Some journalists said they didn’t see any downside to the dinner on Saturday night and the weekend of parties and events.

New Yorker editor David Remnick, whose magazine threw a Friday night soirée on the roof of the W Hotel, told POLITICO he doesn’t think the White House Correspondents’ Dinner undermines the press.

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“Look at what we publish,” he said. “Does it seem like it corrupts us?”

(Also on POLITICO: TOP 5 awkward WHCD moments)

Over the years, Remnick noted that the New Yorker has published groundbreaking stories on torture, drone strikes and other sensitive topics in D.C.

“If one party can corrupt you,” he said. “You probably shouldn’t be in the game.”

Gayle King, a co-anchor of CBS This Morning, also dismissed the criticism, telling E! on Saturday night on the red carept that “it’s a great time for Hollywood and Washington to sort of come together.”

Others noted that the money raised from the dinner itself goes to give scholarships to aspiring journalists.

“I think it’s very lovely to kind of honor the correspondents who I deal with a lot who I think do very important work and give scholarships,” Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told POLITICO. “That’s really the purpose. I think to keep the attention on that purpose is important but it also is one of the very fun…there are lots of dinners in Washington, there’s lots of events but this is always a best of it, fun weekend because people don’t take themselves very seriously. That’s always a good time.”

Even international guests were having a blast.

“I think it’s a wonderful celebration of democracy and free speech and it’s pure fun and it’s part of what makes America great,” Israeli Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren told POLITICO.

Kevin Robillard, Breanna Edwards and Katie Glueck contributed to this report.