she told them they created this monster.
And are still profiting off him, and failing their positions by focusing on legitimate scandals and not some porn star mistress bullshit. They should choose one thing, the worst thing, and promote it the way they promoted Hillary’s damn e-mails.
Question: Why is Michelle Wolf’s WHCD roast still so friggin’ controversial?
Answer: Because she’s got lady parts.
As far as we may have come in this last year .. people still like the folks with lady parts to be pretty and quiet. They don’t like it when women stand up and point out truth/injustice/inequality etc… Makes them uncomfortable. Makes them feel their foundation is rocky.
Women should be pretty and quiet and they should unify.
Yep, this right here!
THIS.
Nothing in her comments was that awful, especially by the standards of this dinner. This is a prime example of a bunch of people who can dish it out but cannot take it AT ALL.
You summed it up. I watched it live, and cannot understand all the uproar. She obviously hit several nerves. The “poor Sarah” deflection kept a lot of her other points out of the news cycle.
It wasn’t so much comedy as opposed to stating facts.
Exactly! How any one of these hypocrites have the gall to sit there and feign outrage when they stay silent about what this “president” has said about people just on his twitter account alone is infuriating. And the fact that they have a platform to do it is frightening. People who aren’t following politics closely and just skim must really have a warped sense of what is really going on with our country. This is really scary stuff. How can anyone take this seriously I’m looking around waiting for candid camera to pop out.
Answer: Because she has agency, and there is nothing more threatening to the knuckle -dragging, mouth-breathing segment of the male population, and the craven women who support them.
Truth. Women aren’t allowed to be as raunchy or sharp as men. You could take the exact same joke, and guaranteed, people are going to think it’s way more provocative or offensive if a woman says it.
Omg! What did Suckabee and the snowflakes think would happen at a roast? Comedians jobs are to make jokes, and that’s what happened. Not everyone likes to be made fun of, but that’s part of being at a roast. Same happens every year. This was nothing near as mean as the comments Trump tweets or says everyday.
I took the smokey eye thing as a joke about how the Mooch made Suckabee get a hair, makeup and clothing makeover
This last part of Wolf’s comment: “Like, maybe she’s born with it; maybe it’s lies.” is a take off on an old Maybelline campaign : “Maybe she’s born with it, maybe it’s Maybelline”. Gotta laugh at yourself sometimes or life will always be miserable.
I thought that line was hilarious, but do you think most people got the Maybelline reference? I just can’t work out what they are so worked up about. I think maybe this Huckerbee stuff is a red herring; they are all just annoyed they got called out HARD.
Yes I do think many people got that reference. That tagline was employed for ages, probably decades.
And yes I agree the Huckabee outrage is disingenuous and misplaced.
so, she didn’t really mock her LOOKS, just her make up, right? I mean, there’s plenty there to mock, looks wise…but all she did was mock the smoky-eye, right?
considering the deplorables wore shirts that LITERALLY said “F*CK YOUR FEELINGS”, I don’t have any sympathy for these people. and ZERO for Sanders.
I read the looks thing is about Michelle Wolf saying she loved SHS in the role of Aunt Lydia. I took this to mean you’re a woman who is complicit in an administration that is actively trying to harm other women.
Frankly, I think it’s telling that people are interpreting it as a criticism of SHS’s appearance; it’s almost like they think the only thing that matters is how a woman looks, and so any criticism of a woman must be linked to her physical appearance.
ETA: Also, Ann Dowd is a national treasure. She’s terrifying and upsetting as Aunt Lydia, but you can’t say that a comparison to the woman is a criticism. I should be so lucky as to be as awesome as Ann Dowd.
It wasn’t even about the make up (which is fine, she does wears it just fine)- it was all about her love of lying on the daily.
Exactly, NoSoSocial.
The “smokey eye” joke’s set up was that she was using ***burned up lies*** as eye shadow! The joke wasn’t that she wears make-up, it was that she is a constant liar.
Yeah, I was floored at all the faux outraged commentary yesterday too. It. was. a. roast.
Most disturbing, it’s this kind of outrage that could propel Trump into another term. Because that’s apparently how politics works now. It’s all about “owning the libs” and nothing else.
Eh. I wouldn’t give the Deplorables that much credit. 45’s approval rating has been hovering around 40% since he was elected. I think the people who are still hanging on won’t be deterred by anything anyone does or says about their “populous” hero. Remember that these people like to use threats of a second term for Trump as a means to silence critics on the Left. We can’t admonish people for speaking truth to power just because we fear that this could agitate or mobilize his crazy-ass base.
And I’m not saying that’s what *you* are doing, Esmom, just speaking generally.
“Remember that these people like to use threats of a second term for Trump as a means to silence critics on the Left. We can’t admonish people for speaking truth to power just because we fear that this could agitate or mobilize his crazy-ass base.”
