Tom Brokaw (FilmMagic)
Tom Brokaw declined his invitation to this year’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner because of Lindsay Lohan.
“Somewhere along the line, it began to freewheel out of control,” the renowned anchorman told Politico about the celeb-filled soiree, “and the breaking point for me was Lindsay Lohan.”
The trouble-making actress was invited as a guest of Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren at the 2012 dinner. Page Six’s Cindy Adams recalled how Lohan disappeared a few times to the bathroom for a cigarette and tipped a bathroom attendant a crumpled $100 and said, “You’re too old to be doing this.”
The dinner has been a tradition since 1920 for journalists who cover the White House and the President. Brokaw said in the Politico interview that he enjoyed attending the event in previous years, especially in 1975 when “Saturday Night Live” stars Chevy Chase and Jim Belushi made appearances.
However, Brokaw said that standards of the red-carpet fete have now fallen so low that his “daughter’s junior prom has more dignity.”
The newsman has been vocal about his distaste for the soiree before. He told NBC’s “Meet the Press” last May, “Look, I think George Clooney is a great guy. I’d like to meet Charlize Theron. But I don’t think the big press event in Washington should be that kind of glittering event where the whole talk is about Cristal champagne, taking over the Italian Embassy, who had the best party, who got to meet the most people.”
He continued, “That’s another separation between what we’re supposed to be doing and what the people expect us to be doing, and I think that the Washington press corps has to look at that.”
This year’s Correspondents’ dinner is scheduled for Saturday and will be hosted by Conan O’Brien with expected stars like Scarlett Johansson, Sofia Vergara and Nicole Kidman.