The Mentalist said the security for the dinner, which was attended by President Donald Trump, was not what he expected for such a high-profile event.
President Trump evacuates White House Correspondents’ Association dinner
President Donald Trump was evacuated from the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner after hearing a loud bang.
Oz Perlman revealed the trick he was playing when gunshots rang out at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner.
“The night went very well. I warmed up the crowd, the vice president liked my show, and I was talking to the press secretary,” he told USA TODAY. White House press secretary Caroline Leavitt is soon to give birth to her second child with husband Nicholas Riccio. “The challenge was to figure out the name of the unborn child’s daughter,” Perlman recalled.
The Mentalist did just that. He flipped the notepad over to reveal the name Vivian.
“I never intended to share this with the world. The important thing is not to ‘catch’ her. But I told her and she said it was okay to share,” he says. “‘This is a historic moment,’ she told me. When it happened, she said, ‘I don’t know how on earth you guessed my daughter’s name.'”
In his text, Mr. Levitt acknowledged that Mr. Perlman’s account was accurate.
“The timing was insane,” he added. “Just like when I was exposed, that was the exact moment when things happened in the room. So you can see the reaction to my trick was at its peak: the ‘Ah!’ reaction. And things quickly turn into shock and pain. ”
Soon, he was on the ground with President Donald Trump. “I’ll never forget seeing his face from a foot away,” he says. “This photo will stay in my heart forever. I wish I had had Metaglass on so I would have had that photo.”
He says he can’t find the words to characterize the president’s response. “I saw people who were surprised at how quickly and suddenly the Secret Service acted.”
Oz Perlman says security at White House press dinner was not as tight as other red carpet events
Perlman noticed a difference in the security at the hotel compared to other red carpet events she has attended. “I can’t speak to what was or wasn’t done, but there was certainly ease of movement,” he says. “We weren’t restricted to the same level as other events. There’s usually one checkpoint after another.”
He didn’t see anything particularly concerning, but he did note that access to the venue was not restricted. “I saw the makeup and hair people arrive an hour early. Hindsight is always 20/20. I never felt unsafe, but there wasn’t the same intense checks that I’ve had on other red carpets like the Golden Globes, where there were three or four checkpoints and barcodes being scanned, not just paper tickets. There was a real buzz of security around the venue.”
He praised the work of the Secret Service. “The Secret Service moved incredibly fast. Anyone who says it was a failure is ridiculous. It was a success and there were no deaths. There will always be criticism.” They were soon taken backstage and the scene descended into “chaos.”
Did Perlman, as a mentalist, foresee the tragedy that was about to occur?
“I’ve seen the memes and jokes write themselves. As a mentalist, I’m going to spend the rest of my life thinking that I never thought that would happen,” he says, lighthearted about the online chatter, saying he should have predicted what happened. “First, I’m not a psychic, and I wish I were. Second, my job is not to assess security threats. I entertain and create memorable events.”
Now that everyone is safe and the adrenaline rush is over, he can look back on that night with a little more perspective. “Bittersweet is how I would describe it. When you go through something like this, it’s surreal when it happens. You feel like you’re in some kind of movie. There’s a sense that I’m okay, my wife is okay, and of course the president is okay.”
His first fear was not that it was a gunman, but that it was a bomb. “I was bracing myself because I thought the room was going to explode,” he says. His wife was across the room. “Her seat was pretty bad,” he says, but he planned to move her to the center of the room during the performance. “That would have been the worst possible position. She would have been in the middle of the podium at the show. So that was a silver lining,” he says.
He admitted that he was thinking about the shows he had scheduled. “That’s what I really wanted people to talk about,” he says. “The best show of my life.”
Perlman says he will be back for the postponed event
The Mentalist has not balked at the idea of returning to the dinner, but President Trump has said he wants to reschedule the dinner within 30 days. “For sure,” he says, but admits logistics are an issue. “This is a huge event to hold in 30 days. If I could move earth, water, and oceans, I would too.”
He would probably change the great show he had planned. “I don’t know if we’ll be able to do exactly the same show. I think it’ll be similar, but it won’t be the same. We’ll have to score different points,” he says.
“We have to prove to terrorists and assassins who believe that violence is the answer that they can’t win,” he says. “No events? No football games? No, you have to live your life. It was such an honor to celebrate the First Amendment and freedom of the press and everything that dinner stands for.”
Contributor: Brendan Morrow
