Days after White House said: 'Bill Maher will NOT be getting this award'

Bill Maher is to receive this year's Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, it has been announced.

The award is something of a surprise as it is handed out by Washington’s John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts – which Donald Trump has slapped his name on, appointed himself chairman and packed the board with acolytes.

Maher has been critical of the Trump regime – and only last week White House officials were vehement in denying the comic would receive the prize. 

Communications director Steven Cheung tweeted that reports that Maher had been chosen were ‘literally FAKE NEWS’, while press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Daily Beast: ‘This is fake news. Bill Maher will NOT be getting this award.’

Maher will receive his award in a star-studded event on June 28 in the ‘Trump Kennedy Center Concert Hall’ which will later air on Netflix

On being named this year’s recipient, Maher said: ‘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…

‘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.’

The venue’s public relations chief Roma Daravi said: ‘For nearly three decades, the Mark Twain Prize has celebrated some of the greatest minds in comedy, for even longer, Bill has been influencing American discourse one politically incorrect joke at a time.'

Previous winners of the award include Richard Pryor, Steve Martin, Eddie Murphy, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Dave Chappelle and Bill Cosby – although his 2009 award was rescinded in 2018.

Despite his opposition to Trump, Maher was a dinner guest at the White House last year after musician Kid Rock set up a meeting.

However it did nothing to thaw their relationship. Last month, Trump called the comic ‘a highly overrated LIGHTWEIGHT’ after Maher mocked his social media posts.

A coalition of cultural and historic preservation groups is suing to block Trump’s plans for major reconstruction of the Kennedy Centre. He has announced it will close for two years from July for the work.

The decision came after artists started boycotting the centre following Trump’s involvement.

Published: 26 Mar 2026