On Monday, the White House hosted the cast and crew of Ted Lasso for mental health awareness. At the event, Simon Ateba, a White House correspondent for Today News Africa, insisted that Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre address his questions. Jean Pierre had denied Ateba’s requests multiple times, and tensions have escalated between the pair.
Shapiro criticized the event and said Hollywood actors are generally “confused, weird, strange, egotistical, and least serious people on planet earth.”
He also expressed his disappointment with Jean Pierre’s reluctance to answer questions and stated that her job is to “lie on behalf of the President of the United States.” Several journalists pushed back against Ateba’s interruptions during the event.
“We are supposed to be abashed and ashamed that a reporter dared to demand that Karine Jean Pierre call on him at a White House Press Conference in front of the actors,” Shapiro said. “We are way beyond parody, folks. By the way, this will never appear on SNL because even though it’s funny and absurd, SNL only makes fun of Republicans.”
“Can I just remind you guys that she (Jean Pierre) is a taxpayer-funded employee,” said Shapiro. “I do not pay her salary so that she can stand up there and be fêted by various actors; that is not her job.”
