Mentalist Oz Pearlman, the host of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, revealed what he had been showing First Lady Melania Trump on his notepad before gunfire erupted at the event.
Pearlman, 41, divulged the trick that he was performing, which had guessed 28-year-old White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt’s unborn child’s name, just moments before shots rang out on Saturday evening.
‘The night was going very, very well. I was warming up the crowd, the [Vice President] was loving my show, and I was speaking to the press secretary,’ Pearlman told USA Today.
‘The challenge was to figure out the name of [Leavitt’s] unborn daughter.’
The trick saw Pearlman ask Leavitt to think of a name before he showed the notepad, where he had written down the name Leavitt picked for her daughter, Viviane. Leavitt, who is expected to give birth in only a matter of days, later confirmed to Pearlman that he had guessed correctly, the outlet reported.
‘I never would have shared this with the world, the point is not to “gotcha” her. But I spoke to her and she said it’s okay to share,’ he told the outlet.
‘”This is a moment in history,” she told me. When it happened, she said, “I don’t know how the hell you guessed my daughter’s name.”‘
But no sooner had he revealed his impressive trick, gunfire rang out at the event, the crowd cowered under tables, Secret Service leapt into action and Pearlman found himself lying on the floor.
Mentalist Oz Pearlman, 41, divulged the trick that he was performing, which had guessed the 28-year-old White House Press Secretary’s second child’s name, just moments before shots rang out on Saturday evening
The trick saw Pearlman ask Leavitt to think of a name before he showed the notepad where had had written down Karoline Leavitt’s daughter’s name, Viviane
Leavitt, pictured with her husband Nicholas Riccio, is expecting her second child, a girl, any day now
‘The timing was insane,’ Pearlman continued. ‘Right as I did the reveal, that’s exactly the moment things went down in the room.’
‘You see the peak reaction to my trick, the “Oh!” and then things instantly change to shock and distress,’ he recalled.
As he lay on the ground, he turned and saw the president within reach. He recalled to CNN that his thoughts as he lay on the floor with Trump was, ‘Oh no, are we about to die?’
‘Seeing his face a foot away – I’ll never forget that,’ he said. ‘It’s a photo in my mind forever. I wish I had meta glasses on and I’d have that photo.’
Guests had barely had a chance to tuck into their appetizers before Secret Service agents swarmed the Washington Hilton’s ballroom following a series of ‘loud noises.’
The ballroom, filled with the nation’s top journalists, Hollywood celebrities, and Cabinet members including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, became a scene of pure pandemonium.
The suspect, 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen, exchanged fire with Secret Service agents before they tackled him to the ground and arrested him. One Secret Service agent was struck in his bulletproof vest and is expected to recover. No one else was harmed.
Allen had breached the security checkpoint at the event before he was swiftly taken down, while Trump and Melania were whisked to safety.
Pearlman, pictured with his wife Elisa Rosen, before the event which the mentalist described as ‘bittersweet’
Guests had barely had a chance to tuck into their appetizers before Secret Service agents swarmed the Washington Hilton’s ballroom following a series of ‘loud noises’
Pearlman recalled to the outlet that he found security to be less restrictive than at other red carpet events he had attended.
‘I can’t speak to what was or wasn’t done. But I did find there was ease of movement. I was not restricted at the same level of other events. Usually there is checkpoint after checkpoint,’ Pearlman said.
While he had noted no specific red flags in the event’s security, he said he saw ‘makeup and hair people coming in an hour before.’
‘Hindsight is always 20/20. I didn’t feel endangered, but there was not the rigorous checks I’ve been put through at other red carpets like the Golden Globes where there have been three to four checkpoints, scanned bar codes, not just paper tickets. Really ring after ring of security around the venue,’ he said.
However, Pearlman applauded the fast-moving response from the Secret Service.
‘The Secret Service moved so incredibly fast; anyone who says it was a failure, that’s ridiculous. It was a success and no one died. There will always be finger-pointing,’ he added.
The entertainer also addressed remarks online querying why, as a mentalist, Pearlman didn’t see the chaotic incident coming.
‘I’ve seen the memes, the jokes write themselves. I would be haunted forever that I, as a mentalist, didn’t see that coming,’ he said.
Pearlman recalled that he found security to be less restrictive than at other red carpet events he had attended
A collection of celebrities, journalists and other Washington power players duck for cover after shots were fired at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner at the Washington Hilton
President Trump shared this dramatic image of the shirtless alleged shooter, 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen, after he was taken down by law enforcement
‘One, I am not a psychic, I wish I were. Two, my job is not to assess security threats. I entertain and create memorable events.’
The event, while terrifying, was what Pearlman described as ‘bittersweet.’
‘When you experience something like this, which is surreal when it happens, it feels like you’re in some sort of a movie. You have the awareness that I’m okay and my wife is okay, and the president, of course,’ he told the outlet.
He recalled that, as the scene descended into chaos, he believed it was a bomb threat and not an active shooter.
‘I was bracing, thinking the room was about to explode,’ Pearlman said.
But, the event is set to be rescheduled as the president announced he would like to host it again in the next 30 days.
Pearlman said: ‘I don’t know if I can do the exact same show; I think it will be similar, but not same. It would have to take a different note.’
‘Terrorist or assassins who believe that violence is the answer, we have to show they can’t win,’ he continued.
The White House confirmed that the dinner would be rescheduled for within the next 30 days
Pearlman later posted on his Instagram story that he returned home on Sunday evening and said: ‘It’s never felt as good to hug and kiss my children’
‘Are we not going to have events? Are we not going to have football games? No, you have to live your life. I was very honored to celebrate the First Amendment and the freedom of the press and everything that dinner represents.’
Shortly after the shooting, Pearlman took to Instagram to inform his following that he was safe and sound.
‘Thank you all for checking on me, ‘ the post began. ‘I am ok and thank God everyone is alright! Was in the middle of performing for the President and First Lady when I looked up to see the commotion, thought it was a bomb about to go off or shots fired,’ the post said.
‘We hit the deck fast and Secret Service acted decisively and professionally to protect us all. We laid on the ground, I was a couple feet away from President Trump, eyes locked with one another.
‘It was likely the scariest moment of my life and will never forget it. So happy everyone is ok.’
Pearlman later posted on his Instagram story that he returned home on Sunday evening.
‘It’s never felt as good to hug and kiss my children,’ he wrote.
The president addressed the nation at a press conference just two hours after the incident.
‘When you’re impactful, they go after you,’ he said. ‘They seem to think he was a lone wolf. We’re not going to let anybody take over our society.’
Authorities discovered that Allen wrote a chilling manifesto before he arrived at the Washington Hilton Hotel, where the dinner was being hosted.
The incident occurred at the same hotel where President Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981 – an eerie historical parallel that was not lost on those in attendance.
