If someone doesn’t say “From the bayou to the White House!” in regard to Duck Dynasty‘s Willie and Korie Robertson attending April 27’s White House Correspondents Dinner, then what are cliches for? Yep, the bearded brothers from A&E’s top-rated, American Idol-beating reality series about — guess what? — duck hunters are headed to Washington for the annual fete. Admittedly, they will fit in with the ceremony’s previous description as “The Nerd Prom.” The thing is, though, the Nerd Prom has become a lot less nerdy of late with guests on this year’s roster including Steven Spielberg, Nicole Kidman, Michael Douglas, Barbra Streisand, Harvey Weinstein, Claire Danes, and Reese Witherspoon, straight off her DUI arrest. So wait, is this a gathering of Washington politicos or the Vanity Fair Party after the Oscars?
Never fear, though. The weirdness that the Duck Dynasty brothers embody is not an aberration in the recent history of the Correspondents Dinner. There have been plenty of odd recent guests. Some not even human. Here are six of the oddest Correspondents Dinner guests in recent years.
6. Ozzy & Sharon Osbourne — FoxNews anchor Greta Van Susteren has had a long history of bringing strange, attention-getting guests to the Correspondents Dinner. (More on that later.) In 2002 at the height of Osbournes Mania, she invited Ozzy and Sharon, inspiring some pretty funny jokes from George W. Bush. “What a fantastic audience we have tonight,” the then-President said. “Washington power brokers. Celebrities. Hollywood stars. Ozzy Osbourne. Might have been a mistake. The thing about Ozzy is he’s made a lot of big-hit recordings. ‘Party With the Animals,’ ‘Sabbath Bloody Sabbath,’ ‘Face in Hell,’ ‘Black Skies’ and ‘Bloodbath in Paradise.’ Ozzy, Mom loves your stuff.”
5. Pamela Anderson — When the former Baywatch beauty was invited by Bloomberg News to the event in 2008, President Bush joked, “You know, just think — Pamela Anderson and Mitt Romney in the same room. Isn’t that one of the signs of the apocalypse?”
4. Kim Kardashian — Considering how President Obama has gone on the record as saying he doesn’t want his daughters watching Keeping Up With the Kardashians, the fact that she showed up to the Correspondents Dinner in 2012 was the definition of awkward.
3. Uggie — The canine star of The Artist attended in 2012.
2. Lindsay Lohan — Greta Van Susteren invited the walking trainwreck as her guest in 2012, claiming it was because she wanted to facilitate the troubled actress’ comeback, not because she wanted to add a streak of cheap, tabloid sensationalism to the evening.
1. Donald Trump — When he appeared at the Correspondents Dinner in 2011, he’d already been whipping the Birther conspiracists into a frenzy by alleging, without any evidence, that President Obama was born in Kenya. The POTUS gave him the ultimate smackdown: he suggested that Trump would next investigate “who faked the moon landings” and “whatever happened to Biggie and Tupac,” all the while knowing that, on his orders, Seal Team Six was about to take out Osama bin Laden within hours. That’s how you trump a Trump.
Plan on watching the White Correspondents Dinner April 27 on CSPAN or MSNBC?
Follow Christian Blauvelt on Twitter @Ctblauvelt
More:
‘Duck Dynasty’ Beats ‘American Idol’
‘Duck Dynasty’ Season 3 Finale: The 8 Most Ridiculous Yet Profound Quotes
From Our Partners:
Beyonce Flaunts Bikini Bod for H&M (Celebuzz)
33 Child Stars: Where Are They Now? (Celebuzz)
