If guests rolling into the CNN party at Toolbox looked a little rough around the edges Sunday morning, that’s because that was the whole idea.
The gathering was billed as the network’s Political Hangover Party. There was a beer pong, a putting green and CNN President Jeff Zucker standing off to the side in a cream sweater chatting with Jake Tapper, who towers over the network exec.
Some were murmuring that this was CNN Worldwide Spokesman Matt Dornic‘s Bar Mitzvah reception (yeah, we didn’t know he was Jewish, either). His parents and sister later showed up to say Mazel Tov.
“This brunch is a bunch of first responders who have arrived at the scene to help the wounded,” remarked media strategist Ron Bonjean, of Bonjean Strategies, whose name autocorrects to “No Jean” on the iPhone.
The cool space off Dupont Circle is ordinarily a Pilates studio. But for today, there was no physical exercise whatsoever as CNN paid attention to important details at a painful time like this–there were beverages like vodka and grapefruit juice with fresh sea salt sticking to the glass, hot dogs, bratwurst and french fries from Ben’s Chili Bowl, waffles, regular burgers, mushroom burgers, crab cake sandwiches and pretty cups of yogurt with a healthy mound of granola on top.
One of the more unusual hors d’oeuvres of the day that kept cracking us up was plastic cups filled with precisely two carrot sticks and one celery stick. You know, for the clean food dieters in the mix. The waitstaff carried the snack majestically on trays as though it was on par with caviar.
One area beyond reproach was the dreamy coffee bar. This wasn’t simple coffee and tea. This was a full coffee bar — we’re talking delicious caramel lattes, hazelnut lattes, vanilla lattes, straight up espresso and more. Even Wolf Blitzer raved about it, mostly.
“It’s probably fattening,” he said, gesturing toward the coffee.
Blitzer aside, no party in Washington really begins until Bloomberg Politics‘ Dave Weigel walks in. And that he did, in a black and white checkered button-down and jeans. We may have stalked him for a picture or two, but no words were exchanged. (At this point the relationship is rather icy.)
But not everyone clams up when The Mirror is around. Asawin Suebsaeng, a reporter at The Daily Beast, had plenty to say. When I asked him to tell me the high and low points of his weekend, he prefaced all his remarks by telling me he wasn’t going to tell me the best stuff. (Um…thanks, Asawin…what the hell?)
“There was no low point,” he declared.
(At this point I was skeptical about all his comments, but fine, let’s keep going.)
Asked about BuzzFeed‘s lack of a party this year, he said, “It sucks that they didn’t do it this week.”
Asked if he was outraged by the coziness and Hollywood star power surrounding the dinner, he said, “I’m outraged all the time, but I am always drunk on a Saturday night. I have a better excuse than some of these motherfuckers. I’m an entertainment reporter.”
Janet Donovan, who runs the Hollywood on the Potomac website and had at least 10 reporters spread out all over town this weekend, was underwhelmed by the weekend. “There was no positive energy anywhere, maybe because the world is imploding,” she told The Mirror.
There were serious fashion statements being made at this soirée.
Take The Daily Caller‘s Alex Pappas‘ summer blue trousers. Or U.S. News & World Report‘s Nikki Schwab‘s picnic blanket themed red and white checkered pants. Or PBS publicist Nick Massella‘s zebra-patterned slip ons (see below). Or State Department Spokeswoman Marie Harf‘s pointy, canary yellow Kate Spade flats.
Most guests dressed down — this was a come-as-you-are party, and hosts wanted people to relax and not worry too much about their appearance.
Asked what he thought of Tapper landing the “State of the Union” gig, Roll Call gossip reporter Warren Rojas said he was a good pick and that he thought he’d do a good job. But he added, “I do not watch too much of that shit anyway.”
When I said hi to Tapper and shook his hand, he replied, “Hi, Tara.” I didn’t correct him–why enter into all that awkwardness? To be fair, we’ve never met in person. When The Weekly Standard‘s Jim Swift later gave him a little grief for it, reminding him on Twitter that he’d won CNN’s trivia contest, Tapper reasoned that if I’d had an affair with Grover Cleveland, he would have known my name.
