Leno to Speak at the White House Correspondents' Dinner

By BILL CARTER, New York Times - Right in the middle of one of the most contentious periods in his long career, Jay Leno was announced Friday as the choice to be the keynote speaker for the White House Correspondents’ dinner in May.

But he was not picked to bring an extra dollop of hype to the event, said Edwin Chen, the president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, which runs the dinner.

“Jay agreed several months before this whole flap started,” said Mr. Chen, the senior White House correspondent for Bloomberg News. He was referring to the recent upheaval in NBC’s late-night lineup, which has resulted in the departure of Conan O’Brien from NBC and Mr. Leno’s impending return as host of “The Tonight Show.”

Mr. Chen said he had personally reached out to Mr. Leno and “he was very enthused to do it.” He noted that Mr. Leno is “an old friend of the dinner,” having served as the speaker on three previous occasions. The selection of a speaker for the dinner is solely up to the president of the association, Mr. Chen said. “There is no vote or anything like that,” he said. He added, “I know the Obamas like him very much, too,” noting that both the President and Michelle Obama have been guests on Mr. Leno’s show.