The White House announced last week that it is “fake news” that Bill Maher will receive this year’s Mark Twain Award for American Humor from the Kennedy Center. On Thursday, the Kennedy Center, which is managed by President Trump, announced that Maher, who has been a frequent critic of President Trump and his administration, would in fact receive the honor.
After The Atlantic reported on March 20 that Maher would receive the Mark Twain Award, White House press secretary Caroline Leavitt said, “This is fake news. Bill Maher will not win this award,” and communications director Steven Chan posted on X that the Atlantic report was “literally fake news.”
Apparently, the decision was not final at the time, but it is now.
Ma, the longtime host of HBO’s “Real Time,” has been named the recipient of the 27th Mark Twain Award for American Humor. He will be honored on June 28, 2026 at the renamed Trump Kennedy Center Concert Hall. The show will stream exclusively on Netflix, with a premiere date to be determined. Netflix also broadcast the 2025 (Conan O’Brien) and 2024 (Kevin Hart) Twain Awards ceremonies.
“Thank you to the Mark Twain people. I explained this award to them, and apparently it’s like the Emmys, except I don’t win it,” said Bill Maher. “I just want to say it’s really humbling to be named after someone like Mark Twain who was kicked out of so many school libraries.”
Trump and Maher had a rocky relationship. After the two had dinner at the White House in March 2025, Maher said on his show that Trump was “courteous, thoughtful” and “not a fake.” But last month, President Trump blasted Maher in a social media post, calling him “a hugely overrated lightweight” and “dealing with this bastard in the White House was a total waste of time.” In response, Maher said that Trump “suffers from Bill Maher derangement syndrome.”
A week after Maher won the Twain Award, Trump said the controversial Kennedy Center, which has been renamed the Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, will close for two years starting July 4, 2026, for a “complete rebuild.” Since President Trump’s name was added to the Kennedy Center last December, multiple artists have canceled their plans to perform at the center.
The Mark Twain Award for American Humor recognizes individuals who have “influenced American society in a manner similar to that of Samuel Clemens, the celebrated 19th century novelist and essayist, colloquially known as Mark Twain,” according to the Kennedy Center.
As the award recipient, 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 for funny and politically charged stories on American television,” the Kennedy Center said in announcing Maher as this year’s recipient.
He hosted “Politically Incorrect” on Comedy Central and ABC from 1993 to 2002 and has hosted the show on HBO for more than 20 years. Maher has been nominated for 42 Emmy Awards and won his first Emmy in 2014 as an executive producer of the HBO series “VICE.”
Maher was born in New York City, raised in Rivervale, New Jersey, and attended Cornell University. He currently lives in Los Angeles.
Past recipients of the Kennedy Center Mark Twain Award include Conan O’Brien, Kevin Hart, Adam Sandler, John 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, and Carole. Burnett, Jay Leno, Bill Murray, David Letterman, Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
