Obamas outshine Cruise and Holmes

Courtney Hazlett The Scoop

There was one celebrity power couple in the room at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner May 9, and it wasn’t Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes.

The president and the first lady’s presence at the dinner reinforced the idea that became apparent the moment Barack and Michelle Obama began showing up on the covers of celebrity magazines. No matter who's in the room, the Obamas outshine all challengers.

This brings us back to back to Cruise and Holmes, whose presence at the dinner was confounding to many. Fellow A-list attendees Demi Moore, Ashton Kutcher, Natalie Portman, and Denis Leary, were politically active during the campaign season and beyond, Cruise and Holmes were not. And not only do Cruise and Holmes stay out of politics almost entirely, they actually turned down an invite to last year’s WHCA dinner.

“Tom and Katie wouldn’t go to something that crowded and uncontrolled,” said one of Cruise's reps at the time. “They’d be bothered all night.”

Apparently, a year makes a big difference. “I’m looking forward to meeting Obama,” Cruise said before the dinner. He did, and seemed to handle the crowds at the Washington Hilton just fine. Inside the dinner, more eyes were on the Obamas and Wanda Sykes.

Other stars shine at dinner
Ben Affleck was not at the dinner, despite some reports that list him in attendance. His wife, Jennifer Garner, was supposed to attend, too, and a rep for Affleck said that Garner “had to take care of the kids,” and Affleck had to cancel at the last minute because “he got really sick. Just couldn’t do it.”

Video   Scoop on the Obamas’ star power May 11: Hollywood and Washington collide at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner and Courtney Hazlett says there’s no doubt the president and first lady stole the show. MSNBC

Val Kilmer was also a no-show at the dinner, despite saying he “was really looking forward to going,” as CNN’s guest just hours earlier at Tammy Haddad’s Garden Brunch. Kilmer wasn’t thrilled to be asked about his interest in running for office in New Mexico. “Don’t think so,” was as far as he wanted to go with that.

“Friday Night Lights” stars Connie Britton and Kyle Chandler were guests of NBC, and had some good casting news for fans of the show, especially those who flock to the drama for Tim Riggins, played by actor Taylor Kitsch.

“We don’t know exactly who is coming back next season,” Britton said, “but I’m pretty sure Tim is going to be there, he is so loved.”

Chandler agreed. “The show could live on as ‘Friday Night Riggins’ if it had to,” he joked.

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After the dinner, guests flocked to either the Bloomberg/Vanity Fair party at the French ambassador’s residence or the Capitol File party the Corcoran Gallery of Art.

The former was much more intimate — only about 300 people were invited. Most of the celeb crop from the dinner made their way through, but so did Capt. Richard Phillips and his wife Andrea.

“We are just loving this moment,” Andrea said. “He’s such a special man, I’m so glad I let him buy me that drink at the bar all those years ago.”

At the Capitol File party, Ludacris, who introduced himself with his birth name, Chris Bridges, showed up with his mom, fitting for Mother’s Day weekend.

And Owen Wilson eschewed a lot of the Hollywood crowd (including Eva Longoria Parker, who was with designer Jason Wu) to spend quality time with Obama staffers Valerie Jarrett and Desiree Rogers.

‘Trek’ boldly goes to top of box office
Yes, there was life outside the Beltway this weekend. “Star Trek” was able to beam the next generation into seats and, as predicted, ended up in the number one spot at the box office.

In terms of dollars, the film fell just about where it was expected to, pulling in $76.5 million.

The bigger news is its success on IMAX screens. It set a record, earning $8.2 million on 134 screens, beating out “The Dark Knight,” which grossed $6.3 million on IMAX screens last year.

Courtney Hazlett delivers the Scoop Monday through Friday on msnbc.com. Follow Scoop on Twitter: @ courtneyatmsnbc.

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