Correspondents’ Dinner attendee goes viral for refusing to let gunman ruin meal

As dozens of attendees took cover while shots rang out, one White House Correspondent’s Dinner guest went viral for trying to eat his meal while sheltering.

Identified as CAA talent agent Michael Glantz, who works with large names in media, Glantz appeared unfazed while eating a spoonful of his burrata salad as Secret Service ran by.

The images of Glantz munching on his meal quickly went viral online as further details of the event were released throughout the evening.

‘My man,’ one account wrote, sharing a clip of Glantz eating.

‘To each their own… The gentleman who continues to eat his salad calmly while the room is being evacuated and others seem to be hiding under the tables is the artistic agent, Michael Glantz,’ another account said.

One joked: ‘He mistook the order from the Secret Service to “get down now” for “get it down now”.’

The shooting unfolded just outside the vast ballroom holding thousands of dinner guests, disrupting minutes after it began an annual event meant to honour journalism and the First Amendment.

Inside the ballroom, guests scurried for cover at the sound of shots while Secret Service agents, including the heavily-armed counter-assault team, swarmed the stage after the incident.

Vice-President JD Vance was removed from the room first, while agents initially covered Trump in place before escorting him and First Lady Melania Trump from the room.

The president briefly stumbled on the way off-stage before being assisted by his security detail.

He was held for some time in a secure presidential suite at the hotel as the president and organizers initially sought to resume the event.

Hotel staff refolded napkins and refilled water glasses, and aides adjusted the teleprompter for the president – before Trump was returned to the White House on the advice of the Secret Service.

It was the third time since 2024 that the president had been under threat by an attacker in his immediate vicinity – including the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, that injured him and killed a local firefighter.

Guests were dining on a spring pea and burrata salad when noise began – noise Trump said he initially thought was a tray dropping, but some journalists believed was five to eight gunshots.

The Secret Service and other authorities swarmed the room as guests ducked under tables by the hundreds.

Audible gasps echoed through the ballroom as guests realised something was happening; hundreds of journalists immediately got on phones to call in information.

Outside the hotel, members of the National Guard and other authorities flooded the area as helicopters circled overhead.

After an initial attempt to resume, the event was scrapped for the night and will be rescheduled.