While most attendees hit the floor during a chaotic moment at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, Michael Glantz stayed exactly where he was—fork in hand. After the clip made the rounds online, the Creative Artists Agency (CAA) agent is now explaining why he didn’t move.
Glantz was caught on C-SPAN cameras remaining in his seat and even taking a few bites of his spring pea and burrata salad as chaos unfolded around him.
You can catch the moment here:
My man pic.twitter.com/NKAoHKXciR
— Chris Stephens (@ChrisStephensMD) April 26, 2026
The split-screen aired on CNN, and footage of Glantz quickly went viral on social media, where he was dubbed “the salad man.” CNN media analyst Brian Stelter identified Glantz from the clip online, describing him as a “super-agent.”
CNN anchor Christiane Amanpour was the first to identify Glantz as her agent in a post on X:
Calm, collected and carrying on in a scary crisis, my super cool agent Michael Glantz‼️
So glad everyone made it safely out of that ballroom.https://t.co/dYU7TqTWUM
— Christiane Amanpour (@amanpour) April 27, 2026
Glantz told the New York Times he had two reasons for remaining in place:
“First of all, I have a bad back. I couldn’t get on the floor, and if I did get on the floor, they’d have to bring in people to get me off the floor."
"And No. 2, I’m a hygiene freak. There was no freaking way I was getting in my new tux on the dirty Hilton floor. It was not happening.”
Glantz told White House Correspondents Insider he wasn’t nervous.
In a video posted on Instagram, he even seemed to shrug off the moment:
“Born and raised in New York. Didn’t scare me at all. I didn’t want to miss the show.”
You can watch his post-salad interview below:
Glantz went deeper in explaining how being a New Yorker was all he needed to survive the incident.
He expanded on that mindset:
“We live with sirens and activity happening all the time. I wasn’t scared. There are hundreds of Secret Service agents hurtling themselves over tables and chairs, and I wanted to watch.”
The moment even made its way into Late Night with Seth Meyers during the show’s “A Closer Look” segment:
- YouTube@LateNightSeth
Glantz later told TMZ he was more concerned about his client, CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer, who found himself dangerously close to the gunman when shots were fired inside the Washington Hilton.
In the middle of a bathroom break, Blitzer was returning to the ballroom from an upper floor when he spotted a man carrying what he described as a “very serious weapon”—just moments before multiple shots rang out feet away from him.
Blitzer recalled the moment shots rang out:
“It was loud. It was scary. The cops got on top of him, and then they got on top of me to protect me. And then they took me away into a secure room, the men’s room. It was just a frightening experience.”
Blitzer reportedly even lost a shoe during the chaos but kept on reporting.
For those wondering what else was on the menu, the dinner featured prime Chateaubriand steak and Maine lobster, though service was cut short by the incident. The 2,600 unserved meals were later freeze-dried and donated to local shelters for abused women and children. Guests had reportedly already been served those spring pea and burrata salads before the evacuation.
The internet, unsurprisingly, had a lot to say about “the salad man”:
Following the shooting, 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen was identified as the suspect and taken into custody. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said in a press briefing that he will face charges including using a firearm and assaulting a federal officer with a dangerous weapon, adding that “many more charges” are likely.
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump, who were seated onstage during the incident, were also rushed out of the ballroom. Trump later said at a White House press conference that an officer had been shot but was protected by a bulletproof vest.
One Secret Service agent was struck in the vest and is expected to recover. The suspect was taken into custody at the scene and was arraigned yesterday. No one was seriously injured.
Glantz hasn’t overcomplicated things. In a week of reactions—including one from UFC president Dana White—“the salad man” kept his explanation as straightforward as his now-famous meal.
