Mentalist Oz Pearlman Claims He Guessed Karoline Leavitt’s Baby Name Moments Before Shooting

The White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday, April 25, was supposed to be a night of lighthearted spectacle. Instead, it became one of the most harrowing political events in recent memory — but not before mentalist Oz Pearlman managed to pull off one very personal prediction at the head table.

Pearlman, 43, asked White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt to silently think of the name she’s chosen for her soon-to-be-born daughter, he told ABC News’ Jonathan Karl in a video posted on X on Sunday, April 26.

Pearlman then attempted to guess the name letter by letter on a notepad while seated near Leavitt and first lady Melania Trump, 56.

The trick had actually started backstage. Per the report, Leavitt, 28, had challenged Pearlman to guess her baby’s name after they bonded over both being parents. The conversation was interrupted when President Donald Trump arrived, so they agreed to resume once they were seated on the dais.

When Pearlman finally held up his notepad with the name “Vivian” written on it, Trump, 79, and the first lady were both at the table — and Melania reacted with surprise.

“It’s kind of like a pivotal moment in the trick where you’re just about to do the reveal of, like, wow. And we hear commotion,” he said on CNN’s State of the Union,  Sunday, April 26.

Amid the chaos, the mentalist’s first thought was that a bomb was about to go off, he admitted to CNN. Seconds later, Secret Service agents rushed in to secure the room. A gunman, later identified as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen, had opened fire near a security checkpoint outside the ballroom.

As the Globe previously reported, before the event, Leavitt promised it would “be funny. It’ll be entertaining. There will be some shots fired tonight in the room.”

Despite the abrupt end to the evening, Pearlman told Variety that he has been invited back for a rescheduled event.

Per Karl, Leavitt gave her permission to reveal the name of her baby girl, who is due in May, with her husband of 15 months, Nicholas Riccio, 60. The couple also has a son, Nicholas, 22 months.

Leavitt postponed her maternity leave, which was due to begin on April 27, in the wake of the shooting, per People.