The White House last week said it was “fake news” that Bill Maher would receive this year’s Mark Twain Prize for American Humor from the Kennedy Center. On Thursday, the Trump-controlled Kennedy Center announced that, in fact, Maher — who’s been a frequent critic of President Trump and his administration — will be the recipient of the honour.
After The Atlantic reported on March 20 that Maher would receive the Mark Twain Prize, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said “This is fake news. Bill Maher will NOT be getting this award” and communications director Steven Cheung posted on X that the Atlantic report was “literally FAKE NEWS.”
Apparently, the decision was not final at the time — but now it is.
Maher, longtime host of HBO’s “Real Time,” has been selected as the recipient of the 27th Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. He will be presented with the honour June 28, 2026, in the renamed “Trump Kennedy Center Concert Hall.” The program will stream exclusively on Netflix, with a premiere date to be announced. Netflix also carried the 2025 (Conan O’Brien) and 2024 (Kevin Hart) Twain Prize ceremonies.
“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,” said Bill Maher. “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.”
Trump and Maher have had a fraught relationship. After the two had dinner at the White House in March 2025, Maher said on his show that Trump was “gracious and measured” and “not fake.” But last month, Trump blasted Maher in a social media post as a “highly overrated LIGHTWEIGHT” and “it was a total waste of time for me to have this jerk at the White House.” In response, Maher said Trump “suffers from Bill Maher Derangement Syndrome.”
One week after Maher takes home the Twain prize, the Kennedy Center — which has been redubbed “The Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts” in a controversial move — will shut down for two years starting July 4, 2026, to undergo a “complete rebuilding,” according to Trump. After Trump’s name was added to the Kennedy Center last December, multiple artists have canceled engagements at the arts center.
Love Film & TV?
Get your daily dose of everything happening in music, film and TV in Australia and abroad.
The Mark Twain Prize for American Humor recognises individuals “who have had an impact on American society in ways similar to the distinguished 19th-century novelist and essayist Samuel Clemens, colloquially known as Mark Twain,” per the Kennedy Center.
As a recipient of the prize, Maher will receive a copy of an 1884 bronze portrait bust of Mark Twain sculpted by Karl Gerhardt (1853-1940).
“For more than 25 years, Bill Maher has set the boundaries of where funny, political talk can go on American television,” the Kennedy Center said in announcing Maher as this year’s honoree.
He hosted “Politically Incorrect” on Comedy Central and ABC from 1993-2002, and has hosted his show on HBO for more than 20 years. Maher has 42 Emmy nominations and won his first Emmy in 2014 as an executive producer for the HBO series “VICE.”
Maher was born in New York City, raised in River Vale, N.J., and went to Cornell University. He now lives in Los Angeles.
Past recipients of the Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize include Conan O’Brien, Kevin Hart, Adam Sandler, Jon Stewart, Dave Chappelle, Eddie Murphy, Will Ferrell, Richard Pryor, Carl Reiner Whoopi Goldberg, Bob Newhart, Lily Tomlin, Lorne Michaels, Steve Martin, Neil Simon, Billy Crystal, George Carlin, Tina Fey, Ellen DeGeneres, Carol Burnett, Jay Leno, Bill Murray, David Letterman and Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
From Variety US