Gavin Newsom, Bari Weiss, and the Washington Power Class Gather for Vanity Fair and CAA Party

On Friday night, April 25, 2026, the Belgian Ambassador’s Residence in Washington, D.C.’s Fox Hall neighborhood hosted a star-studded pre-White House Correspondents’ Dinner weekend gathering. The event, co-hosted by Vanity Fair and Creative Artists Agency (CAA), brought together prominent figures from politics, media, and entertainment amid the estate’s Bridgerton-inspired ambiance.

Among the attendees was California Governor Gavin Newsom, who was approached by former CBS producer Shawna Thomas in the grand foyer. Thomas, who left CBS just months after Bari Weiss’s contested arrival as editor-in-chief of the network, introduced herself to Newsom and mentioned her upcoming role as political director of MS Now, set to begin in June. Newsom posed for a photo with mentalist Oz Pearlman, who is scheduled to perform at the following day’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner. When asked if he would attend the dinner, Newsom flashed a pained smile and replied, “I don’t think so.”

Bari Weiss, in her first White House Correspondents’ Dinner as editor-in-chief of CBS News, was seen engaging in conversation with New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd and Michael Grynbaum, author of the recent history of Condé Nast, Vanity Fair’s parent company. Weiss is set to host fifteen tables for CBS at Saturday’s dinner.

Vermont Congresswoman Becca Balint, who recently questioned former Attorney General Pam Bondi during a congressional hearing, complimented Christopher Anderson’s Vanity Fair photographs of political figures including Susie Wiles, Karoline Leavitt, and Marco Rubio. Balint mentioned she had enlarged the images and displayed them in her office.

The party, held at the historic Horace Trumbauer-designed estate—a wedding gift from Anna Dodge to her daughter Delphine upon her marriage to Raymond Baker—featured pristinely landscaped azalea bushes and transported guests from the reality-TV energy of the White House to a more refined, Bridgerton-like atmosphere.

Nearby, Oz Pearlman was asked whether former President Donald Trump has the stamina to speak for a full hour at the Correspondents’ Dinner. He responded, “Unfortunately, the answer is very much yes.”