Applause Kitten. Thank you for saying this. It needs to be shouted from the rooftops, especially at the media and anyone that is running for office in every jurisdiction, down to small-town tickets for the most menial of offices. Fear should not deter anyone from going full-on against Trump and his base, that is what they want. This type of fear leads to loss of democracy.
Exactly, Jules.
I hear you, Kitten and Jules. I definitely wasn’t suggesting admonishing anyone who speaks truth to power, just expressing the general fear, frustration and discouragement I feel these days.
I hope it’s true that Trump’s support isn’t growing. On a hopeful note, I just found out this weekend that my lifelong conservative Republican dad absolutely despises Trump.
it’s not just the deplorables – I’m seeing “progressive” folks who get all pissy when you point out that the argument Sanders was attacked for her appearance holds no water. Then they flip to how much of it was just mean talk pointing out her heinous lies and personal, anti-woman/”Christian” politics. Personally, I found some of it funny and a lot of it was just pointing out the obvious about Sanders with a sneer and, IMNSHO, the smokey eye joke fell flat for me because I didn’t really see the make up tie in to Sanders (if she had a make up company, or had been a model or notoriously praised for her eye shadow/liner – the joke would have been hysterical to me but without that it just seemed a disconnected way to try to land a joke to point out Sanders’ tells bold-faced lies for the administration). It was mean to “humiliate” her by just standing there pointing out what she, proudly, does for a living while supporting an administration and a party hell-bent on ruining the country – she was humiliated because she was right there as a captive audience. The format has always been a roast so Sanders should have been prepared to take as much as Spicey did
The irony of the RWNJs going nuts on this though, is astounding. The reason most right wing comedy falls flat is because their idea of a great “joke” is one where they say “he believes X” with a nasty tone which they find uproariously hysterical – except when the tables are turned on them and those are the bits of Wolf’s routine that they are most pissed about.
Michelle Wolf went pretty easy on the disgusting excuses for human beings currently in the White House. Sanders knowingly lies to protect the sex pest and his dirty old past-it men, therefore disrespecting those she really should be serving: the public. So does the Conway lizard. Maybe the WHC are just a tad ashamed because they or their masters fell into the trap of covering Trump so uncritically during the campaign, allowing him mountains of free column inches and hours of free air time. They were distracted by the circus, the emails aka the phony war. It’s become abundantly clear that comics have brought razor sharp critique to Trump’s administration, not seasoned journalists. How embarrassing for the latter.
She was hired to offer a unifying message? Michelle Wolf was there to roast the administration and the press and she did an amazing job. She talks about the eye make-up of SHS and THAT crosses the line? She divided the country with her roast?
I can’t eat as much as I want to vomit!
Yeah I don’t see how talking about her eye make up was making fun of her looks. Of course this response wouldn’t be as big if Michelle was a man. I mean look at what the right has called certain women (Chelsea Clinton, Hilary Clinton, Rosie O’Donnell), and yet what Michelle said was too far?
I think those who were invited were incredibly sensitive this year. The jokes that got actual laughs were mostly aimed at democrats. The audience were pretty straight faced through most of it, while I thought she killed it.
A few people on Twitter said that maybe the comparison to Ann Dowd in Handmaid’s Tale was the real dig at her looks. But they also astutely pointed out that it would also be a slam on Ann Dowd’s looks, lol.
Clearly she was calling out Sanders’ character (or lack thereof), not her looks.
@Esmom: you can tell that the folks who think that haven’t seen the show, SHS included. Did you see her response on FB? It was so weird. They clearly assumed that the joke must be about SHS looking like Ann Dowd, which would actually be an insult to Ann.
Bridget, I didn’t see her response but it’s depressing to think that all this outrage is based on a comparison that people don’t even get because they don’t read.
FWIW, some people heard “burns fat” instead of “burns facts”. The audio could’ve been better.
I do think it’s worth acknowledging though that there are anti-Trump people who legitimately were uncomfortable with it. Not everyone believes one should stoop to his level and fight fire with fire.
I’m not sure where I sit on it, but I’ve never enjoyed roasts period. I usually think they go too far, so it’s a weird thing to see a roast where the barbs felt deserved for once.
I thought she was hilarious. I also don’t get the handwringing about mocking women’s looks. she made a comment about SHS’s eye makeup. She didn’t mention anything specifically about her body, face, hair, etc. Just her eye makeup. And “maybe she’s born with it, maybe its built on lies” was pretty brilliant.
I just don’t understand the idea where Democrats are supposed to listen to everyone – from Trump on down – mock, degrade and insult people – and if someone does it back to them, even in a satirical way, its the WORST THING EVER.
who are the snowflakes again?
