SNL's Colin Jost to headline the White House correspondents' dinner in April

WASHINGTON — "Saturday Night Live" cast member Colin Jost will be the featured entertainer at April's White House correspondents' dinner, the White House Correspondents' Association announced Friday.

Jost, who began co-anchoring the "Weekend Update" segment in 2014, was previously a writer on "SNL." He also wrote the New York Times bestselling book "A Very Punchable Face."

"His sharp insights perfectly meet this remarkable time of divided politics, and a presidential campaign careening toward a rematch," said WHCA President Kelly O'Donnell, an NBC News senior White House correspondent. "His smart brand of comedy and keen observation will turn up the heat on the national news media and across the political spectrum."

Jost has also been a journalist, as a reporter and editor for the Staten Island Advance newspaper in New York, and he was a writer for The Harvard Crimson, president of the Harvard Lampoon and editor-in-chief of his high school newspaper.

The annual press dinner, which will be held on April 27, is usually attended by the president, the first lady and senior government officials. A comedian often headlines the event and cracks jokes at the expense of both the media and the administration.

The comedian last year was Roy Wood Jr., a correspondent for "The Daily Show." Last year was also the first time a sitting president attended the dinner since Barack Obama in 2016. Donald Trump skipped all WHCA dinners during his term.

The president also often delivers remarks. Last year, President Joe Biden highlighted the detention of Americans abroad, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who has been detained in Russia since March 2023.