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Conan O’Brien received the 26th Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at the Kennedy Center on March 23, 2025. The ceremony honored his comedy while comedians including John Mulaney and Stephen Colbert used the stage for jokes about Donald Trump and the center’s new leadership. O’Brien’s own acceptance speech took a different route: he spoke about Mark Twain’s opposition to bullies and sympathy for the vulnerable, without naming Trump in the cited passage. Trump did not attend.
What happened at Conan O’Brien’s Mark Twain Prize ceremony?
The Kennedy Center hosted the 26th Mark Twain Prize ceremony on March 23, 2025. The award recognizes American humor, and the program brought together comedians to celebrate O’Brien’s work as a performer, writer and late-night host. The event also unfolded amid changes to the Kennedy Center’s leadership, which became a target for jokes from the stage.
NPR reported appearances by Adam Sandler, Will Ferrell, Nikki Glaser, Tracy Morgan and John Mulaney. Netflix’s official program listing also names Andy Richter, Stephen Colbert, Sarah Silverman, Bill Burr, Kumail Nanjiani and David Letterman among the participants. Letterman, a previous recipient, called the gathering “the most entertaining gathering of the resistance ever,” NPR reported.
O’Brien thanked former Kennedy Center president Deborah Rutter and board chair David Rubenstein, as well as staff worried about the institution’s future. The ceremony was an awards program with political jokes, not a formal political debate. Donald Trump was not in attendance.
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Which comedians made jokes about Trump at the Kennedy Center?
Several performers made direct jokes about Trump, his associations or the Kennedy Center’s leadership upheaval. Their lines were comedy, not announcements of actual policy or changes to the institution.
- John Mulaney joked that the Kennedy Center could become the “Roy Cohn Pavilion for Big, Strong Men Who Love Cats,” combining Trump’s connection to lawyer Roy Cohn with Trump’s expressed interest in the musical Cats.
- Stephen Colbert joked about the center’s new board, including a gag involving Bashar Assad and Skeletor.
- Will Ferrell joked that he should be shutting down the Department of Education.
The lines landed against the backdrop of changes in Kennedy Center leadership, but they should be understood as performers’ jokes rather than evidence that the center was being renamed or that a government department was being closed.
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What did Conan O’Brien say at the Mark Twain Prize?
O’Brien’s acceptance speech focused on Twain’s comic perspective and moral outlook. NPR’s report and transcript quote him saying: “First and foremost, Twain hated bullies,” followed by: “He punched up, not down. And he deeply, deeply empathized with the weak.”
He also described why Twain’s comedy still mattered: “Twain is funny and important today because his comedy is a hilarious celebration of our fears, our ineptitude and the glorious mess of being human.” The Associated Press separately reported O’Brien’s remark that “Twain loved America, but he knew it was deeply flawed.”
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The Los Angeles Times reported O’Brien describing Twain as “suspicious of populism, jingoism, imperialism, the money-obsessed mania of the Gilded Age and any expression of mindless American might or self-importance.” This passage invokes Twain’s historical critiques; it does not explicitly name Trump. That distinction matters: the comedians’ direct Trump jokes and O’Brien’s reflections on Twain were related by the event’s context, but they were not the same kind of statement.
Why was the ceremony politically charged?
The ceremony took place during an unsettled period for the Kennedy Center’s leadership. That setting gave performers a natural target for jokes about the institution and its new board, while the prize itself remained a tribute to O’Brien and to American humor.
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The Mark Twain Prize was conceived in 1997 as comedy’s answer to the Oscars and Grammys, according to the Los Angeles Times; Richard Pryor received the inaugural prize in 1998. The 2025 ceremony was repeatedly joked about as potentially the last, but the cited coverage does not establish that it was the final ceremony.
O’Brien was named the 26th recipient in mid-January 2025, before the leadership upheaval covered around the ceremony. The award’s history and the immediate political setting help explain why the night could operate as both a comedy tribute and a venue for pointed political satire.
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Where can I watch the Conan O’Brien Mark Twain Prize special?
Netflix lists the 2025 ceremony as a special with a runtime of 1:26:37. Netflix Tudum said it would begin streaming May 4, 2025; its official title listing identifies the special. Availability can vary by region and may change, so check Netflix’s listing in your country.
Netflix Tudum: Conan O’Brien Mark Twain Prize special
The recording offers the ceremony in video form, while written reports provide selected remarks and context. NPR’s event report and transcript are useful if you want the key speeches without watching the full program.
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