Michelle Wolf's WHCD roast has already set a C-SPAN record


President Trump seems to be a firm subscriber to the adage that no publicity is bad publicity, so he might be pleased that his three tweets criticizing "filthy" comedian Michelle Wolf's jokes at Saturday's White House Correspondents' Dinner have helped propel her roast to the most-viewed WHCD performance in C-SPAN's history. In just three days, Wolf's comedy set has been viewed more than 4.4 million times, The Hill reports, edging out Seth Meyers' 2011 performance, which has 4.3 million views. In that set, which Trump also criticized on Twitter this week, Meyers famously called a visibly irritated Trump a "joke."
In further evidence that controversy sells — or maybe that Trump sells, as Wolf noted pointedly in her monologue — the least watched WHCD set, with 280,000 views, is Jay Leno's performance from 2010. The White House Correspondents' Association is contemplating big changes to its format, including a laugh-off between liberal and conservative comedians and scrapping comedy for song. But it turns out they could also just hire bland comedians, and no one would pay attention.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclub
Speed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's ills
Speed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, Stallone
Speed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's view
Speed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talk
Speed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'
Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposes
speed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
-
New Mexico to investigate death of Gene Hackman, wife
speed read The Oscar-winning actor and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home with no signs of foul play