Wednesday, May 20, 2026

No Surprise: Bill Maher is Not Getting the Mark Twain Prize at the Kennedy Center After All, And Probably No One Will

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This all started with The Atlantic.

A source told that Bill Maher, sometimes thought of as funny, was going to receive the Mark Twain Prize for Humor at the Kennedy Center.

The Atlantic published the story. It seemed plausible, so why not?

But as soon as the story appeared, The Atlantic now reports, the Trump White House phoned the Kennedy Center to tell them no, absolutely not.

Professional liar Karoline Leavitt immediately disowned the whole thing, saying it was fake news. Maher was never scheduled to get the award. She said: “This is fake news. Bill Maher will NOT be getting this award.”

Frankly, it’s unlikely there will be a Mark Twain award again until Trump is out of office. Last year, Conan O’Brien’s award show, taped live for Netflix, turned into a hilarious bashing of Trump. Can you imagine what would happen now as comic after comic took to the stage to denounce the administration?

Also, there’s never been a time set for the Mark Twain Award this year. And with Trump shutting the Kennedy Center down for two years, the whole thing seems impractical.

Maher is sure to address this debacle on his HBO show tonight. We’ll be listening. Follow me on Twitter @showbiz411

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Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz411. He wrote the FOX411 column on FoxNews.com from 1999 to 2009 and previously edited Fame magazine and wrote the "Intelligencer" column at New York magazine. His bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, Vogue, Details, and the Miami Herald. He is a voting member of the Critics Choice Awards (Film and Television branches), and his movie reviews are tracked by Rotten Tomatoes. is articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. With D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, he co-produced the 2002 documentary "Only the Strong Survive," which screened at Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

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