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The chants and shouts of pro-Palestinian demonstrators disrupted the entry to the Washington Hilton for this year’s White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, but once inside, attendees were greeted with what has become the usual scene: Celebrities on the red carpet, a crush for the security line and glitterati packed into a cavernous ballroom.

“I want to thank my wife for enduring lots of jokes and for agreeing to individually meet everyone in this room right after the ceremony,” the evening’s featured entertainer, Colin Jost, quipped about Scarlett Johansson, who posed for photos with a non-stop stream of attendees. She continued to do so later in the evening, at the Comcast-nbcu after party at the French ambassador’s residence.

Joe Biden laughs at Colin Jost as he entertains at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner.

The protests outside — now ubiquitous at any public event, much less one that mixes politics,...

Update: Paul Simon performed “Graceland” at the White House State Dinner for Japan’s Prime Minister Kishida Fumio and Kishida Yuko.

Kishida also made a Star Trek reference at one moment, using the phrase, “To boldly go where no one has gone before,” then naming cast member George Takei.

Previously: Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are making a return visit to the White House as guests at tonight’s White House State Dinner for Japan’s Prime Minister Kishida Fumio and Kishida Yuko.

Paul Simon performs "Graceland" at White House State Dinner for Japan pic.twitter.com/8SCF6llOd3

— Howard Mortman (@HowardMortman) April 11, 2024

Star Trek State Dinner:

Japan Pm Fumio Kishida: "Let me conclude with the line from Star Trek: To boldly go where no one has gone before. By the way, @GeorgeTakei who played Hikaru Sulu, the helmsman of the USS Enterprise,...

The inaugural DC Power Index Prize will honor Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States Oksana Markarova, Capitol police officer Caroline Edwards and National Institutes of Health bioethicist Christine Grady, among others, at a ceremony on Wednesday.

The prize honors women “who exemplify resilience, foster innovation, exhibit flexibility in times of crisis, and make a social and cultural impact.” Edwards, for instance, testified before the January 6th Committee last month on what she and other officers faced during the Capitol siege. Grady, chief of the Department of Bioethics at the National Institutes of Health, has been a leading voice on the ethical challenges surrounding the Covid crisis.

The DC Power Index Prize was created by magazine editor Joanna Coles, Microsoft’s Teresa Carlson and Paramount Global’s DeDe Lea. Coles created the annual Power 100 lunch in New York.

Others to be honored include mezzo soprano Denyce Graves and actress, singer and activist Melora Hardin,...

Welcome to this week’s “Just for Variety.”

I just got back from New York City, where I covered the MTV VMAs red carpet. To see Lil Nas X blazing his rainbow trail continues to amaze me in the most beautiful way. He is LGBTQ power and awareness personified. And then to top it all off, I had Troye Sivan teasing the upcoming video for his new sex-centric single, “Angel Baby.” Reflecting on his career and now Lil Nas X’s monumental rise, Sivan says, “We’re moving in the right direction.”

Meanwhile, Lil Nas X, whose debut studio album “Montero” drops on Sept. 17, says he’d also love to work with Drake and Nicki Minaj. “I love them,” he says. When I suggest a three-way collaboration, Lil Nays says with a big smile, “Let’s do both of them at the same time!”.

In LGBTQ-adjacent news, it sounds like...