White House Correspondents' Association Taps Wanda Sykes as M.C.

The Associated Press reported last night that comedian Wanda Sykes has accepted an offer to be the M.C. at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner in Washington May 9.

The yearly black-tie affair for journalists, politicos, and celebrities will be the first for President Barack Obama, and he is expected to attend. Obama also plans to follow tradition by performing his own act of comedy before the crowd of 2,000 at the Washington Hilton.

Still, most of the pressure falls on Sykes. Scrutiny over the dinner’s headline performances has brought harsh criticism of some comedians, most notably Stephen Colbert in 2006. As far as her preparations for the role, Sykes told the AP, “The first thing I did when they asked me to do this gig—I made sure my taxes were paid."