Entertainment

Larry Wilmore Keeps His Family Life Private

Trading his New York City news desk for a Washington D.C. podium, The Nightly Show's Larry Wilmore is hosting the 2016 White House Correspondents Dinner on April 30. It’s an honor that he shares with past emcees like Jon Stewart, Bob Hope, Wanda Sykes, and Richard Pryor. The high-profile gig is an opportunity for Wilmore to reach a wider audience beyond viewers of his Comedy Central news show. The comedian is not yet as ubiquitous as some of his contemporaries, even though he graduated to his own series from a correspondents post on The Daily Show. The White House Correspondents' Dinner will be some viewers’ introduction to Larry Wilmore. What else should newbies know about the comedian? Besides being a Comedy Central host, Larry Wilmore has two children with Leilani Jones, according to the New York Post.

But like many celebrities, Wilmore keeps his family life out of the public eye. There’s very little information about his kids readily available online, even their ages. Wilmore did tell NPR's Fresh Air in February 2015 that he and Jones had divorced after 20 years of marriage and said, "But it's an amicable one, we're good friends and everything. It's something we've been going through a long time."

Both parents have kept their private life private; but as a dad, Wilmore is in good company with past White House Correspondents' Dinner hosts. Many of his predecessors are also parents, which puts them in the perfect position to skewer the politicians and their “family values.” Here’s the parental status of the last five WHCD emcees.

Cecily Strong

Last year, Saturday Night Live performer and "One-Dimensional Female Character" Cecily Strong was the first woman to host the WHCD since Sykes in 2009. The comedian has been linked in the past to former SNL cast member Mike O'Brien, but keeps her romantic status mostly on the DL. Strong doesn't have any children, and used her WHCD platform to score a point for reproductive rights. “Since I’m only a comedian, I’m not going to try and tell you how to do politics," Strong said. "That would be like you guys telling me what to do with my body. I mean, can you even imagine? Crazy.”

Joel McHale

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Former Community student and The Soup host Joel McHale has two kids with his wife, Sarah Williams. If anyone could find the humor in the complete insanity of raising tiny humans, it's this guy. McHale's children are regularly referenced in his stand-up jokes and he's known to share stories about them in other appearances. In 2014, he told Ellen about his older son's ninth birthday party, which he compared to Fight Club. Have you met a 9-year-old boy? That sounds accurate.

Conan O'Brien

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Conan O'Brien married Elizabeth Ann Powel in 2002, and the couple has two children, Neve and Beckett. O'Brien seems to have learned a lot about the magical innocence of youth through his family, as evidenced by this pitch-perfect tweet

Jimmy Kimmel

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2012 WHCD host Jimmy Kimmel has a brood of three children: two with ex-wife Gina Maddy and a daughter with current wife Molly McNearney. Kimmel clearly has an appreciation for kids and their natural, un-self-conscious humor. Jimmy Kimmel Live frequently features segments with tiny humans; the most famous being the annual Halloween tradition of parents filming themselves telling their children that they ate all their hard-won candy.

Seth Meyers

Meyers wasn't a parent when he hosted the White House Correspondents Dinner in 2011. His wife Alexi Ashe gave birth to their son just this March. The host's old SNL pal Tracy Morgan stopped by Late Night soon after to bestow an "uncle" gift on the baby.

I respect the fact that Wilmore is committed to protecting his family's privacy, but it must be good to know that the WHCD past hosts club can also double as a parental support group.