Do we all remember when Laura Bush made a joke about W j**king off a horse? Watch this clip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQ3HIozYPJs&app=desktop
And read Kathy Griffin’s twitter feed. I know some people don’t like her, but she was in that room and nailed it perfectly.
https://twitter.com/kathygriffin/status/990651595905028096
Yes, Kathy’s take was spot on.
Just RT’d. Thanks for linking to that. Kathy really did say it all.
Awesome. Way to go Kathy.
The only reason SHS was there to be made fun of is because Trump couldn’t sack up and attend himself. Cadet Bone Spurs once again ran away from the line of fire.
Exactly.
He sent a woman to do a man’s job. Imagine that.
Because she called out their love/hate hard on for trump. And she served their complicity in our national nightmare as the main course of the dinner. Anyone who thinks she was making fun of SHS looks is either an idiot or being willfully obtuse. And it’s the later that I suspect. Anyone who sat through years of Chris Christy fat jokes without a peep needs to sit down. CNN this morning was vomit inducing. At least Cuomo noted the hypocrisy, but his side kick clutched her pearls all morning and indulged some old white dude complaining that his poor flower of a wife had to leave because she was so distressed. The media can miss me with their faux outrage. (I could have lived without to abortion joke but as an adult I can deal with jokes I don’t find funny)
Alisyn ended up joining in with Chris telling the guy how wrong and hypocritical he is. No matter how many ways they pointed out how much worse Trump comments are, Matt Schlapp (the guy who walked out of the whcd with his wife) just pivoted back to how bad Wolfs abortion joke was , and he wasn’t sure Trump was really making fun of the disabled reporter
Schlapp is the same dude who said Michael Steele shouldn’t have helmed the RNC because he was black. He and his emotionally disturbed wife also hightailed it to the MSNBC/NBC after party. He can’t STFU & STFD!
personally, I didn’t think the abortion joke was a good joke/funny but you would have thought Wolf told that joke about someone who had a miscarriage (which would have legitimately been outrageous) from the reaction to it and the comments
How can people be this upset? Its just locker room talk y’all. I’m so sick of people acting like this is a normal Presidency. Good for her for calling it like this. The press should be doing their job and be outraged by the things that are going on. Wht aren’t they? Are they afraid to lose access? As for Michelle, It was a roast ffs. The whole point of it is to tease and make jabs at the President. How can they be outraged after what what trump has said and done
Good call Snowflake. I think “it’s just locker room talk” is the perfect and appropriate response for anybody that is outraged and offended by her roast.
Mika is pissed about her MeToo moment being mentioned. Michelle Wolf was about behavior not looks on SHS.
Mika is also pissed because when Wolf called out the media repeating one of the few accurate statements Trump has made (he is ratings gold for them), it hit harder on her & her fiancee who helped the Trump campaign and tried to have it both ways
You know what the problem with the WHCD right now ,is the media. They need to stop covering themselves and get back to reporting on what Trump is doing to deconstruct our democracy and target marginalized communities.
I said this yesterday and I will say it again. Michelle Wolf called the MSM out on their glossing of a sick turd running for president and then she called the MSM out for profiting from this “presidency.”
They report on every distracting and vile tweet Emperor Zero puts out, never calling him out on Rocket Man, Lyin James Comey, Crooked Hillary, and all the Obama slanders. Plus every insanity he said during the election cycle and transition.
I mean…really
Who’s gas-lighting whom?
Exactly. And as people pointed out, Wolf was joking. Trump never is.
What is MSM?
Mainstream media
I think it’s a slippery slope when one starts to justify poor treatment of *anyone* because of what they believe is different than the person receiving it.
It was a roast. She was hired to poke fun at these people. It’s a f%$king tradition. None of this was new.
I dig it, but then that has to be applied to all situations. The next step in that way of thinking would be it’s perfectly acceptable to shun others for different beliefs, no matter where you fall politically.
I’m not sure what you’re talking about. You’re implying there’s some sort of double standard but this dinner has always been a roast, no matter what party’s in power or who the POTUS is.
@D- So what you’re saying here is that comedy shouldn’t exist? As Esmom pointed out, this is absolutely no different than a traditional roast. Roasts are not meant to be kind or polite. The objective is to push the boundaries and make people feel uncomfortable and hopefully inspire a few laughs.
Michelle did her job–she achieved that.
@D, I’m not sure what you’re talking about either. Do you know what a roast is? No matter what party the president and administration are from, or if they’re popular or hated, they get made fun of during a whcd roast. This dinner and it’s roast have been a tradition for a long, long time, so these people should’ve known what was coming. People like Suckabee and Conjob deserved a harsher roast than Michelle gave, and there plenty about them to say. Oh, boo hoo! She’s a mom and wife, so don’t say she tells lies and has smokey eye makeup!
