Jay Leno, Stephen A. Smith, Louis C.K. to Lead Bill Maher's Mark Twain Prize Celebration
Bill Maher will be honored with the Mark Twain Prize at the Kennedy Center, and the ceremony will feature appearances by Jay Leno, Stephen A. Smith, and Louis C.K.
Jay Leno , Stephen A. Smith, and Louis C.K. will be among the big names leading Bill Maher ’s Mark Twain Prize ceremony when it takes place at the Kennedy Center on Sunday, June 28th.
Per The Hollywood Reporter , the celebration of Maher being bestowed with the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor will be filmed for a Netflix special. Others making appearances are regular guests on Real Time with Bill Maher, such as Woody Harrelson, John Mellencamp, standup comic Whitney Cummings, and media mogul Arianna Huffington.
In late March, there was (shocker!) brief drama between the White House and Maher after news leaked that he was being named as the recipient of this year’s Mark Twain Prize. After The Atlantic reported that Trump initially approved the decision, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt called it “fake news.” The US president then apparently changed his mind again.
Related Video
Maher had been a longtime critic of Trump and was even sued by the then-future president in 2013 about a joke he made about Trump’s father. However, he has cozied up with Trump in more recent years, dining at Mar-a-Lago last year.
Advertisement
Load More Login to join the conversation. Login
_Originally reported by [Consequence](https://consequence.net/2026/06/bill-maher-mark-twain-prize-jay-leno-stephen-a-smith-louis-c-k/)._
Comments
Loading comments…