President Donald Trump’s failure to rename the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts to honor himself was front of mind on Sunday as the center hosted its first event since a federal judge ruled that Trump’s name change was unlawful.
Comedian and Real Time host Bill Maher accepted the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor on Sunday at a Kennedy Center ceremony.
Maher, however, was not the only name raising eyebrows at the ceremony. The tarp covering the Kennedy Center’s name was a hot topic of conversation, with multiple stars referencing it during the event.
U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled in May that the president’s attempt to change the center’s name to The Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts was unlawful because Trump did not seek prior congressional approval.
“Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it,” Cooper said.
As a result, Trump’s name was removed from the facade of the center on June 13. Since then, the center’s name has been obscured by scaffolding and tarps, which were still in place on Sunday night.
Speaking to reporters on the red carpet, Maher said the tarp was “hysterical,” according to Deadline.
“I mean, as much as you could try to think of his next move, you could never do it,” Maher said of Trump. “Only he could think of that. The tarp. I just never would have gone there. To me it just makes it better and funnier, and it’s a funny event celebrating funny.”
Comedian and guest speaker Jay Leno also addressed the absurdity of the tarp on the red carpet on Sunday night, calling it “hilarious.”
“You know what’s funny? It’s vanity. It’s not a war, it’s not people getting killed. It’s not antisemitism. It’s not racism. It’s a silly thing covering a name. I mean, what’s funnier than that? You know, it’s high school with money,” Leno told reporters.
“It’s ridiculous. Like, why is that up there? I don’t know why it’s up there, but it makes me laugh.”
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
Once the event had commenced, another guest speaker, actor Woody Harrelson, referenced the tarps while on stage.
“Finally, an award for my dear friend — ironically at the Trump Kennedy Center,” Harrelson said, according to The New York Times.
“Oh, right, we fixed that. Not as though you’d be able to notice,” he added, in reference to the tarps still covering the changed name outside.
As guests walked on the red carpet, the signage read, “The Kennedy Center” and “Mark Twain Prize,” with no reference to Trump’s attempted rebrand in sight.
Despite Maher attending a dinner at the White House last year, after which he described Trump as “gracious and measured,” the pair have repeatedly traded insults in recent weeks.
Trump launched several attacks on Maher via Truth Social, calling him “highly overrated lightweight” and a “weak and ineffective person.” In addition, the White House initially claimed that reports Maher would be receiving the Mark Twain Prize were “fake news” and went so far as to attempt to prevent Maher from receiving the honor.
Maher joked in the opening monologue of his show, Real Time with Bill Maher, that after “a lot of back and forth,” he and the president had “reached a compromise.”
“The compromise is that I am going to get it and then I’m going to give it to [Trump],” Maher joked. “Everybody’s happy. I just want things to work out.”
The president was the butt of several jokes throughout the evening, with guest speaker Whitney Cummings taking aim at Trump for his ties to convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
“I actually heard Trump may come tonight but he couldn’t make it,” Cummings joked, adding, “He got caught in sex traffic.”
