Tom Brokaw Turns Down Correspondence Dinner Invite Because Of Lindsay Lohan, Says The Dinner Began to “Freewheel Out of Control”

In an interview with Politico veteran NBC anchor Tom Brokaw says he declined his invitation to this year's White House Correspondence dinner citing Lindsay Lohan's presence at the event last year as the cause.

Lohan was a guest of Fox News' Greta Van Susteren at last year's dinner. For Tom Brokaw Lohan was the last straw. In his interview with Politico Brokaw says the event has begun to "freewheel out of control."

"It became more of a tabloid kind of dinner," Brokaw said admitting he brought Lee Iacocca one year and at the end of the night he was embarrassed by what was going on.

After that Brokaw admitted he wouldn't go anymore but would watch on CSPAN. Brokaw said he felt the event lost its dignity. He explained to Politico how he would watch the event and pretend to be an everyday person living in a small town somewhere in America.

As he would watch the even Brokaw would imagine this everyman saying, "That's the Washington Press Corp? I mean there is more dignity at my daughters junior prom than there is with what I'm seeing on CSPAN."

Brokaw told Politico, "For me the breaking point was Lindsay Lohan. She became a big star at the White House Correspondence Dinner. Give me a break."

Lindsay Lohan has been a page six celebrity for a while, ever since her legal troubles began. Most recently Lohan was sentence to 90-days in rehab and she is currently being sued by a paparazzo who claims Lohan ran over his foot.

According to the New York Post while at the 2012 Correspondence dinner Lohan's behavior included tipping the bathroom attendant $100 and saying, "You're too old to be doing this."

Brokaw told Politico that the event had been going downhill for a while. Brokaw spoke about an interview he did with "Meet the Press" last May. In his "Meet the Press Interview" Brokaw said,

"Look, I think George Clooney is a great guy. I'd like to meet Charlize Theron. But I don't think the big press event in Washington should be that kind of glittering event where the whole talk is about Cristal champagne, taking over the Italian Embassy, who had the best party, who got to meet the most people."

Brokaw also spoke to Politico about the reaction he got about his views about the direction the dinner has gone.

"Some of it was generational. People about my age said, 'Thank God you finally spoke out on that. We've felt that way for some time.' Others were defensive, including the officers [of the WHCA] about the money they raised for scholarships. Look, I don't believe in just eating your spinach. I want to have a good time, too. I've worked in Washington. I still spend a lot of time down there. I know the value of having a dinner and having a productive social evening with somebody who's a contact of some kind."

Tom Brokaw began his journalism career in the 1960's after graduating college. He became an NBC correspondant in 1972 and the co-anchor of NBC's Nightly News in 1982 after spending 6-years on the Today Show.