Amber Ruffin gave an equal parts seething and sarcastic response on “Late Night With Seth Meyers” after The White House Correspondents’ Association canceled her appearance at its annual dinner.
Meyers opened the segment by saying he was saddened that Ruffin was dropped by the event because he was a “big fan” of hers and would have “loved to hear what she had to say.” He then briefly dove into a joke about a bodega robbery before he was interrupted by Ruffin.
“I’m gonna stop you right there Seth,” Ruffin said. “I’m concerned with how you’re gonna end that joke.”
“Obviously, I’m gonna make a punch line to make fun of the guy who robbed the bodega,” Meyers replied, feigning confusion.
“Seth, the problem is that’s divisive,” Ruffin joked. “Take it from me. If there’s one thing I learned from this weekend, it’s you have to be fair to both sides.”
Meyers tried to defend his jokes, saying that in the case of this robbery, there is a clear right and wrong side between “an innocent bodega owner” and “a burglar.”
“There are very fine people on both sides,” Ruffin replied with a plastic smile before starting a back-and-forth with Meyers.
“He shattered the front door,” Meyers said.
“Did he? Or did he provide an innovative ventilation system?” Ruffin said.
“He stole the cash out of the register,” Meyers exclaimed.
“He received a microloan,” Ruffin joked.
“He set fire to the ATM,” Meyers said.
“He bravely fought inflation,” Ruffin replied.
An exacerbated Meyers tried to reason with Ruffin, saying that the “whole reason” free press was created was so that “we can report stories as they actually happened.”
Ruffin was quick with her answer, slamming the Republican party for her removal from the WHCA dinner.
“No, we have a free press so that we can be nice to Republicans at fancy dinners. That’s what it says in the First Amendment,” Ruffin said. “I thought when people take away your rights, erase your history and deport your friends, you’re supposed to call it out. But I was wrong. Glad to find that out now, because if they had let me give that speech, oh baby. I would’ve been so terrifically mean…you know I would have been on one.”
After a White House deputy chief of staff raised concerns over Ruffin’s critical comments about Donald Trump, the WHCA Saturday removed her appearance from is annaul dinner, stating they want to “ensure the focus is not on the politics of division.”