Seth Meyers says he was ‘disappointed’ by WHCA’s response to Michelle Wolf performance

Late night host Seth Meyers said he was “very disappointed” by the White House Correspondents’ Association’s (WHCA) response to comedian Michelle Wolf’s routine at the group’s annual dinner in April. 

Speaking to Variety magazine, Meyers said he was unsurprised by conservatives’ furious reactions to Wolf’s monologue, which offered biting criticism of White House officials, politicians and journalists.

.@sethmeyers addresses the controversy surrounding @michelleisawolf‘s #WHCD hosting sting: “You would think the people who asked you to do it would have your back” https://t.co/opIbmx1v27 #PathToParity pic.twitter.com/OrzaCjj66f

— Variety (@Variety) June 6, 2018

But the response from the WHCA — a statement expressing regret for inviting Wolf — was unexpected, Meyers said.

“The least you would think that the people who asked you to do it could do was have your back,” Meyers told Variety.

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After Wolf’s performance at the dinner, WHCA President and Bloomberg reporter Margaret Talev distanced the organization from the comedian, saying that her monologue “was not in the spirit” of the values the dinner represents.

“Last night’s program was meant to offer a unifying message about our common commitment to a vigorous and free press while honoring civility, great reporting and scholarship winners, not to divide people,” Talev said. “Unfortunately, the entertainer’s monologue was not in the spirit of that mission.”

Meyers, who hosted the dinner in 2011, said the WHCA should have expected Wolf’s monologue to be what it was. The comedian, who previously worked as a writer on Meyers’s NBC show, “Late Night with Seth Meyers,” is known for her raunchy and no-holds-barred style. 

“Anyone who’s ever watched Michelle even a little bit knew that that’s what she was going to do with the White House Correspondents’ dinner,” Meyers said. “It was a little bit like, ‘Huh, did you hear what happened? We brought home a bobcat as a domestic pet, and it did not go well.’”