Bill Maher with his one-eyed dog at his house in Beverly Hills, Calif., Jan. 11, 2017. Maher will receive the Mark Twain Prize for American humor, the Kennedy Center said Thursday, March 26, 2026. (Elizabeth Lippman/The New York Times/File)
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Bill Maher, the comedian and longtime political talk show host, will receive the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts announced Thursday, following aggressive denials from the White House that Maher had been chosen for the honor.
The prize will be awarded June 28, at a gala ceremony at the Kennedy Center in Washington, shortly before the venue is set to be closed for renovation. Netflix also has a deal to stream the ceremony, though a date has not been announced.
With a caustic wit, Maher, 70, has been a fixture of the talk-show world for more than 30 years. His show “Politically Incorrect” started on Comedy Central in 1993 and then ran on ABC from 1997 to 2002. The next year, he began “Real Time With Bill Maher” on HBO, where it remains.
His show usually features a panel of high-profile guests debating political and social topics, with Maher offering biting commentary throughout. He has been a frequent critic of President Donald Trump, though he has just as often ridiculed the left.
“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,” Maher said in a statement. “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.”
A number of other artists and organizations have pulled out of performances at the Kennedy Center in recent months in response to the moves Trump has made to seize control of the venue.
Trump Press Secretary Had Said Maher Wouldn’t Get the Award
After an article in The Atlantic magazine last week reported that Maher had been offered the award, the White House strongly denied that he would be the recipient. “This is fake news. Bill Maher will NOT be getting this award,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
In response to a request for comment Thursday, an administration official said: “This was false reporting at the time of The Atlantic’s reporting, but the situation changed after further conversations took place between the Trump-Kennedy Center and event organizers over the past week.”
The Kennedy Center on Thursday did not address questions about how the recipient of the Mark Twain honor is chosen.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
By Ben Sisario and Marc Tracy/Elizabeth Lippman
c.2026 The New York Times Company
