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Loading ...Lesbian comic to headline White House correspondents’ dinner
02.13.2009 9:30am EST
(New York City) Wanda Sykes will soon get the chance to make fun of President Barack Obama to his face.
The comic actress said Thursday that she has been selected as the entertainer at the annual White House correspondents’ dinner in Washington, slated for May 9.Obama is expected to attend the black-tie affair at the Washington Hilton. The guest list of some 2,000 people will likely include the usual mix of Washington elite, White House press corps and Hollywood celebrities.
“The first thing I did when they asked me to do this gig – I made sure my taxes were paid,” quipped Sykes, taking a dig at the withdrawal of former U.S. senator Tom Daschle from Obama’s cabinet due to unpaid taxes.
Sykes, who booked the gig this week, said the idea of performing for such a high-profile crowd is “scary but very exciting.”
She said it’s her job to “poke fun and ridicule,” and even a popular figure like Obama isn’t off limits. She already has some ideas about what she could mine for laughs. For example, she noted, Obama can be “a little long-winded. So we can get him on that.”
Sykes, 44, has established a comic identity around her blunt, feisty personality. Sykes appears on “The New Adventures of Old Christine,” and first made a name on TV with stints on “The Chris Rock Show” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”
Last year, the comedian publicly announced she is gay and spoke out against the passage of California’s Proposition 8 to ban same-sex marriage.
Sykes expects fumbles in the Obama administration between now and the correspondents’ dinner.
“I’m not rooting against him at all, because, especially in this economy and everything, we need him to succeed,” she says. “But there’s gonna be some incidents and missteps, like we saw with the whole tax thing.”
That is fantastic!! Kick butt, girl!! I know you’ll make us proud!!
Glad I know early in her newly “out” career that she’s a sell out. I used to fancy her but she’s off the radar now. Way to go Wanda. Go Sing and dance for the straight folk.
I love Wanda Sykes!! Obama better put his big boy panties on that night!
For a good article on Sykes and coming out read ADVOCATE:
advocate.com/issue_story_ektid71760.asp
She was married first week of Nov.. ecstatically…Then Nov 4 came:
Sykes may be uneasy getting personal, but she has a firm grasp on why it’s important for an African-American celebrity to help normalize homosexuality. “There’s such a stigma about being gay that a lot of the men don’t want to be labeled as gay, so they live straight lives, and then, behind closed doors, they’re fooling around with men, bringing HIV home to their wives,” she says, stepping confidently onto a soapbox. “We’re literally killing ourselves over this fear of homosexuality.” In an effort to address these issues and “build this bridge” between gays and blacks, Sykes joined the board of Equality California in November. “One of the things that’s so terrific about Wanda is she’s not rushing out there to be the face of anything,” says Geoff Kors, the gay rights organization’s executive director. “She actually wanted to figure out how she could roll up her sleeves and get involved, to come to board meetings, to engage in dialogue to change hearts and minds.”
Rest of article just as good!
Love her!
I love Wanda and I don’t think she is a “sell out.” Since her recent coming out, I think that it is even a bigger deal that she will be performing for the President. I’ve always enjoyed her stand-up, so you go girl!
A quick note to “The Menstruator”:
Lighten UP.
(Seriously, just do it)
Wanda Sykes – the funniest lady on TV!
I love me some Wanda, but I wish she had a better role than her current sit-com playing second fiddle to Julia Louis-Dreyfus. She deserves her own show where she could be more on the edge.
Leave her alone: People come out of the closet at their own pace.