@D, there are certain beliefs which are so poisonous to society that I am very happy to shun people over them. Nazis, white supremacists, fascists — eminently shun-worthy. If they don’t want to be shunned, they can stop spreading ideology that is destroying the aspects of my country that I value most. Karl Popper covered this issue thoroughly in The Open Society and Its Enemies, where he discussed the paradox of tolerance and the necessity “to defend a tolerant society against the onslaught of the intolerant.”
@Esmom I said this above but maybe it’s more appropriate here
The reason most right wing comedy falls flat is because their idea of a great “joke” is one where they say “he believes X” with a nasty tone which they find uproariously hysterical when directed at “libtards” Of course, when the tables are turned with those sorts of jokes directed at one of their own, it’s downright heinous and not funny at all
Some (not all) of Wolf’s routine smacked of that a bit so it didn’t quite land with me but it was far from what is being described in the press and those assailing it on social media
Calling a liar a liar isn’t a slippery slope though. Neither is calling a woman complicit in the mistreatment of other women by the name of a character whose defining feature is that she is complicit in the mistreatment of other women.
SHS absolutely deserves to be nailed to the wall for her every lie, her condescension and every time she has defended or enabled the indefensible behaviour of her boss.
She was let off lightly.
Anyone remember Dan Imus how he tore down Bill and Hillary? Look it up, this was nothing.
And Colbert went after GW Bush and the media after 9/11. He was the first person in this country, I swear, to call him out on lying us into war. Sad when comedians are the ones speaking out.
I wonder what the fallout for her career will be after this? Kathy Griffin went into freefall after her stunt and it may be years before she gets back her popularity.
I bet if Michelle had been a guest on Fox and Friends making jokes about Obama, Hillary , etc there would not be so much outrage
I don’t believe there will be any fall out, as a matter of fact she just got more popular. She is a comedian and that’s what they do. I went on ‘you tune’ and looked up the WHCD and I enjoyed it. I only found 1 jokes not funny, 1) the abortion joke she could have cut that out. Btw, SHS does lie to us every day.
If you haven’t read Kathy Griffin’s analysis of the WHCD on Twitter, I suggest you go over to her feed and read it (she makes 26 points, A-Z (literally! lol), and it’s insightful and on-spot.
OMG, seeing Mika’s outraged about a “wife and mother being humiliated on national tv” 📺 laughable. I watch joe and Mika mostly every day and did not hear her being outraged when the Dotard humiliated Rosey, Hillary, ect, ect, as a matter of fact, I believe Mika hates Hillary. She never had a good word or thing to say about her. Btw, 45 humiliated Mika about having a face lift and bleeding from the face and wanting to join him a Mar a Lago. Mika is full of it, she goes with the wind. I also believe MW was right, that the press, ( including Mika and Joe), created this monster and is making money off him, should just shut up.
Did you see Joe say they weren’t going to talk about the dinner all morning? I guess he knew his fiancée was going to go all holier-than-thou. And it was the longest subject they covered anyway.
Methinks the joke about them set her off, and he probably spent the weekend hearing her take.
I noticed they did not mentioned the joke about them, humm, lol.
Mika has become more pious than the Pope. Give me a break. And Stephanie Rhule is right behind her. So much for daytime MSNBC. They helped create Cheeto.
Lawrence O’Donnell got it right, so I’ll stick with Rachel and him.
BTW, Mika and Joe’s wedding is in May. She’s going to be insufferable as Mrs. Scarborough.
I will be FOREVER amazed…that Mika’s Father is Zbigniew Brzezinski…seriously…I just can’t fathom it when I see and hear MOST of the things she says. It’s SOOOOOO very, very, VERY disappointing!
BEFORE this…I didn’t know who the Michelle Wolf was…last week, I saw a list of things coming to Netflix in May, and I ACTUALLY said aloud…”Harpo, who DIS woman?!?” when they showed her upcoming comedy show…however after what she did Saturday night? I WILL BE SLAMMING DOWN ANYTHING SHE PRODUCES!
she is on Trevor Noah’s show sometimes as correspondent! I love her
She was spot on. I agreed with everything. I wonder if it wasn’t her delivery that is causing some problems? While I agreed with what she said, I found her flat, with almost zero comedic elegance in her delivery.
I think clumsy and dead-pan is her style though.
I think it’s intentional.
Agreed, Kitten, I was going to say the same thing. I get a kick out of that deadpan style, actually.
Michelle broke the first rule of (white) feminism. You shall not call out a powerful white woman’s bs. That’s the real problem.
All those people disgust me with their fake outrage. Trump calls Mexicans drug dealers and rapists, Obama an illegimtate president, and so much more but y’all are offended because of badly applied make up.
And lol at Mika being offended on wives’ behalf. Giiiiiirl, we see you.
THIS!
HIT THE NAIL ON THE HEAD
Meanwhile Trump was in Michigan getting his entire audience to boo Hispanics plus ranting and threatening Senator Tester and other Democrats. Let’s focus on the real threat to our country, the unhinged racist sexual assaulter in chief.
