A-list celebrities are tired of crazed Washington, D.C. denizens treating them like animals at a petting zoo or acting like star-struck children at the Kids’ Choice Awards at the annual White House Correspondents Dinner, which is known as “Nerd Prom.”
Washington, D.C., known as “Hollywood for ugly people,” has become more of a “Boomtown” since President Barack Obama’s election. The same celebrities, who, along with the mainstream press, gawked and fawned at Obama during his campaign and first term in office are now tired of the press and other D.C. barnacles making the event “amateur hour” in an age with an increasing social media presence.
The Hollywood Reporter observed that Washingtonians “may govern the free world’s leading nation and regulate the globe’s biggest economy, but when it comes to celebrities, Washingtonians are as starstruck as folks from Des Moines.”
And a Hollywood insider told the outlet that A-list stars detest the event and “there are way too many A-listers who have had pretty weird experiences at the dinner”:
A lot of the people who have gone say they’ll never do it again. The room is so crowded. It’s uncontrolled. There’s no limit to the number of people trying to get photos and autographs — and there’s no way to hide from it. It’s like the stars are animals in a cage. People go crazy when they see them. They act like a bunch of kids at the Kids’ Choice Awards.
Publicists told the Reporter that “this is a crowd that gropes and grabs,” and one drunken guest reportedly “bared her breasts to Ben Affleck as he was walking to the men’s restroom.” He has not attended since.
“They’re infatuated with anyone who is sort of famous,” an attendee told the outlet. “People on reality TV shows are walking around like they’re the secretary of state — and they’re actually getting their pictures taken with the real secretary.”