SNL's Cecily Strong to headline WHCA dinner

Cecily Strong of “Saturday Night Live” will be the featured entertainer at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner next spring, the group’s president announced in an email Wednesday.

“Her political humor is sly and edgy, and it comes with a Chicago accent,” WHCD President Christi Parsons emailed.


Strong, 30, joined the NBC sketch show in 2012 and is known for her “Weekend Update” character, “The Girl You Wish You Hadn’t Started a Conversation with at a Party,” and also has her own ties to politics and media.

“Her father, Bill Strong, is a legendary former Associated Press bureau chief at the Illinois Statehouse,” Parsons wrote.

Parsons also noted that Strong will be the fourth woman to serve as entertainer in the 82-year history of the dinner, which will take place on April 25. Comedian Joel McHale was last year’s entertainer.