The worst thing about it was it wasn’t funny. I wasn’t outraged at all, I just didn’t laugh.
I found it funny and truthful, I laughed out loud at times. I did not find the dotard saying Meagan Kelly was bleeding from “wherever” and Rosie was a “fat pig” , BO was an illigimate President because he “was not born in the USA”, the Gold Star wife was lying about what he said to her on the phone, those are some of the things I did not find 😄. But reading comments from some of the people who voted for him, they found him very funny, just saying.
I agree. I didn’t find it offensive, and I wasn’t outraged at all, but I didn’t find it funny, and nobody I was with really laughed either. I was surprised it wasn’t that great, because she’s usually really funny when she’s on the Daily Show
I didn’t find any of it funny, either. I think she tried way too hard for someone who is naturally funny.
I thought it was great but I’ll point out that there’s so much pressure to get it right with this event so I can’t blame her for trying hard. I remember hearing an interesting interview with Larry Wilmore about how hard it is to write jokes for this. And as this Huckabee dustup proves, you never know what people are going to seize on.
Exactly. There was no humor in her delivery, to me. Reading the quotes, I laughed. Especially the smoky eye. Killed me. But afterwards, watching the thing, I just didn’t find it funny. Painful, maybe, but not funny.
I didn’t find it funny at all either, and I am absolutely NOT a Trump supporter. I thought it was awkward and did not flow.
I read the transcript, I don’t think it was that outrageous. These people need to grow up.
Michelle’s WHCD is still so “controversial” because the journalists(like Maggie, Mika, And Andrea) and press have fallen into the complicity trap. They are more concerned about their spot in Sarah’s briefings and access to Trump, than in doing the right thing. Michelle was right. The press claim that they dislike Trump, but when given the opportunity they always take his side. Why is the press so scared to call Sarah a liar to her face? Why is the press so scared to hold the Dotard for all of the horrible things he said about others? When the Dotard said that Maxine had a low IQ and insulted another woman’s looks at the GrindIron Dinner, Phillip Rucker said that it was funny. Where was Andrea, Mika, and Maggie’s calls for apologies then?
Michelle’s WHCD is still so “controversial” because the WH controlled the narrative. The WH and Sarah put out the talking points, the bots amplified that message like they have done in every situation, and the press being complicit mimicked the message. Instead of headlines about Flint or Sarah and Kellyannes lies, we were treated with headlines like this: “mean” “crass” “scathing” “vulgar”.
Michelle’s WHCD is still so “controversial” because Sarah directly launched the attack campaign against Michelle. We have witnessed how everyone in that WH leaks nice stories about themselves(Hope leaked that she was the Dotard Whisperer, Kelly leaked that he was the adult in the WH, Melania leaked that she was miserable) and negative stories about anyone who they perceive as a threat(Jared and Ivanka leak negative stories about Kelly). This is what happened with Michelle. Sarah is just as bent on revenge as her boss. When she was making those faces on stage, I wondered if she was on her phone.
Michelle’s WHCD is still so “controversial” because of the bots. When will the press acknowledge the role they are playing in creating division among us. These bots amplified the negative articles about Michelle, attacked her, and were spreading fake news about her.
Michelle’s WHCD is still so “controversial” because there are absolutely no consequences for the Dotard, Sarah, Kellyanne, and his administration. Sarah lies and attacks the press on a daily basis and they reward her by attacking the only person who had enough courage to call her a liar to her face. I have been waiting for months for one WH reporter to tell Sarah to stop lying. They failed. Every day they go into that WH and say nothing when Sarah lies or attacks them.
Michelle’s WHCD is still so “controversial” because the press is afraid to call a lie a lie. It’s like the book 1984, with Sarah being O’Brien.
Because she spoke truth to power. She dared to do so. AND while being a woman! Get me my smelling salts! What have we come to???
Seriously, I thought her speech was great. I’ve watched it three times. And she could have said FAR worse things about Conway and Sanders. She chose to focus on their LIE TELLING.
Totally agree. A few of her jokes was really savage, but they were all truthful. Everyone.single.one. I do believe her gender is a factor in the response.
The pearl-clutching outrage from the Deplorables is unreal. Their idol, Dotard in Chief regularly takes childish potshots at just about everyone and the response from them is “F*ck your feelings, snowflake! Go back to your safe space!” But as soon as they’re in the crosshairs, it’s “OMG the so-called TOLERANT LEFT are bullies!”
They only know how to punch down, whereas comedians know you always punch up.
“…a wife and mother” Who cares that SHS is a wife and mother -that means she should be more protected? Mika and Joe are ridiculous. SHS is a wife, you guys. Can you believe Michelle Wolf said that about a wife? And SHS is also a mother! *faints dead away*
Yes. She is worth more than other women because she is a wife and a mother. I mean, that should be every woman’s first goal in life. Because that becomes your superpower, your protection shield. You can call women whatever you want, unless they are married and have kids. Or if they are WOC or you are the POTUS – then all goes back to “whatever you want”.
