Washington, D.C., May 9, 2009 – There were two big themes at this year’s White House Correspondents Association dinner.  On one hand, presumably due the presence of the Obamas in the White House, Hollywood stars embraced the dinner in a big, big way.  We haven’t seen such a high glamour quotient at the dinner in years, and these stars worked the red carpet to maximum effect.  On the other hand, for unknown reasons Cabinet members avoided cameras at the Washington Hilton at the dinner – Rahm Emanuel, Tim Geithner, Janet Napolitano and others skipped the red carpet and headed directly into the dining room. 

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes were reportedly in the house but avoided the cameras.  There was buzz that Tom and Katie were seen hanging out in the hotel lobby all day, that they were staying there, and were seen later shopping at a drugstore across the street.  Our spy inside the dinner told us that the Cruises sat toward the back of the room instead of front and center. 

Captain Richard Phillips, the ship captain who survived capture by Somali pirates, worked the press line like a seasoned pro, posing for photos, answering questions and joking with photographers on the red carpet. 

Afterward, we hit the parties.  When White House Chief-of-Staff Rahm Emanuel rushed into the Capitol File party at the Corcoran Gallery of Art without posing for photos, publisher Jason Binn sent photographers in after him.  When the cameramen cornered Emanuel on the dance floor, they got a taste of his legendary temper – he looked like he was going to charge like a bull – and no photos were taken.  For the record, Emanuel seemed to be networking on the dance floor, not dancing.