A weekend full of parties isn’t easy on the average liver. “I was struggling a little bit,” said a journalist who attended the party. “It was just what I needed, a Bloody Mary and a hamburger.”
Another remarked on how “chill” it was.
The Mirror ran into The Hill‘s editor-in-chief Bob Cusack outside the party on his way in. He looked a little haggard from a weekend of partying, but his salt and pepper hued hair was intact. I gave him some shit about how he called The Hill‘s Friday night soirée at the Canadian Embassy a “must-attend” party of the weekend. He laughed loudly.
He asked if the CNN party was any good — I assured him it was worth his while.
Spotted in the crowd: CNN honcho Jeff Zucker and the network’s top brass including Andrew Morse, Allison Gollust, Ed O’Keefe, Sam Feist, Rachel Smolkin and Rick Davis. A big pool of network talent — Donna Brazile, “New Day” anchors Michaela Pereira and Alisyn Camerota, Gloria Borger, Jim Acosta, Michelle Kosinski, Chris Moody, Jake Tapper, Wolf Blitzer, Dana Bash and her squeeze, actor Spencer Garrett, S.E. Cupp, her husband, John Goodwin and their baby, Jack, who burst into tears when Tapper picked him up. Also there: CNN publicist Emily Kuhn, publicist Lauren Pratapas and husband, NRSC’s Brad Dayspring. Ari Melber and Chris Jansing represented MSNBC. Others...actress Kelly Rutherford (Melrose Place), State Dept. Spokeswoman Marie Harf, Ron and Sara Bonjean, Bloomberg‘s Dani Burger, WSJ‘s Byron Tau, PBS publicist Nick Massella, TIME‘s Zeke Miller, The Daily Beast‘s Jackie Kucinich and husband, Jared, Tim Mak The Daily Caller‘s Brian Danza, James Davis, Eric Kuhn, Chris Gindlesperger, TWT‘s Joe Curl, Tim Burger, SiriusXM’s Julie Mason, ABC’s Polson Kanneth, Andrew Noyes, and media strategist Brian Walsh, who’s getting ready for his upcoming wedding and European honeymoon.
Photographs by The Daily Caller’s Katie Frates.
Michaela Periera and Donna Brazile.
Allison Gollust chats away with Alisyn Camerota.
The most unusual hors d’oeuvres of the day.
Matt Dornic: “It’s my Bar Mitzvah, I can do whatever I want.”
Donuts! Bread! Cheese!
PBS publicist Nick Massella’s shoes c/o The Washington Zoo.
Lots of hugging.
Tapper and Periera: Cheek to cheek.
Stop it. I can only handle so much attention. (The Daily Beast’s infamous Swin Suebsaeng.)
Come on, Swin, teach me how to do Snapchat.
Jake Tapper and his wife, Jennifer Marie Brown.
Donna Brazile goes in for a hug and a secret with Jake Tapper.
The secret chatter continues.
Donna Brazile is not quite done with Jake Tapper’s ear. Pamela Brown, meanwhile, laughs her ass off with Jake Tapper’s wife, Jennifer.
No matter how hard he tried, Dave Weigel cannot escape our camera lens. To his right is ABC’ Polson Kanneth, senior editorial produce with World News Tonight With David Muir.
Jake Tapper (left) towers over Jeff Zucker, his shorty pants boss.
TWTs Joe Curl enjoying the cuisine.
The Daily Caller‘s Alex Pappas in his summer blue trousers.
“New Day” coworkers: Michaela and Alisyn
S.E. Cupp holds baby Jack while Wolf Blitzer tries to prep him for future TV hits.
Alisyn Camerota and Wolf Blitzer.
WSJ’s Byron Tau dressed to kill.
Chris Gindlesperger goes undercover as a hungover partygoer. Spotted with Matt Dornic.
Brian Walsh, a media strategist and longtime flack, prepares for whatever happens next.
State Dept. Spokeswoman Marie Harf holds court.
Harf’s Kate Spade flats.