Yes, if your uterus has produced offspring, no matter how dreadful you are, you must not be criticized. Unless you are Michelle Obama. Then you can be compared to an animal, called a man, etc.
That is the Republican rule. It’s ok if we do it.
Trump is a husband and father (allegedly).
Never heard anybody say we couldn’t mock him because of that.
It’s actually demeaning to Sarah to claim that she is a delicate flower because she is a wife and mother. She has to deal with raging Trump the Toddler-in-Chief every day. She may be a liar, but she definitely is not a delicate flower. She needs to get a better job and a better boss. And of course, she needs to stop lying.
Guess who isn’t participating in the faux outrage? Guess who didn’t even watch the WHCD? Mueller. Schneiderman. NATO leaders. EU leaders. CIA. FBI. Interpol. SDNY. And the Trumpkins are using Michelle Wolf as a distraction? Good luck with that, traitors.
The thing is the right love to throw around words like “triggered”, but this overreaction is a perfect example of being able to dish it out, but not being able to take it. The most pathetic part is all of these journalists playing respectability politics and demanding an apology. Where was all this personal outrage when Trump was personally attacking the Obama’s, Mexicans, or a disabled reporter?
Emperor Zero thinks he has the power to control the WHCD. He’s tweeted about it three freakin times.
And this is how it starts….
The WHCD will be a conservative event henceforth, with Mother Pence singing a rare but “true” gospel hymn, followed by sketch comedy in blackface with Auntie Coulter. Sean Hannity will MC since journalists are no longer allowed. The night will close with a rally featuring Hair Feuhrer speaking ill of immigrants, Mexicans, and the disabled.
Yay
I’ve seen on twitter that some people think Michelle is a black woman and that’s one of the reasons for their outrage? I’ve seen tweets like, “If a white woman was roasting black people everyone would be outraged but no one cares when a black woman roasts white people.” Which would already be a crazy and ignorant statement, but it is extra double crazy, because Michelle IS white. Anyone else seen this?
Yeah she’s poked fun at her racial ambiguity before on Trevor Noah’s show.
She once said this about so many people thinking that she’s a woman of color:
“Black isn’t just a club you can join. You know how I know I’m white? I can cry myself out of a parking ticket. Hell, I can cry myself out of a murder charge.” But she did have some advice for white people about how to support black culture without pretending to actually be black: “White people can still work with the NAACP. White people can still say ‘Black Lives Matter.’ White people can listen to Lemonade and also be mad at Jay Z.”
Even liberals on the news are whining. This is why we lose, over and over. Republicans kick our teeth down our throats and are destroying our democracy but then the Snowflakes whine about a Comedian saying mean things.
FFS
“This is why we lose, over and over.” As Michelle said, Democrats will find a find to screw the midterm elections up.
I’m not American, but I do wonder if and how the US is coming back from this.
“Even liberals on the news are whining. This is why we lose, over and over.” Agree 100% and I am so sick of this. Of course the hypocritical deplorables are clutching their pearls in faux outrage over this but why is anyone else! Democracy in this country is in peril, hate crimes on the rise, women’s reproductive rights are in jeopardy and we’re all getting crazy over an eyeshadow joke? Come on!! ]
In fact MW’s best line was about Dems messing up in the midterms and losing to a Jeff Pedophile Nazi doctor. And they will if they don’t cut this sh*t out.
Yup. And we have to get every single person we know and don’t know who is sane registered and to the polls. I’m donating a few weeks to this this summer.
Oh shut the hell up, Mika. Being a “wife and mother” certainly hasn’t protected the dozens of black mothers being asked to answer for police murdering their children, so a scheming white woman who openly lies as a spokesperson for the government ain’t getting that respect out of me.
I thought Michelle Wolf was magnificent. She finally said what needed to be said and hit the nail on the head.
It’s funny ’cause it’s true.
Truth. We need more of it.
The brutality of her truth is even more pronounced by the WHCA’s statement that they are backpedalling and backing down for fear of ruffling feathers. That is a complete contradiction to their commitment to “a vigorous and free press”.
Ugh.
I didn’t see how this routine was anymore controversial than when Stephen Colbert roasted George Bush and Bush was sitting mere feet from him. If you go back and watch that routine, it was even more uncomfortable than watching Michelle Wolf. I laughed at certain parts of her speech. The only uncomfortable part was the Sarah Huckabee Sanders, but I don’t really feel sorry for any woman who willingly works for the Trump Administration. The host gig for this event is difficult, Washington has never been good at laughing at itself and takes itself way too seriously. Larry Wilmore was also heavily criticized for his speech and for using the N word at the end of it. This isn’t the first time a host has heavily ruffled feathers, but because a woman hosted this year it’s getting way more attention because she dared bring up controversial subjects.
