šļøThe Ensemble: Why I took a week to process the White House Correspondents Dinner shooting
Not because I was traumatized by another assassination attempt on President Trump, but because I wasn't. Let me explain.
The truth is how do you even begin to unpack not only what happened last weekend but moreso how quickly we moved on from it - and the exposure of the very media the evening was supposed to be celebrating? A gunman hell-bent on assassinating the President of the United States, members of his administration, and anyone else in his way, breached security at the Washington Hilton, a hotel I had been visiting nearly every year since the beginning of my geopolitical journalism career for the White House Correspondents Dinner - where Iād felt so safe that I never even noticed that Iāve gone through more ID checks at Costco than this event.
Journalists, especially those of us whoāve reported from conflict zones, can be known for dark humor and what āciviliansā would likely see as an inhuman way of compartmentalizing emotions when witnessing the worst of humanity. I found out the hard way that delaying the process of sifting through your feelings or even pretending you donāt have them - eventually catches up to you, at cost you often canāt afford. So I pushed aside the nagging residual whispers of a newshound to file first, feel later - inspired by Kate Woodsome. In the words of my favorite new app Spread, this is my āproof of human.ā
The evening began with triumph on the red carpet: promoting the film Iām executive producing called That Night, an animated short documentary by Hoda Sobhani about Neda Naji who survived the Evin Prison fire during the the Women, Life, Freedom movement in Iran in 2022. Weaving the stories of Iranian women freedom fighters past and present, I wore Iranian American designer Sareh Nouriās āNedaā dress - named for Neda Agha-Soltan, killed during Iranās 2009 Green Movement - from the Persian Muse collection - for the women that rise, a tribute to Persian womenās resilience, identity, and history, reinterpreted through couture.
That very evening we won the Grand Jury Prize for Animated Shorts at Dallas International Film Festival - officially award winning and Academy qualifying.
At Helmet to Heels, we use fashion to get people to pay attention to foreign news. The press that followed, including disgraced former congressman George Santosā wannabe Joan Rivers commentary, proved it worked.
I wasnāt expecting to end up the poster girl for shock as news of the shooting broke.
The now viral New York Times photo thatās been sent to me from all over the world, was captured the moment I received video from Darren Pasha inside the Hilton ballroom where for the first time in years, I was not. Last year, I vowed I was done with the hypocrisy of a White House Correspondents Dinner that had lost the plot, and would not choose to suffer through another cold, long-winded, disingenuous, often poor cell-signaled event (although this year it was clearly remarkably better) that preached āgiving voice to the voicelessā while gatekeeping those very voices from getting anywhere near their club yet cozying up to the people theyāre supposed to be holding accountable.
However, I did use the high profile nature of the red carpet access included in the invitation to truly give voice to the voiceless: the people of Iran muzzled by their government in the longest state sponsored internet blackout in history. To back up the argument that whatās broadcast at the dinner podium is generally mere lipservice, ŁŲ§ŁŪ ŲÆŚÆŲ±Ų³/Holly Dagres and I were the only ones showing any solidarity with Iranian journalists.
Across town, while on Secret Service lockdown at the Substack party in front of the White House, I watched the further unraveling of my profession. When I was coming of age as a cub reporter, the phrase ānever wrong for longā was not something to aspire to; now itās how influencers cosplaying as journalists monetize their social media channels - never mind that they spread fake news to millions of followers. As long as theyāre first, credibility be damned.
It took a while to figure out what was going on: a room full of independent journalists, not a single TV in sight to watch the Presidentās speech. The only reason I knew anything had happened was from my phone blowing up with āare you ok?ā from across the country - friends and family whoād seen my Instagram.
Once weād heard the all clear - no one was killed - we carried on. Which I only realized wasnāt normal, because my British husband Jamie Angus was visibly rattled as he tried to drive home on the side of the road heās not used to, only to find ourselves face to face in the car with a heavily armed excitable Secret Service man yelling at us while guiding foot traffic in the blocked off streets. The pedestrians turned out to be our friend Stu Rogers and company, only recognizing us from the giant dress poof in the passenger seat my head was popping out from, a very Princess Diana moment. We yelled hello out the window and sped off.
Only in America do you shrug off an assassination attempt. But is it quintessentially American - and something not to be proud of - or is it a reflection of the times? President Trump has now been nearly assassinated three times, that we know of. Iād recently been thinking that unlike other Presidents, Trump does not often go for outings in DC; Biden and Obama both loved their surprise visits to local establishments - grab an ice cream here, a burger there. But not Trump. Are the threats against him higher?
I wasnāt suprised that conversations quickly turned to ātheories.ā Stranded in the Hay Adams Off the Record bar, sami sage told me sheād had a dream the previous night something had happened that affected the parties. Womenās intution never ceases to amaze me; Iād also felt something was off and even warned as such in the caption of my GRWM reel earlier in the day.
