Latest news with #AmberRuffin
Washington Post
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
Literary world gathers for PEN America dinner-gala hosted by Amber Ruffin
NEW YORK — Hundreds of writers, editors and publishers are to gather Thursday night for PEN America's annual gala, hosted by Amber Ruffin and featuring a tribute to actor-publisher Sarah Jessica Parker. Ruffin, the writer-comedian, will have a high-profile platform after she was disinvited from April's White House Correspondents Association dinner. Ruffin is known for her blunt criticism of President Donald Trump, and the WHCA said it wanted the event to focus on journalism.
The Independent
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Literary world gathers for PEN America dinner-gala hosted by Amber Ruffin
Hundreds of writers, editors and publishers are to gather Thursday night for PEN America's annual gala, hosted by Amber Ruffin and featuring a tribute to actor-publisher Sarah Jessica Parker. Ruffin, the writer-comedian, will have a high-profile platform after she was disinvited from April's White House Correspondents Association dinner. Ruffin is known for her blunt criticism of President Donald Trump, and the WHCA said it wanted the event to focus on journalism. Soon after the association's decision, PEN announced that Ruffin had agreed to preside over its signature event, a dinner-fundraiser held at the American Museum of Natural History. 'She is truly emblematic of the talented creators who we need on stages and in writers' rooms during a time of unprecedented censorship in this country,' PEN co-interim CEO Clarisse Rosaz Shariyf said at the time. PEN itself, the century-old free expression organization, is still recovering from a tumultuous 2024. Allegations that leadership was reluctant to criticize Israel's invasion of Gaza and slow to respond to the suffering of Palestinians, including Palestinian writers and journalists, led so many writers to withdraw from PEN's spring awards ceremony and World Voices festival that both were canceled. PEN CEO Suzanne Nossel departed at the end of the year; a permanent replacement has not yet been announced. The awards night and World Voices returned this month, although with reminders of the ongoing war in Gaza. Several prize nominees withdrew from competition, including two of the five finalists for the $75,000 Jean Stein Book Award for a work of 'originality, merit, and impact.' The daughters of Stein, the late author, editor and philanthropist, decided that the prize money would be donated to the Palestine Children's Relief Fund and to Palestine Legal, a U.S.-based defense organization. On Thursday, PEN will honor the imprisoned Egyptian poet and activist Galal El-Behairy with the PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award, given to dissidents who have been jailed. Members of his family will accept the award for him. Parker is to receive the PEN/Audible Literary Service Award, presented in previous years to Patti Smith,Robert Caro and Stephen Sondheim among others. Parker has been a longtime champion of books and literacy and runs the publishing imprint SJP Lit, where authors include Lucy Caldwell, Linda Grant and Elysha Chang. Wesleyan President Michael S. Roth, a leading critic of Trump's threats to cancel research funding at Columbia University and other schools, is this year's winner of the PEN/Benenson Courage Award. PEN is giving its Business Visionary award to Macmillan CEO Jon Yaged.
Associated Press
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Associated Press
Literary world gathers for PEN America dinner-gala hosted by Amber Ruffin
NEW YORK (AP) — Hundreds of writers, editors and publishers are to gather Thursday night for PEN America's annual gala, hosted by Amber Ruffin and featuring a tribute to actor-publisher Sarah Jessica Parker. Ruffin, the writer-comedian, will have a high-profile platform after she was disinvited from April's White House Correspondents Association dinner. Ruffin is known for her blunt criticism of President Donald Trump, and the WHCA said it wanted the event to focus on journalism. Soon after the association's decision, PEN announced that Ruffin had agreed to preside over its signature event, a dinner-fundraiser held at the American Museum of Natural History. 'She is truly emblematic of the talented creators who we need on stages and in writers' rooms during a time of unprecedented censorship in this country,' PEN co-interim CEO Clarisse Rosaz Shariyf said at the time. PEN itself, the century-old free expression organization, is still recovering from a tumultuous 2024. Allegations that leadership was reluctant to criticize Israel's invasion of Gaza and slow to respond to the suffering of Palestinians, including Palestinian writers and journalists, led so many writers to withdraw from PEN's spring awards ceremony and World Voices festival that both were canceled. PEN CEO Suzanne Nossel departed at the end of the year; a permanent replacement has not yet been announced. The awards night and World Voices returned this month, although with reminders of the ongoing war in Gaza. Several prize nominees withdrew from competition, including two of the five finalists for the $75,000 Jean Stein Book Award for a work of 'originality, merit, and impact.' The daughters of Stein, the late author, editor and philanthropist, decided that the prize money would be donated to the Palestine Children's Relief Fund and to Palestine Legal, a U.S.-based defense organization. On Thursday, PEN will honor the imprisoned Egyptian poet and activist Galal El-Behairy with the PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award, given to dissidents who have been jailed. Members of his family will accept the award for him. Parker is to receive the PEN/Audible Literary Service Award, presented in previous years to Patti Smith,Robert Caro and Stephen Sondheim among others. Parker has been a longtime champion of books and literacy and runs the publishing imprint SJP Lit, where authors include Lucy Caldwell, Linda Grant and Elysha Chang. Wesleyan President Michael S. Roth, a leading critic of Trump's threats to cancel research funding at Columbia University and other schools, is this year's winner of the PEN/Benenson Courage Award. PEN is giving its Business Visionary award to Macmillan CEO Jon Yaged.
