{"id":3076,"date":"2026-04-27T08:36:35","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T08:36:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/?p=3076"},"modified":"2026-04-27T08:36:35","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T08:36:35","slug":"performer-oz-pearlman-recounts-whcd-shooting-oh-no-are-we-about-to-die","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/?p=3076","title":{"rendered":"Performer Oz Pearlman recounts WHCD shooting: &#8216;Oh no, are we about to die?&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"\" data-article-body=\"true\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Mentalist\u00a0Oz Pearlman, who was set to perform at the 2026 White House Correspondents&#8217; Association Dinner on Saturday night, recounted the harrowing details that took place during the\u00a0shooting incident\u00a0outside the ballroom, telling ABC News&#8217; Jonathan Karl that his &#8220;first thought&#8221; was &#8220;are we about to die?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Authorities said a\u00a0suspect identified as Cole Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, allegedly charged a security checkpoint outside the dinner armed with a shotgun and other weapons before he was taken into custody.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Pearlman said that he and President Donald Trump were &#8220;side-by-side&#8221; after the Secret Service forced the president to get down.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"rounded-lg\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/Mid6GBoBMd5itnPU66cjhg--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTY0MDtjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/us.abcnews.go.com\/26fe3f86e42407fb3a1357e3f169ee49\" alt=\"Alex Brandon\/AP - PHOTO: Secret Service agents surround President Donald Trump as mentalist, Oz Pearlman stands behind him before he was taken from the stage after a shooting incident during the White House Correspondents Dinner, April 25, 2026, in Washington.\" width=\"960\" height=\"640\" data-nimg=\"1\" \/><button class=\"group absolute bottom-0 size-full\" aria-label=\"View larger image\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\" data-rapid_p=\"9\" data-y-link-id=\"0whpneu1wwjm460czltk\" data-v9y=\"1\"><\/button><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 line-clamp-2 pr-2.5\">\n<div>Alex Brandon\/AP &#8211; PHOTO: Secret Service agents surround President Donald Trump as mentalist, Oz Pearlman stands behind him before he was taken from the stage after a shooting incident during the White House Correspondents Dinner, April 25, 2026, in Washington.<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;When I dropped down, and dropped down to all fours, and I&#8217;m waiting and bracing because I think a bomb&#8217;s going to go off. I watch the two Secret Service guys get behind the president, bring him down. And just by pure chance, he gets brought down. We&#8217;re facing up to directions right next to me,&#8221; Pearlman told Karl. &#8220;So the exact same way you are at this distance, which I&#8217;ve never really been, from President Trump, side to side. And I just look at him right here, and I think right that moment, I can piece it back when it happened. I go, in my head, I go, &#8216;Oh no, are we about to die?&#8217; That was my first thought.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Pearlman adds that he was unable to tell Trump&#8217;s condition because &#8220;his eyes weren&#8217;t registering&#8221; and that it &#8220;seemed to me like he was in shock.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;I&#8217;m looking at him, and I can&#8217;t gauge from him what happened to him,&#8221;\u00a0Pearlman said.\u00a0&#8220;No part of me was like, he&#8217;s OK. Because also, I didn&#8217;t expect them to take him down so violently, because if this is kind of a fire drill, or we&#8217;re not sure, they never would have tackled him that hard.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;His eyes were not registering &#8230; It was too sudden. It was those two beats of looking at each other. It&#8217;s also really surreal, because I don&#8217;t know &#8212; I met the president five minutes before that was the first time in my life. So I didn&#8217;t expect to have that level of a moment where, again, God forbid, anything would happen, but like, if you&#8217;re in a life or death situation next to someone you don&#8217;t really know, it&#8217;s jarring,&#8221; Pearlman said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Pearlman said he &#8220;army-crawled&#8221; out, which brought him to a &#8220;crazy&#8221; scene backstage.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;So we get backstage, we&#8217;re all standing. There&#8217;s so many people with guns going by, and so we&#8217;ve got SWAT team &#8212; full tactical, like, assault rifles. There&#8217;s also [a] dude just walking around with handguns,&#8221; Pearlman said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8216;Absolute chaos&#8217;: Gunman charges White House correspondents&#8217; dinner checkpoint with Trump inside<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">He said the scene unfolded a &#8220;split second&#8221; after he performed a trick in which he successfully guessed White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt&#8217;s baby&#8217;s name.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;And if you watch, the craziest part about is, it happened at a split second after the reveal. So if you watch everyone around me, [gasps], they look amazed, because the trick was really good. And then we all saw it. Same moment,&#8221; Pearlman said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;I was guessing what her unborn child&#8217;s name was going to be,&#8221;\u00a0Pearlman revealed after receiving approval from Leavitt to share the trick.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"rounded-lg\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/yAahH4HJAaRebm1j8_7Jrw--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTYxMztjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/us.abcnews.go.com\/c611117b0f6b490fbb8c15930208bb74\" alt=\"Elizabeth Frantz\/Reuters - PHOTO: Mentalist Oz Pearlman, the headline entertainer for the evening, poses on the red carpet for the 2026 White House Correspondents' Association dinner in Washington, April 25, 2026.\" width=\"960\" height=\"613\" data-nimg=\"1\" \/><button class=\"group absolute bottom-0 size-full\" aria-label=\"View larger image\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\" data-rapid_p=\"13\" data-y-link-id=\"1slpyrs1j4cgv71wqgjh\" data-v9y=\"1\"><\/button><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 line-clamp-2 pr-2.5\">\n<div>Elizabeth Frantz\/Reuters &#8211; PHOTO: Mentalist Oz Pearlman, the headline entertainer for the evening, poses on the red carpet for the 2026 White House Correspondents&#8217; Association dinner in Washington, April 25, 2026.<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;Tell me you didn&#8217;t guess that,&#8221; Karl said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;So I looked at her, I said, &#8216;Think of how many letters,&#8217; and if you watch it, you can watch the clip. I&#8217;m guessing I said six, seven letters. She goes, &#8216;Yes.&#8217; And then I said, you think of a V. And that&#8217;s when the first lady goes, &#8216;How does he know this?&#8217; And then I write down the name, and I say, &#8216;what are you naming your daughter with V?&#8217; And right, when I turn that around, you can see Weijia [Jiang] from CBS go &#8216;Gasp,&#8217; and then you see the first lady go [gasp] because she couldn&#8217;t believe it, and [Leavitt] goes, &#8216;That&#8217;s the name of my daughter.'&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Pressed on what the name of Leavitt&#8217;s daughter will be, Pearlman responded: &#8220;She&#8217;s got to tell you, but I believe it&#8217;s Vivian.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"mt-2\">\n<div class=\"\">\n<div class=\"flex flex-col gap-3 rounded-lg p-4 bg-carbon-0 dark:bg-tertiary\">\n<div class=\"mb-1 flex items-center\">\n<div class=\"flex items-center gap-1.5\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mentalist\u00a0Oz Pearlman, who was set to perform at the 2026 White House Correspondents&#8217; Association Dinner on Saturday night,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":3077,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,7,48],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3076","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime","category-news","category-us"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3076","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3076"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3076\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3078,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3076\/revisions\/3078"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3077"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}