Bill Maher will receive the Kennedy Center’s coveted prize for humor, despite top White House executives fiercely shutting down speculation that the comedian would not be the award’s recipient.
Maher, an on-again, off-again fan of President Donald Trump, was officially awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor on Thursday. The comedian, 70, is the 27th recipient of the award and could be the last, as the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is poised to close its doors for two years under the president’s leadership.
“For nearly three decades, the Mark Twain Prize has celebrated some of the greatest minds in comedy,” said Roma Daravi, VP of the Kennedy Center’s Public Relations, in an emailed statement. “For even longer, Bill has been influencing American discourse—one politically incorrect joke at a time.”
Maher thanked the center for the award. “Thank you to the Mark Twain people: I just had the award explained to me, and apparently it’s like an Emmy, except I win,” he said. “I’d just like to say that it is indeed humbling to get anything named for a man who’s been thrown out of as many school libraries as Mark Twain.”
He has previously complained about not winning prestigious accolades, insisting that he has been “soft-cancelled” by Hollywood.
The center’s decision to select Maher follows weeks of feuding between the comedian and the president. His win is an ironic conclusion to this battle, made all the more so given that the Kennedy Center has come under Trump’s stewardship.
On March 20, The Atlantic reported that Maher would receive the award, prompting strong denials from Trump’s employees. White House Communications Director Steven Cheung replied to the outlet’s post on X, writing, “Literally FAKE NEWS.” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also pushed back, telling the Daily Beast, “This is fake news. Bill Maher will NOT be getting this award.”
Following the article, the White House reportedly called the Kennedy Center and “made clear that Maher would not receive the prize,” according to the outlet.
Maher and Trump’s relationship has declined in recent weeks, with the comedian increasingly bashing the president. Trump, in turn, posted a bizarrely targeted rant on Truth Social, calling Maher a “highly overrated LIGHTWEIGHT” and bemoaning his dinner with the comedian. “It was a total waste of time for me to have this jerk at the White House,” he said.
“I’d much rather spend my time MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN than wasting it on him. Bill continues to suffer from a severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS!), and there is nothing that will ever be done to cure him of this very serious disease,” Trump, 79, added.
In retaliation, Maher addressed Trump on his show, HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, saying, “You do things that are racist, misogynistic, anti-democratic, and corrupt.” He also purported that the president suffers from “Bill Maher Derangement Syndrome.”
Maher will be awarded at a gala ceremony at the Trump-Kennedy Center on June 28. The televised program will also air on Netflix, but a streaming date has yet to be announced.
Past recipients of the Mark Twain Prize include Conan O’Brien, Kevin Hart, Adam Sandler, Jon Stewart, Dave Chappelle, Eddie Murphy, Will Ferrell, Richard Pryor, Whoopi Goldberg, Lily Tomlin, Lorne Michaels, Steve Martin, Tina Fey, Ellen DeGeneres, David Letterman, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
O’Brien was awarded the prize last year, spending much of his time onstage roasting Trump, just weeks after the president named himself chairman of the historic Kennedy Center.