By the time we reached Dupont Underground, where MSNowās team insisted on calling the now subdued āDemocracy After Hoursā party a gathering, ātheoriesā had evolved into āwas the shooting staged to destroy the WHCD for good / justify Trumpās ballroom heās building at the White House?ā I felt transported back to the Middle East and my days living in Beirut where I was covering ISIS suicide bombs and beheadings by day, partying at B018 - a bomb shelter style club - by night, and debunking conspiracy theories about the US creating the terrorist group on purpose.
Therefore I wasnāt surprised when Al Jazeera called and wanted me to appear in a magazine show deep diving into āThe United States of Conspiracy.ā My takeaway? Thereās hypocrisy on all sides, and frankly it needs to stop.
While fashion is usually the H2H escape from chaotic headlines, I took a page out of Beyond The Pod with Chuck Toddās book this week and sought solace in sport. Our geopolitical world could do with a bit of sportswomanship. The rest of this newsletter is about just that. As ever, please consider a paid subscription, share with your friends and family and help us grow this community.
xo,
News with Suz
Kentucky Derby makes history
This weekend, Cherie DeVaux became the first woman trainer to win the Kentucky Derby in its 152-year history, when her horse Golden Tempo came from the back of the field to take the roses in a stunning upset. Golden Tempo went off as a 23-1 long shot, which makes the story even better. DeVaux launched her own training operation in 2018, and now joins a very short list of women who have trained Triple Crown race winners.
Tailgate no more in World Cup summer
I spent my whole life a futbol fan with dreams of being the next Mia Hamm waiting for the day the soccer Super Bowl finally came to my home turf - and now itās turning out to be a hot mess. If anyone has figured out how to get tickets to any of the games in my hometown of Atlanta, kindly respond to this newsletter.
Lately the gulf between the US and Europe has never been more obvious. But nowhere is it more apparent than in the current row over public transport arrangements for the World Cup Final this Summer. Bluntly - fans from outside N America, and FIFA themselves, expect cheap or free public transport to games. But now New Jerseyās Governor has entered the chat. The price for a train ticket to the MetLife stadium for the games played there? $150.
To be fair to New Jerseyās newly elected woman Governor Mikie Sherrill (who we featured in The Ensemble late last year), itās a complicated issue. FIFA has removed all the free parking at the stadium that would normally accomodate most of the crowd - and all the associated tailgating - in favour of expensive premium parking for VIPs and corporate partners. And Penn Station will be closed to everyone except people travelling to the games for four hours - some games fall in peak time commuter travel time. As it stands, everyone is pissed.
Itās part of wider narrative about this Summerās World Cup. Sky-high ticket prices, concerns about visas for non-US fans and immigration enforcement, and now the transport row, threaten to turn the worldās festival of football into a series of political and culture-war rows. Nobody wants that. But given how close Gianni Infantino has been to President Trump recently - awarding him an entirely made-up FIFA peace prize to keep relations running smoothly - itās probably inevitable .
Letās keep focused on the most important issue - the performance of H2H-endorsed Curacao.
LIV Golf in the sand trap and Saudi women sport fit checks
We donāt often write about Golf in this newsletter - but convulsions over the fate of the Saudi-funded LIV Golf league are worthy of analysis. LIV was the petrodollar disrupter that threatened to blow the cozy PGA tour out of the water when it was first launched in 2022. Using the Saudi PIF sovereign wealth riches, the league has blown mega-money by luring stars like John Rahm and Bryson deChambeau over to an upstart league which played a different team format to the main PGA tour, who in turn to raise prize money for the biggest stars to keep them onside. But the immense cash burn of LIV is finally coming to an end - and it aligns with Saudi Arabiaās shifting priorities. The war in the Gulf has focused Saudi minds on which of the remaining āmegaprojectsā they can really afford to land - and this week LIV finally confirmed that the league will lose its Saudi backing from the end of this season. In the last year Saudi has quietly pushed back or cancelled multiple phases of the NEOM desert city, the Red Sea luxury resorts, and the improbable Trojena mountain ski resort. They remain focused on projects which will demonstrably grow and diversify Saudiās economy, and the 2034 World Cup which remains a key priority.
As with the World Cup in North America this Summer, politics remains a part of the sport universe. Saudi funding has been transformational for LIV, Newcastle Football club, and the Saudiās own soccer league which still boasts stars like Cristiano Ronaldo - whose club Al Nassr this week launched a new soccer jersey dress in a fanwear for women range.
But as weāve seen even the spending power of Saudi Arabia is not immune from the tides of geopolitics, in a region where instability and conflict is the norm and not the exception. Fore!
ā¦and finally, keep your muscles lean and your cap table clean.
This gym routine is H2H approved. We are obsessed with this story of WOMEN BUILDING Strength in Taiwan. May they serve as inspiration for all of us to hit the weights - starting with me.
Thanks for drawing attention to Iran, my abjee/sister!