Colbert was the first public person to call Bush out on his lies that led to the Iraq War. That was brutal. I loved his line also about the people at the dinner writing about a hard working journalist, investigating and digging up the truth. Fiction!!
He was brilliant, brutal, and opened the floodgates to criticism of Bush. Maybe Wolf’s routine will do the same.
Anything to push that victim narrative. Narcissistic people are the most sensitive, offended, most victimized, most hurt VICTIMS in all the world. Never mind that they trash others every day–NO–because those others deserve it, but the NARCISSIST deserves total admiration. You will OBEY or Aunt Lydia says, “there will be consequences!”
You’re spot on MoAnne.
Narcissists and gaslighting go hand in hand. Eric mentioned gaslighting, and that’s exactly what this “outrage” is about.
She was hilarious…and all the jokes were basically true. LOL
Trump is going to get a second term because the media lapdogs are going to help hand it to him. I hope I’m wrong but after watching all this fuss over Michelle Wolf, I don’t think I am.
She is AWESOME!, I have been laughing nonstop, so clever and funny and brave!, hahaha
BRAVE in upper case doesnt cover this.
How is it possible that she isn’t more famous??!!!
It’s hard for me to get involved enough to comment on this ‘controversy’ because… why? Nothing she said holds a candle to what oozes out of you know who every minute of every day. And anyone complaining should have been complaining a very long time ago for actual disgusting behavior and grievances in lieu of a comedian’s dinner roast. I can’t roll my eyes far back enough.
There are articles in the New Yorker and on the Guardian that both share great insights as to how this outrage by the WHCA and several journalists hurts the credibility of the media in a time when media credibility is under attack from the very people they are sucking up to by this outrage.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/apr/30/michelle-wolf-sarah-sanders-whcd-critics
That’s exactly what I’ve been thinking about. She read my mind… Or I was reading hers. I find the backlash insulting. Thanks for the link.
I dont think it was controversial.
But the media is playing like it is so they can keep showing the video time and time again.
I think they are getting lots of laughter behind the cameras…
I read on twitter (or here yesterday? It blends….) that they were pretty entertained but want to appear objective to the Trumpsters.
But they laughed pretty hard about it all later. Still doesn’t excuse the hand-wringing by the WHCA lady.
I guess if one must point out the obvious; it was not controversial…..it was simply not humorous, witty or tasteful. But when have those three criteria ever stopped what loosely passes today for “comedians”? Seriously.
It was humorous, witty and tasteful for the venue.
I’m sorry, if you can’t laugh at Pence’s toothbrushing orange juice joke, that’s on you.
She didn’t say a thing about SHS’s looks. Not a thing! (Except the “perfect smoky eye” comment.) And what she said about Kellyanne Conway was arguably harsher. I don’t get the outrage either, but I don’t get anything anymore.
This all seems to be concentrated around her looks, even though any real link to Wolf’s comments relating to looks is dubious, to say the least. But personally, I don’t even see why it’s off the table anyway. I know it’s why SNL doesn’t ‘do’ her more often – I think they are petrified of this critcism of sexism in going after her looks. But meanwhile, they do people like Bannon and Sessions looking like death or an elf all the time. I think she’s fair game – not because she’s ugly – but because I think the rottenness that is at her core frankly makes her look the way she does. She’s a nasty woman whose nastiness has manifested in her face at this point. I say go for it – at least for comics. The rest of us certainly have enough to concentrate on in terms of what bile spews out of her mouth.
And while we are on this topic….Is Joy Reid and her comments regarding LGTBQ funny, appropriate or controversial?
What a bunch of snowflakes…Mika’s response really let me down. And she never made fun of SHS’s looks…I wish someone called my smokey eye “perfect” lol
Remember when Michelle Obama said, “When they go low, we go high?” How quickly we’ve forgotten one of her most memorable messages: always take the high road. Be a source of inspiration and graciousness, don’t just reflect the same negative behavior you’re railing against.
It was a roast.
But May, you have to admit that when Michelle Wolf made the comment that Ivanka has been about as helpful as an empty box of tampons regarding her advocacy for women in this administration, Michelle freakin nailed it.
Mic drop
Boom
She’s not a politician, she’s a COMEDIAN. She’s doing the JOB that she was hired to do. JFC if the White House doesn’t like it then they can hire a juggler next time.
The White House Correspondents Association is a 501 C 3 organization, founded in 1914, that is not affiliated with the White House. The WCHA handles the credentialing process, access to the President and the physical conditions in the White House press briefing rooms. It also provides scholarships to promising journalism students. The White House Correspondents’ Dinner is its most high-profile activity. It’s been a roast since 1983. Over the last 10 to 15 years though, it’s been a hot ticket for Hollywood celebrities to attend and thus, become more of a hot ticket.
