Celebrity gossip site TMZ is reporting that White House staffer Kalpen Modi, aka actor Kal Penn, was the victim of an armed robbery somewhere in D.C. early this morning. A mugger allegedly made off with his wallet and other personal property at about 1:20 a.m., according to the site. Not a lot of other details were immediately available. more ›

It was just about a year ago that news broke that Kalpen Modi, aka Kal Penn, was leaving his role on TV's House to take a job as associate director of public engagement in the Obama administration. Now, Entertainment Weekly is reporting that the actor will be resigning from his position and returning to Hollywood. Penn is reportedly set to star in a Christmas-themed sequel to Harold & Kumar. more ›

All day I've been trying to think of an angle for a quick post on the news that actor Kal Penn (The Namesake, Harold & Kumar) is leaving Hollywood in favor of D.C. and a job inside the White House Office of Public Liaison. We could speculate where he should probably live (Dupont seems the most likely candidate, close enough to walk to work but still young and fun and overpriced), or something like that. But frankly, I've been too pissed that I managed to absolutely ruin the episode of House that's still sitting on my TiVo by skimming the comments in this Lynn Sweet blog post (EW.com was the first to report the news). I'm always happy to welcome another L.A. transplant to town, but Penn couldn't have waited a couple days to announce this one? Gah. He's lucky we went to the same college, so I can't really stay mad for long. Welcome to D.C., Kal. If you're anything like me, you're not going to miss Los Angeles for a second. more ›