Washington’s red carpet will be low on movies stars this year. A source with The Hollywood Reporter claims to know why: politicians often act like little kids.
Stars feel smothered at the esteemed White House Correspondents’ dinner, where “people act like a bunch of kids at the Kids’ Choice Awards,’” a source told the Hollywood Reporter on Thursday.
“There are way too many A-listers who have had pretty weird experiences at the dinner. A lot of the people who have gone say they’ll never do it again,” the source said. “The room is so crowded. It’s uncontrolled. There’s no limit to the number of people trying to get photos and autographs — and there’s no way to hide from it. It’s like the stars are animals in a cage.”
While the Washington Post reported that the reduction of celebrities at the dinner is a deliberate move by the organizers to put more focus on the journalists who cover the White House, the unnamed source said the lack of stars shows that the glamour of the event has “faded dramatically.”
A few years ago a woman bared her breasts to Ben Affleck as he walked into the men’s restroom. He has not attended the dinner since, the source told The Hollywood Reporter.
Sources say that the unwanted attention often comes from the correspondents’ dates.
One previous attendee told the celebrity news source that attendees at the dinner are infatuated with anyone with a claim to fame.
“People on reality TV shows are walking around like they’re the secretary of state – and they’re actually getting their pictures taken with the real secretary.”
Robert De Niro will be attending the dinner this year to promote a documentary on his artist father.
• Kellan Howell can be reached at khowell@washingtontimes.com.
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