As a lifelong investigative reporter, I’d like to see the WHCA be more about roots as a journalism non-profit and less about Hollywood actors and comedians roasting politicians – irrespective of party affiliation. But I know that’s wishful thinking.
May, there is a difference between taking the high road when you can, and refusing to accept abuse.
I love Michelle O, but she and Barack had a fundamental misunderstanding of how to deal with Republicans, who are conscienceless monsters. They went high and got kicked in the teeth, over and over and over. Barack didn’t want to be portrayed as angry. He is a gentleman. So how did that work out? They stole a Supreme Court seat from him as he went high. He should have hung that seat around McConnell’s neck, but he went high. Oh, and we lost. That is what else happened when we went high.
You can’t go high with monsters and bullies. You need to fight back.
Bunch of butt hurt journos. It’s really pathetic.
Because she’s a woman and the opposition has seen, with Trump’s election, that disinformation and propaganda works, especially when the mainstream media is complicit or handicapped by various means. So by misdirecting the conversation to go to town on her words, they force conversation off real issues. It’s classic, old-school political engineering in the hands of the populace, when it used to be mostly in the hands of politicians and big media. You can imagine how some politicians will make use of this. The only thing to do is fight fire with fire.
I want to join Twitter just so I can post a show of support for Michelle. She is a truth teller and a queen!
Me Too!
UGH. Yeah, it was raunchy, but who lets their kids stay up to watch the WHCD? Otherwise, she was fine and probably kinder than they deserved. In retrospect, would we be mad at a comedian who condemned Hitler? Um, no. This was, “We see right through your lying asses” comedy, which made it not pretty but necessary. Thank you, Michelle Wolf, for making them uncomfortable.
She hit the nail on the head so many times and was mostly hilarious. “Maybe she’s born with it, maybe its lies” was awesome! Calling out the press for helping to create the the monster that is our president is true.
However, A few jokes crossed the line for me… the Southwest joke, the abortion comment, and some of the sexual jokes made me really cringe. I wish she had stuck more to the political commentary that she did so well with.
the “get over yourself” generation really can’t…how do you say it…get over themselves.
Her comments about Serena Williams are pretty friggin’ controversial (and friggin’ problematic). Google them.
The coverage of the backlash to that wonderful speech proves the point in the speech about partial treatment of the administration- they’re trying to miss the point.
I think the roast stings even more because Michelle stood up at a self-congratulatory industry function and showed them how bad they are at their jobs- then did their job for them. They KNOW they should ban Conway from TV. They KNOW they should demand SHS be removed from her job because she has zero credibility. They KNOW the President has set a disgusting national professional example with his language and behavior. They know they don’t deserve any adulations for profiting off of a national disgrace.
I’m glad Michelle told the truth. I’m also glad she didn’t go out on a high note, but reminded everyone sitting there smugly about Flint. It’s time someone reminded Kellyanne and Aunt Coulter about Flint and Puerto Rico and that they work for a party full of “pedophile-Nazi-doctors”.
How is referencing a smoky eye now an attack on a woman’s appearance and identity? I ask this as a woman
My dad was discussing the WHCD the other day and how all of the horrible monologue jokes and tasteless comments were part of “the liberal agenda”. I literally had to leave the room. Are people really this unwilling to accept what a HORRIBLE person we have in the White House? And are they too dumb to understand that anything said to MOCK Trump and his cronies isn’t half as bad as what’s come out of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in the last year?
Yes and yes, I guess. Ugh.
I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve left the room, walked away, or hung up as a result of my frustration with a stubborn Trumpster. I don’t know if these people are too embarrassed to admit that they were conned by Trump or if they truly do believe in and support everything he is doing.
One reporter who started the backlash was Maggie Haberman of the NYTimes, who apparently misheard the word “facts” as the word “fat”? She started in on not criticizing someone for their looks. (Fat cow. Miss Piggy…..Oh, wait….) And there was Mika who must not have liked the “metoo” joke about the relationship between her and Joe.
I hope the backlash continues. Because what it is doing is causing people to view the youtube of Michelle Wolfe’s performance. To see what all the shouting is about.
Even those of us who watched it live will want to watch it again to check and see how they missed all the denigrating comments about Sarah. (Crap, there weren’t any I missed.) I know I am probably mean, but I laughed out loud while envisioning Kellyanne stuck under that tree in the woods.
Michelle Wolf can take the criticism and this will bolster her career.
The pussy lady who apologized for the Correspondents Association really should have taken the time to watch some video clips of the person she hired for the event. Michelle’s humor, including her Trump jokes are all over the net. Did Madam President fail in her due diligence?
LOLOLOL….. just like people can’t stop talking about Kanye. GET OVER ALL OF IT. Who gives two shits and why are people giving any attention