CNN
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CNN
CNN Renews 'Have I Got News For You' For a Third Season
May 14th, 2025 SERIES PRODUCED BY HAT TRICK PRODUCTIONS FOR CNN ORIGINALS NEW YORK – (May 14, 2025) – CNN announced today that Have I Got News For You has been renewed for a third season. The American version of the long-running UK comedy series is hosted by Roy Wood Jr. along with team captains Amber Ruffin and Michael Ian Black. Produced by Hat Trick Productions for CNN Originals, the third season of Have I Got News for You premieres Saturday, September 6 at 9pm ET/PT on CNN. 'Now that we know that none of us will be Pope, we proudly announce our return for Season 3 of Have I Got News For You this fall,' said Wood Jr., Ruffin and Black in a joint statement. ' Have I Got News For You continues to serve as a humorous reprieve for audiences on Saturday nights without ever losing its bite,' said Amy Entelis, executive vice president of talent, CNN Originals and creative development for CNN Worlwide. 'The continued success of our Saturday primetime lineup shows that topical entertainment programming is resonating with CNN viewers.' CNN will also expand its Have I Got News For You brand with a new multiplatform approach, including a companion CNN Podcast that will launch this summer. For exclusive show content, follow @HIGNFYUS on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and X. 'We're pleased and proud that CNN have asked us to come back and find what's funny in the news on Saturdays this Fall,' said Jimmy Mulville, executive producer for Hat Trick Productions. Always relevant and of-the-moment, Have I Got News For You serves up a smart and edgy take on the news of the week, as the comic trio guides a rotating collection of guests through an array of games and quick-witted panel conversations that test their knowledge of current events. Joining CNN's encore presentation of Real Time with Bill Maher , the network's Saturday primetime lineup of topical entertainment programming has made CNN a top cable destination on Saturday nights. Notable guests from season two of Have I Got News For You included Representative Jasmine Crockett, Representative Ro Khanna, Representative Mike Lawler, Tim Ryan, George Wallace, George Conway, Alyssa Farrah Griffin, Andy Richter, Nimesh Patel, Alex Edelman, Dave Foley, Eugene Mirman and more. All episodes of Have I Got News For You are available to stream now on Max. Have I Got News For You is executive produced by Jim Biederman, Jimmy Mulville and Richard Wilson for Hat Trick Productions. ### About CNN Originals The CNN Originals group develops, produces and acquires original, long-form unscripted programming for CNN Worldwide. Amy Entelis, executive vice president of talent, CNN Originals and creative development, oversees the award-winning CNN Originals portfolio that includes the following premium content brands: CNN Original Series, CNN Films, CNN Flashdocs, and CNN Studios. Since 2012, the team has overseen and executive produced more than 45 multi-part documentary series and 60 feature-length documentary films, earning more than 110 awards and 445 nominations for the cable network, including CNN Films' first Academy Award® for Navalny . Acclaimed titles include the Peabody Award winning and 13-time Emmy® Award-winning Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown ; five time Emmy® nominee, Apollo 11 , directed by Todd Douglas Miller; Carville: Winning is Everything, Stupid directed by Matt Tyrnauer; Emmy® nominated Eva Longoria: Searching for Mexico ; the Emmy® Award-nominated 'Decades Series': The Sixties , The Seventies , The Eighties , The Nineties , The 2000s , and The 2010s, executive produced by Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman; The Last Movie Stars , directed by Ethan Hawke about the lives and careers of actors and humanitarians Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman; the Emmy® Award winning Little Richard: I Am Everything , directed by Lisa Cortés; Luther Vandross: Never Too Much , directed by Dawn Porter; The Many Lives of Martha Stewart ; Primetime Emmy® and duPont-Columbia Award-winning, RBG , directed by Betsy West and Julie Cohen; See It Loud: The History of Black Television , executive produced by LeBron James and Maverick Carter; Space Shuttle Columbia: The Final Flight in partnership with the BBC; the Producers Guild Award and three-time Emmy® Award-winning Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy ; T his is Life with Lisa Ling ; BAFTA nominee and Directors Guild Award winner, Three Identical Strangers , directed by Tim Wardle; the five-time Emmy® Award-winning United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell ; the American version of the long-running UK comedy series, Have I Got News For You , hosted by Roy Wood Jr; and the five-time Emmy® Award-winning The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper . CNN Originals can be seen on CNN, the CNN Original Hub on Max and discovery+, the CNN Originals FAST channel, and for pay TV subscription via CNN apps and cable operator platforms. About Hat Trick Productions Hat Trick Productions is one of the UK's leading independent production and distribution companies, co-founded and run by Jimmy Mulville. For over 30 years Hat Trick has been producing critically and commercially successful content for outlets in the US and UK. Hit shows include Whose Line Is It Anyway? (ABC/CW) Episodes (BBC/Showtime) and Derry Girls (Netflix/Channel 4). Have I Got News For You is the UK's longest-running comedy show, now in its 35th year and winner of every major British television award. CNN Originals Press Contacts:
France 24
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- France 24
Is the White House Correspondents' Dinner still relevant?
Americas 13:58 From the show The White House Correspondents' Dinner is usually a star-studded affair, attended by Hollywood A-listers and hosted by a big-name comedian. This year's event, however, was different in form and tone. It was a serious appeal to protect press freedoms, though not without controversy. Some criticised the decision to cancel featured comedian Amber Ruffin's appearance as bowing to the Trump administration. This week's guest on Scoop is NPR's Eric Deggans.
