Comedian Bill Maher to receive Kennedy Center's Mark Twain humor prize after initial White House denial

Comedian Bill Maher will receive the Kennedy Center's Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, according to a report published Thursday, after the White House denied that was the case last week.

The Atlantic reported last week that Maher was set to be awarded the prize. Steven Cheung, the White House director of communications, called the report "fake news" on X. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also called it "fake news," according to Politico.

A Trump administration official told Fox News Digital, "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."

Maher will receive the prize during a Netflix broadcast in June. The event will be one of the Kennedy Center’s last before it closes for renovations.

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Beginning in 1998, the Mark Twain Prize has been given to comedy legends, from its inaugural recipient Richard Pryor to other giants like Steve Martin, Billy Crystal, Will Ferrell, Carol Burnett, Eddie Murphy and Adam Sandler. Last year's recipient was Conan O'Brien, honored by previous Kennedy Center leadership.

"Anonymous sources with half-baked information leaked to The Atlantic before conversations were finalized," an anonymous source told Politico of a report from The Atlantic last week. "There was nothing to confirm at the time and it is not appropriate to get ahead of any settled agreement between multiple parties involved."

"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, according to Politico. "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," he quipped, according to the outlet.

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The Atlantic reported, citing anonymous sources, that President Donald Trump was supportive of the idea that Maher would receive the award, though he was unsure if "Maher accepted it."

Maher is a frequent critic of the president, but also does not shy away from criticizing the Democratic Party.

The comedian went to the White House in 2025 for dinner with the president. Trump has slammed Maher in multiple statements since the dinner, as the president remains a major subject in Maher's comedy.

In a monologue earlier this month, Maher fired back at the president, insisting he doesn't have "Trump Derangement Syndrome" but rather the president has "Bill Maher Derangement Syndrome."

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"Let's go through the things you're butthurt about people not having noticed. Because some people do have TDS. But you know what? I've called people out for making hating you their entire reason to live. Get a life. Stop making him your whole personality," Maher argued. "But Don, you have to take some responsibility for that because you make people crazy. Because you do things that are racist, misogynistic, anti-democratic and corrupt. But I'll prove now I don't have the dreaded TDS."

Maher has had a roller coaster of a relationship with Trump going back more than a decade. In 2013, Trump sued Maher after the liberal comedian jokingly wagered him $5 million to charity to prove he wasn't the son of an orangutan — a tongue-in-cheek response to Trump's demand for then-President Barack Obama to release his birth certificate to prove his US citizenship. Trump later withdrew the lawsuit.

During Trump's first term in office, Maher leaned into the Russian collusion narrative and warned liberals that Trump would not voluntarily leave office in 2020 if he lost. Trump ultimately left office without conceding defeat.

While Maher is not shy about ripping Trump, he also frequently attacks the president's foes on the left and warns of wokeness and political correctness crippling the Democratic Party.