They must be hoping Jay Leno will spill his guts about Conan and NBC.
The Hollywood contingent heading to Washington this weekend for the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner – which this year features a keynote by Leno — is growing by leaps and bounds.
Time magazine is bringing Steven Spielberg and wife Kate Capshaw, David E. Kelley and wife Michele Pfeiffer. Fortune magazine is bringing Michael Douglas. Essence magazine is bringing Queen Lativa.
ABC News, which had earlier announced "Hurt Locker" director Kathryn Bigelow and writer Mark Boal, has added to the list: J.J. Abrams and his wife, Katie McGrath; Elizabeth Shue and husband director Davis Guggenheim; and from its “Modern Family” show, Julie Bowen and Ty Burrell.
Film producer Jerry Weintraub and screenwriter Callie Khouri are reportedly among Vanity Fair’s guests. Officials for the title didn’t return a call.
(UPDATE: NBC News’ guests include Alec Baldwin, Angela Kinsey (“The Office”), Anna Kendrick (“Up in the Air”), Bradley Cooper, Elizabeth Moss (“Mad Men”), Ewan McGregor, Fred Armisen, Jimmy Fallon, John Bon Jovi, Lindsey Vonn, Mariska Hargitay and Tony Romo.)
CBS News has added Morgan Freeman, Betty White and Chelsea Handler to a list that includes Julianna Margolis (“The Good Wife”) and Chris O’Donnell (“NCIS: LA”) and Ayla Brown, a former "American Idol" contestant who is the daughter of Massachusetts Republican Sen. Scott Brown.
Also announced earlier: Huffington Post’s guest list, inlcuding Scarlett Johansson, John Cusack, Bill Maher and Ari Emanuel, who besides being a Hollywood agent is the brother of White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.
And the correspondents dinner — informally dubbed “prom night” in Washington – isn’t the only star-studded event – it’s actually just part a series of events that opens Thursday night with the Creative Coalition’s Celebration of the American Spirit, a tribute to preservation of the country’s cultural heritage.
That event at the Library of Congress is set to include director Barry Levinson, Dana Delany, Adrian Grenier, Cheryl Hines, Marlon Wayans, Spike Lee, Gloria Ruben, Omar Epps, Steven Weber, Wendie Malick, Patricia Arquette, Richard Schiff and producer Tom Fontana.
A number of the performers will go to Capitol Hill on Friday as part of an Arts Day initiative that will also include Spike Lee.
Creative Coalition president Robin Bronk said in an interview that this is the first time the group has held the event.
“It’s a perfect pairing, a way to pay tribute to the Library of Congress for its role as a repository of cultural heritage,” she said. As part of the event, the Creative Coalition will present an award to Dr. James H. Billington, the 13th Librarian of Congress.
