Nerd Prom: If You Pay Someone to Be Your Date, Is That Okay?

Now, we are big, big fans of the White House Correspondents' Dinner, and the glitz it lends to our otherwise salmon-pants-and-Toms-loving capitol. And I love the glimpse of an actual, outside-the-Beltway celebrity at this event, as long as that is a celebrity who a) has demonstrated an interest in public policy or b) is in a show in which he/she demonstrates an interest in public policy.

Exhibit A:



Yes. I hope Gary is carrying the Leviathan and making sure she doesn't mix her meds with too much booze and then sleep with her ex-husband.

But then there are those who don't meet the categories outlined above. Those who are less likely to appear at a Congressional hearing on Darfur, or vaccines, or...anything. I give you:



Don't get me wrong: she's funny, and she has awesome hair, and I can't believe she has a teenage son. And it wouldn't strike me as odd, except she was at the SAME DINNER last year.





This is a woman who said in 2013: "I would be lying to you if I didn't say the success of it. For me, it has allowed me to do the things I always wanted -- my endorsements."

Is she really on hand to advocate for more federal funding for tree pollen allergies? Or for additional wells to be built in the Central African Republic? Or to speak up for military victims of sexual abuse? I somehow doubt it.

So, this leaves me with just one question: HOW MUCH ARE THEY PAYING HER? AND WHY?