This story was up to date on March 20, 2026, at 6:12 p.m. ET.
You might measure the on-and-off feud between President Trump and the comic Bill Maher in weeks, years, or many years. Last month, Trump referred to as Maher a “highly overrated LIGHTWEIGHT” in a prolonged Truth Social publish. Years in the past, he briefly sued Maher for suggesting that his father was an orangutan.
All of which makes Maher an unlikely choose—at the very least at first blush—to obtain the final marquee honor on the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts earlier than it shuts down for 2 years, at Trump’s route, in July. Maher was chosen to obtain this 12 months’s Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, two individuals aware of the choice informed us. One of them, who works on the heart, mentioned an announcement was anticipated quickly. A 3rd individual mentioned that Maher had been provided the award—and that Trump had been supportive of the concept—however was undecided whether or not Maher had accepted it. All spoke on the situation of anonymity as a result of Maher had not but been formally introduced because the award recipient. As with all choices involving this president, the transfer was topic to being reversed till publicly introduced.
And, the truth is, that’s exactly what seems to have occurred. After this story was revealed, the White House referred to as the Kennedy Center and made clear that Maher wouldn’t obtain the prize. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt additionally then despatched us an announcement: “This is fake news. Bill Maher will NOT be getting this award.” The Kennedy Center staffer confirmed to us that the choice had been made however was reversed. The Kennedy Center has not responded to our requests for remark.
The Twain Prize ceremony, which streams on Netflix, is one in all two main broadcast occasions on the Kennedy Center, together with the Kennedy Center Honors. Trump took over the Kennedy Center final February by changing its trustees with loyalists, and was quickly fantasizing to them about deciding on the Honors recipients himself. Although he would go on to personally approve the honorees (together with Sylvester Stallone and the glam-metal stars KISS), it was too late to swap out the 2025 Twain winner, Conan O’Brien, who had been tapped by the earlier Kennedy Center management. The occasion functioned as a final hurrah for the previous Kennedy Center, with Will Ferrell and Sarah Silverman among the many comics roasting each O’Brien (who was there) and Trump (who was not). John Mulaney’s finest line was that the Kennedy Center would quickly be renamed the “Roy Cohn Pavilion of Big Strong Men Who Love Cats.”
In reality, the board of trustees finally renamed it “The Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts,” a change that prompted a brand new wave of artist cancellations (Philip Glass, the San Francisco Ballet) and extra anemic ticket gross sales. By this February, when Trump mentioned the middle would shut for a two-year renovation, the points of interest on the calendar had thinned. At the identical time, one notable current pattern has been the reserving of right-coded comedians equivalent to Tony Hinchcliffe, Adam Carolla, and Jeff Foxworthy.
With his largely center-left views, the 70-year-old Maher doesn’t belong in that cohort, although a few of his positions are idiosyncratic, and he tends to punch left in addition to proper. Moreover, Maher hasn’t been proof against Trump’s reality-distortion area. After Maher ceaselessly jabbed the president’s first administration, he visited Trump on the White House in 2025, in a gathering organized by Kid Rock. Describing the dinner on his HBO present Real Time, Maher referred to as Trump “gracious and measured” and prepared to “listen and accept me as a possible friend.” The blowback amongst different comedians, like Marc Maron, got here quick. The proximate topic of a satirical essay Larry David wrote for The New York Times—titled “My Dinner With Adolf”—was apparent.
By this February, Maher and Trump had been again on the outs. Writing that Maher’s program had reverted to its previous, anti-Trump methods, the president posted, “It was a total waste of time for me to have this jerk at the White House.” He was nonetheless sharing hyperlinks to articles about their “Valentine’s Day breakup” as recently as March 6. Maher unpacked the dispute on his present the identical day. “Someone has to help Donald Trump understand that I don’t suffer from Trump Derangement Syndrome,” he mentioned. “He suffers from Bill Maher Derangement Syndrome.” But he gave Trump credit score for just a few wins, together with eradicating violent criminals who had been within the nation illegally and “taking out Iran’s nuclear capability.”
Now Maher, who was set to obtain one in all comedy’s highest honors in a constructing extensively related to one in all his favourite punching baggage, will possible have to attend some time longer for a prize he has lengthy coveted.
