The White House Correspondents' Dinner is going mentalist this year

Instead of choosing a comedian, the April event will star mentalist and PIN-guesser Oz Pearlman.

By Drew Gillis  |  February 26, 2026 | 9:38am
Photo: Samuel Corum/Getty Images
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The White House Correspondents' Dinner is going mentalist this year

Last year, the White House Correspondents’ Dinner uninvited comedian Amber Ruffin from hosting in an effort “to ensure the focus is not on the politics of division.” If this was an effort to win President Trump over and to get him to attend the event, it didn’t work. But maybe he’ll turn out this year for a mentalist. Instead of the awkward dance of inviting and then uninviting a comedian, the White House Correspondents’ Association is starting with Oz Pearlman this year, a mentalist with a history of correctly guessing famous peoples’ ATM PINs in public. 

“As the world’s most celebrated mentalist, Oz Pearlman will offer a fascinating glimpse into what’s truly on the minds of Washington’s newsmakers,” says WHCA President Weijia Jiang in a statement, per Deadline. “We look forward to an exciting, fresh, and interactive evening as we celebrate the First Amendment and Washington news coverage together.” 

Pearlman does seem quite successful as far as mentalists go, at least from a quick scan of his Wikipedia. He’s performed for quite a few pro sports teams and on late night shows. Last year, he went on a bit of a streak of guessing peoples’ PINs in public. In May, he asked Joe Rogan to come up with a fake PIN for the sake of the bit and then apparently managed to guess his real one, to which Rogan said, “Yeah, I don’t like that.” Months later, he did the same thing to Sarah Haines during a taping of The View, to which she later said, “I’ve never felt so violated on air.” We’re sure Trump will be delighted by these tricks if he decides to show.

 
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