Comedian Bill Maher will receive the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor from the Kennedy Center in June, the center announced Wednesday.
However, when it was reported that Maher was slated to receive the honor, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called it “fake news.”
A person with knowledge of the award recipient prior to the announcement told Politico that reports that Maher would receive the prize were leaked before the decision was finalized.
“Anonymous sources with half-baked information leaked to The Atlantic before conversations were finalized,” the person said. “There was nothing to confirm at the time and it is not appropriate to get ahead of any settled agreement between multiple parties involved.”
The center said it chose Maher because of his contributions to American conversations.
“For nearly three decades, the Mark Twain Prize has celebrated some of the greatest minds in comedy,” Roma Daravi, vice president of public relations, said in a press release. “For even longer, Bill has been influencing American discourse – one politically incorrect joke at a time.”
In a comedy-laced statement, Maher accepted the award.
“I just had the award explained to me, and apparently it’s like an Emmy, except I win,” Maher said. “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 70-year-old host of HBO’s Real Time, and frequent critic of President Donald Trump, will receive the award June 28 during a program to be aired on Netflix featuring a host of other comedians.
Other recipients of the prestigious award include Kevin Hart, Adam Sandler, Jon Stewart, and Dave Chappelle. The award is presented to “individuals who have had an impact on American society in ways similar to the distinguished 19th-century novelist and essayist Samuel Clemens, colloquially known as Mark Twain.”
Earlier this month, Maher sharply criticized the president’s handling of Iran’s continued attacks on the Strait of Hormuz, saying, “the administration seems to be caught off guard that if you attack a country, they might use their best asset for leverage.”
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Trump had invited Maher to dinner at the White House in 2025, after which the comedian said Trump is much different in person than he appears on television.
However, Trump, a year later, shared a much different account of his time with Maher, saying Maher was a “jerk” who had “zero confidence” during their dinner, but also added that the two had a “great dinner.”