Bill Maher is getting a trophy. On June 28, the HBO host will grab the Mark Twain Award for American Humor at the Kennedy Center. The guest list is out. Expect John Mellencamp, Jay Leno, and Whitney Cummings to toast him. It won’t be cheap to watch. The center blasted an email to members on Monday offering tickets starting at a cool $99 for a basic seat, scaling up to $1,500 or more if you want to rub elbows at the pre- and post-show receptions.
But the real story isn’t the comedy. It is the letterhead. The promotional email came from the “Kennedy Center,” not the “Trump Kennedy Center.” The former president’s name has quietly vanished from the website too. Why? A judge stepped in. Last month, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled that Trump’s handpicked board of trustees broke the law when they slapped the real estate mogul’s name onto the venue. Congress named the place after the assassinated John F. Kennedy back in 1964. The board can’t just rewrite history on a whim. Only Congress has that power.
They folded fast. Despite some noise about an appeal, the center’s general counsel sent an email last week laying out the surrender terms, including stripping Trump’s name from the building. Trump had spent his post-presidency trying to purge federal cultural hubs of “woke” rot, firing old bosses and packing the board with loyalists. It backfired. Big names walked. Issa Rae, Bela Fleck, and Renée Fleming all bailed on scheduled appearances rather than perform under the Trump banner.
Maher is the 27th person to get the Twain prize. He and Trump hate each other. Yet, Maher is exactly the kind of contrarian modern conservatives love—a self-proclaimed independent who bashes Hollywood liberals and interviews anyone from Jane Fonda to Ben Shapiro, Charlie Kirk, and Woody Allen. He plays both sides. The rest of the guest list is equally spicy. Disgraced comic Louis C.K., still touring after his 2017 sexual misconduct scandal, is on the roster. So is loudmouth ESPN host Stephen A. Smith, fresh off screaming matches with NBA star Jaylen Brown and Keith Olbermann. It will be a circus.
