Roy Wood Jr.’s closing monologue at the 2023 White House Correspondents’ Dinner is a glorious sight to behold. The comedian roasted everyone from President Joe Biden to former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, eliciting a mix of laughter and groans from the crowd of attending journalists.
“Give it up for Dark Brandon,” Wood opened, a reference to President Biden’s heavily-memed, laser-eyed alter ego(opens in a new tab). He then joked about Biden leaving some classified documents on the podium: “Don’t give them to him, I’ll put them in a safe place. He don’t know where to keep them.”
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Wood also turned his attention to the media, and to the firing of Carlson from Fox News and Don Lemon from CNN. “Tucker got caught up!” he said. “Got caught up like that dude from Vanderpump Rules” — a reference to the infamous Scandoval.
Later remarks on Lemon included: “Yes, Don Lemon was a diva, and he said a couple of women are raggedy in the face, but that’s a promotion at Fox News!”
While the evening was full of riotous jokes at the expense of high-profile politicians and journalists, Wood also took the time to address current newsworthy topics, such as anti-drag legislation and school shootings. “Drag queens are not at a school to groom your kids. Stop it,” he said. “And even if they were, most of them kids are gonna get shot at school.”
In response to the audience’s audible discomfort, he retorted: “Don’t groan, pass legislation!”
Wood also spoke to the importance of journalism, drawing on his father Roy Wood Sr.’s experience as a reporter covering Black platoons in Vietnam and the Soweto riots in South Africa. Wood Sr. went on to found the National Black Network, now the American Urban Radio Network.
“The work you do as journalists is important. It’s essential. It’s dangerous,” Wood said, going on to champion local reporters and highlight the terrifying reality of newsroom layoffs. The entire speech is worth a watch: Come for the Dark Brandon jokes, stay for the impassioned breakdown of the current state of journalism.
