Thursday, March 28, 2024

White House Correspondents Celeb Pageant Is a Tax Free Org, Lost $50K in 2011

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After that huge pageant last night from the Washington Hilton with Conan O’Brien, President Obama and scads of celebs, guess what? It’s a tax free event. The White House Correspondents Association is a 501 (c) 3, a charitable organization. According to its most recent From 990, filed in February 2012, the WHCA pays its leader, Julia Whitson a little more than it gave away in scholarships to budding journalists in 2011. That was $107,279 for Whitson, and $100,500 for the scholarships. Their total assets at the end of 2011: $322,750.

The WHCA seems to finish every year in the red. In 2010 it was $35,800. In 2011, it was $8447. The 2011 WHCA actually somehow lost $50,735 according to the report. That’s the one hosted by Seth Meyers and had jokes about Donald Trump. “Mad Men” star Jon Hamm attended. (Where were all the “Mad Men” this year? And where was Trump?)

This year’s dinner, with its long guest lists of B level stars, had some unsuual bedfellows for politics. The notoriously anti-gay Fox News, for example, hosted “Milk” screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, “X Men” director Bryan Singer, and “X Men” star Sir Ian McKellen–all very gay. Fox News’s stand on gay marriage, etc, was probably not discussed. I’ve scoured the internet and haven’t had found any pictures of those guests with either Bill O’Reilly or Roger Ailes, either.

 

 

 

Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.
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