Trump’s White House wasted no time shutting down reports that his one-time dinner guest Bill Maher was in line to receive the most prestigious award for a comedian.
Maher, 70, had reportedly been tapped as this year’s recipient of the coveted Mark Twain Prize for American Humor—potentially making him the final honoree before the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts undergoes a sweeping overhaul under Trump’s direction.
According to The Atlantic, sources familiar with the process said Maher was chosen by the Kennedy Center’s honors committee. The institution had not officially announced the recipient, and Maher had not publicly acknowledged his selection. CNN similarly cited sources who said he had been chosen.
But when the Daily Beast contacted the White House for comment, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt pushed back hard.
“This is fake news. Bill Maher will NOT be getting this award,” Leavitt said in a statement, flatly denying the report without offering further details.
Hours after The Atlantic broke the news, Atlantic reporter Michael Scherer confirmed the White House “called the Kennedy Center and made clear that Maher would not receive the prize.”
White House Communications Director Steven Cheung weighed in, replying to The Atlantic’s article by writing, “Literally FAKE NEWS.”
The Daily Beast has reached out to Bill Maher’s team for comment.
If the selection holds, it would mark a particularly ironic twist in Trump’s long-running feud with the late-night host.
The two have been trading barbs for years, but tensions escalated after a White House dinner last year that Trump later blasted as a “waste of time” in a fiery Truth Social post on Valentine’s Day.
The president didn’t hold back, calling Maher “very boring,” “relentlessly anti-Trump,” and a “highly overrated LIGHTWEIGHT.”
After the president re-ignited the year-old dinner date gone wrong, Maher returned fire.
On a February episode of Real Time with Bill Maher, the comedian likened the dinner to a bad date. “I know how women feel now—a guy buys you dinner and then expects you to put out,” he quipped. “I’m not that guy.”
Now, it appears Maher was on the verge of walking away with one of the most prestigious awards in the country—handed out by an institution Trump has spent months reshaping in his own image.
Since returning to power, Trump has moved aggressively to overhaul the Kennedy Center, replacing board members, ousting longtime president Deborah Rutter, and installing himself as chair.
Last year’s honoree, Conan O’Brien, was selected before Trump’s takeover and received the award despite the shake-up. Trump notably skipped the ceremony, which was dominated by jokes at his expense.
Past recipients of comedy’s highest honor include David Letterman, Jon Stewart, and Dave Chappelle.
