{"id":900118,"date":"2026-06-29T05:36:17","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T05:36:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/900118\/"},"modified":"2026-06-29T05:36:17","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T05:36:17","slug":"maher-wins-twain-humor-prize-as-kennedy-center-navigates-trump-era-upheaval","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/900118\/","title":{"rendered":"Maher wins Twain humor prize as Kennedy Center navigates Trump-era upheaval"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 Comedian Bill Maher<\/a> was the guest of honor at the Kennedy Center on Sunday night. But President Donald Trump\u2019s<\/a> presence wasn\u2019t far away. <\/p>\n

Just moments after Maher began to accept the prestigious Mark Twain Prize for American Humor<\/a>, Matt Friend, a leading impersonator of the president, took to the stage and, in Trump\u2019s voice, joked that he would accept the award himself. Trump was a punchline for other comedians and entertainers, including Whitney Cummings, Jay Leno and Woody Harrelson. <\/p>\n

For the most part, the barbs weren\u2019t particularly biting. Cummings, for instance, said that under Trump\u2019s influence, the Kennedy Center would host \u201cwhite \u2018Hamilton.\u2019\u201d And once Friend left the stage, Maher largely steered clear of hitting the president. The commentary was nonetheless notable for unfolding in an iconic performing arts venue that Trump has gone to extraordinary lengths to bend to his favor, leaving its future in the coming years uncertain.<\/p>\n

Accepting the award, Maher derided extremes in both political parties, rejecting what he called \u201cgroupthink.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cIf you hang around long enough and create something important enough, everyone hates you at some point,\u201d Maher said.<\/p>\n

The ceremony in the Kennedy Center\u2019s Concert Hall wasn\u2019t purely political. There were plenty of jokes about Maher\u2019s fondness for marijuana, his rejection of organized religion and his penchant for controversy, including comments he made shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks that led to the cancellation of his television show, \u201cPolitically Incorrect.\u201d <\/p>\n

The Kennedy Center\u2019s uncertain future hangs over event<\/p>\n

But the future of the Kennedy Center hung most prominently over the event.<\/p>\n

Shortly after Trump returned to the White House in January 2025, the Republican president fired<\/a> much of the center\u2019s leadership and installed a board largely composed of allies. It named Trump as chairman and his name was added to the building\u2019s iconic facade, prompting a legal battle that became a proxy fight over the extent of the president\u2019s power.<\/p>\n

Trump later said the Kennedy Center would close in July for a two-year renovation. But U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper upended those plans in May by ruling<\/a> that Trump\u2019s name was illegally added to the building, ordering it removed. The judge also has blocked the closure.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s name has come down from the building, in compliance with the judge\u2019s order. But the part of the building once covered with letters spelling the president\u2019s name is now shrouded in a tarp. The full closure is on hold. Lawyers for the Kennedy Center have said they are not planning<\/a> for now to build out programming.<\/p>\n

Cooper has asked for an update next month on how long the tarp will remain on the building. For now, the final event scheduled for the Kennedy Center\u2019s Concert Hall is \u201cThe Freedom Gathering: A Musical Celebration\u201d on July 3. <\/p>\n

The legal fight has turned into a saga that at points became fodder for jokes at the Twain gala. At one point, Harrelson joked \u201cwe fixed that\u201d in a nod to the court order calling for Trump\u2019s name to be removed from the building.<\/p>\n

Ahead of the ceremony, Lutnick said Trump \u201cwants to make this building sensational.\u201d<\/p>\n

But others were more skeptical. As he walked the red carpet ahead of the ceremony, Leno said Trump\u2019s moves at the Kennedy Center were both \u201chilarious\u201d and about \u201cvanity.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not a war,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s not people getting killed. It\u2019s not anti Semitism. It\u2019s a silly thing covering a name. I mean what\u2019s funnier than that? I mean it\u2019s just like, you know it\u2019s high school with money.\u201d <\/p>\n

Friend said he felt there was a \u201chunger games vibe\u201d as he entered the building. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s crazy,\u201d he said of the changes Trump has pushed for.<\/p>\n

Maher has a fraught relationship with Trump<\/p>\n

Given Trump\u2019s sway over the Kennedy Center, Maher\u2019s selection for the award was notable because the two men have long had a fraught relationship. <\/p>\n

Before he entered politics, Trump filed a $5 million lawsuit against Maher in 2013 for breach of contract. Appearing on Leno\u2019s \u201cThe Tonight Show,\u201d Maher said he would give $5 million to the charity of Trump\u2019s choice if Trump could prove he was not \u201cthe spawn of his mother having sex with an orangutan.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump claimed that when he provided his birth certificate, Maher did not pay up, prompting the lawsuit. Trump ended up dropping it.<\/p>\n

The Trump-Maher relationship exploded again earlier this year, when the president claimed on social media that he wasted time sitting down for a meal with the comedian last year. Lutnick noted that Trump had written out all the critical comments he\u2019d made about Maher over the years and autographed the document.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve got to be able to laugh at it,\u201d Lutnick said. \u201cThe president can laugh at it. Bill Maher can laugh at it. And that\u2019s what makes tonight great.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maher hosted Vice President JD Vance on his show heading into the weekend. Vance, who is promoting a book, said he watches the show and laughed at Maher\u2019s monologue \u201ceven though you were making fun of me.\u201d During the interview, Maher pressed Vance on the Iran war, immigration enforcement and election conspiracy theories.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou guys have two outcomes that an election can be,\u201d Maher told Vance. \u201cEither we win or they cheated. That s\u2014- has to stop.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Twain prize ceremony will air on Netflix on July 21.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Associated Press videojournalist John Carucci contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 Comedian Bill Maher was the guest of honor at the Kennedy Center on Sunday night.…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":900119,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[9],"tags":[4087,278241,69,90,171,57,2055,17785,83,63619,2066,336,364531,80,67,132,68,93,139311,64767],"class_list":["post-900118","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-bill-maher","tag-christopher-cooper","tag-donald-trump","tag-elections","tag-entertainment","tag-general-news","tag-government-and-politics","tag-howard-lutnick","tag-iran","tag-jay-leno","tag-jd-vance","tag-lawsuits","tag-matt-friend","tag-politics","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-washington-news","tag-whitney-cummings","tag-woody-harrelson"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116831779939072760","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/900118","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=900118"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/900118\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/900119"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=900118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=900118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=900118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}