(LOS ANGELES) — Comedian Michelle Wolf is taking a lot of heat after hosting the White House Correspondents Dinner, and her fellow comedians are coming to her defense.
During her monologue Saturday, Wolf focused on press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, comparing her to the antagonist in The Handmaid’s Tale and commenting on her eye shadow, The Hollywood Reporter reports.
“Every time Sarah steps up to the podium, I get excited because I’m not sure what we’re going to get: a press briefing, a bunch of lies or divided into softball teams,” the comedian said during the event.
Her speech was met with immediate backlash and criticism. But, Wolf’s comedy community came to her defense.
Kathy Griffin wrote on Twitter, “Please point us to the tweets where you said something like this about the President of the United States when he was attacking people at rallies and his supporters were laughing… IT WAS A ROAST.”
Meanwhile, Jimmy Kimmel tweeted: “Dear ‘the media’ – @michelleisawolf was FUNNY. Hire a juggler next year.”
Billy Eichner joined in, writing, “Sarah Huckabee Sanders lies to the American people almost every day and defends the lies, incompetence and cruel behavior of the most unqualified and embarrassing President in modern times. You think the jokes last night were harsh? Wait until history has its way with her.”
Rosie O’Donnell even came to her defense, tweeting, “Wolf was perfect, prepared, and poignant. Comics r truth tellers – deal with it.”
The president of the White House Correspondent’s Association Margaret Talev issued a statement denouncing the host.
“Last night’s program was meant to offer a unifying message about our common commitment to a vigorous and free press while honoring civility, great reporting and scholarship winners, not to divide people. Unfortunately the entertainer’s monologue was not in the spirit of that mission,” the statement reads.
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