Kennedy Center Names Bill Maher 2026 Mark Twain Winner

The Kennedy Center announced Thursday that comedian and television host Bill Maher will receive the 2026 Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, confirming reports that the White House had dismissed as fake news just a week earlier. The award ceremony is scheduled for June 28 at the Washington, D.C., venue, one of its final public events before a two-year closure for renovations beginning in July.

The Mark Twain Prize, established in 1998, honors individuals who have made significant contributions to humor and American society in the spirit of the 19th-century author Samuel Clemens, known as Mark Twain. Recipients receive a bronze portrait bust of Twain sculpted in 1884. Previous honorees include Conan O'Brien in 2025, Kevin Hart in 2024, Adam Sandler in 2023, Jon Stewart in 2022, Dave Chappelle in 2019, Julia Louis-Dreyfus in 2018 and David Letterman in 2017, among others such as Richard Pryor, Whoopi Goldberg, Carol Burnett and Tina Fey.

The announcement follows a report last week in The Atlantic that Maher would be the recipient. White House communications director Steven Cheung responded on social media, calling the story "literally FAKE NEWS." Press secretary Karoline Leavitt...