Comedian and Trump critic Bill Maher on Sunday acquired the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Washington establishment that’s entangled in a authorized battle over President Donald Trump’s effort to overtake it.
The heart — which Trump has sought to put his stamp on — was set to briefly shut its doorways for a yearslong renovation, however is now confronted with difficult financial choices after a decide ordered it to proceed working. Plummeting ticket gross sales, artist withdrawals, political controversies and a diminished workers have made restarting a full-scale programming schedule a problem, a number of sources aware of the operation beforehand informed NCS.
Maher famous the potential closure throughout remarks on the purple carpet earlier than the occasion, saying, “This is the last show here for at least two years.”
“It is a beautiful building. They keep talking about how they need to renovate. It looks perfectly fine to me. I don’t see one thing that needs a single thing changed,” he mentioned.
The performing arts heart has been at the middle of Trump’s remaking of Washington, DC — and the bounds he faces in enacting his needs. Two weeks in the past, the Kennedy Center complied with a decide’s order in eradicating Trump’s title from the constructing, which was added by the president’s handpicked board of trustees.
The administration has informed the courtroom the title is gone — however a tarp still covers the spot the place it hung, leaving the removing hidden from public view.
“Finally, an award from my dear friend, ironically at the Trump Kennedy Center. No — oh right, we fixed that,” actor Woody Harrelson quipped onstage through the Sunday occasion.
Maher has been a goal of the president’s ire, but additionally dined with Trump at the White House in 2025. The comic praised the president after the dinner, although their relationship has remained tense. In February, Trump known as Maher a “jerk,” dismissed their 2025 White House dinner as “a total waste of time,” and mentioned the comic suffers from “Trump Derangement Syndrome.”
“I’d rather be fighting and yelling — that’s his way of talking,” Maher informed NCS on the purple carpet forward of the occasion. “I’d rather the channels be open; anything is better than the channels being shut off.”
The White House in March initially denied that the comic can be awarded the glory, which is an annual lifetime achievement award given by the Kennedy Center.
“Believe me, when they asked me and called and said, ‘Would you accept this?’ I did not have to ask twice. Of course, after the president tried to get the show canceled, they actually did have to ask twice,” Maher joked throughout his speech.
As Maher was accepting his award, he was “interrupted” by the president — or reasonably, comic Matt Friend’s portrayal of him.
“Why are we giving this low-ratings, lightweight jerk the Mark Twain Award?” Friend joked, repeating insults the president has used in opposition to Maher.
The “Real Time with Bill Maher” host joins a listing of previous honorees that features Richard Pryor, Carol Burnett, Dave Chappelle, Jon Stewart and Conan O’Brien. (Maher’s HBO present can be offered on NCS on Saturdays. HBO and NCS are each a part of Warner Bros. Discovery.)
The twenty seventh annual ceremony, which is able to premiere on Netflix on July 21, featured friends together with Louis C.Okay., Whitney Cummings, Jay Leno and John Mellencamp, lots of whom made jokes revolving round Trump.
“President Trump not happy about Bill getting this award. You think he’s mad now? Really, finds out next year the recipient is Bad Bunny,” Leno joked, referring to the Puerto Rican rapper, whom Trump has criticized.
Guests on the purple carpet, in the meantime, emphasised the significance of comedy within the divided political setting.
“Just because we are on opposite sides of the aisle, doesn’t mean we don’t relate to the opposite side from time to time,” radio host Stephen A. Smith informed NCS.
“When either side gets mad at me because I put them in jokes —jokes that work — my lesson to that is simple: You want to not get mocked, stop being funny,” Maher mentioned in his speech.