As some performers cancel scheduled appearances at the Kennedy Center and others vow not to return until it’s no longer under Donald Trump’s thumb, comedian Conan O’Brien opted to forge ahead and accept the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in person over the weekend. And he brought famous friends with him.
The former late night host was named the 26th recipient of the Mark Twain Prize back in January, a few weeks before Trump fired most of the institution’s board and replaced them with loyalists to elect him as the new chairman. According to The Hill, O’Brien explained to reporters on the red carpet that he chose to still come and accept the honor to support those still employed at the Kennedy Center.
“It’s a personal decision what everybody wants to do, but my decision was that there’s a lot of people that work here at the Kennedy Center who have been here for a very long time,” he said. “They work hard to promote the arts, and so I want to be here in that spirit.”
Among the famous faces that appeared on stage to celebrate O’Brien’s win were Stephen Colbert, John Mulaney, Nikki Glaser, Sarah Silverman and David Letterman. And for the most part, they all took direct aim at Trump’s takeover of the Kennedy Center.
Parodying Conan’s viral appearance on “Hot Ones,” Colbert joked that “In light of the new leadership at the Kennedy Center, all of these are right wings” and “announced” two new board members: former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and Skeletor.
Mulaney joked that the Kennedy Center will likely be renamed to “the Roy Cohn Pavilion” in honor of one of Trump’s mentors, while Silverman lamented that she missed the days when O’Brien was “America’s only orange asshole.”
As for Conan himself, his acceptance speech did not name Trump specifically, but rather used the namesake of of the prize he was awarded to send a clear message about the president.
Reminding the audience that Twain “hated bullies” and “punched up, not down,” O’Brien zeroed in on Twain’s political leanings as well.
“Twain was suspicious of populism, jingoism, imperialism, the money-obsessed mania of the Gilded Age, and any expression of mindless American might or self-importance,” he said.
“Above all, Twain was a patriot in the best sense of the word. He loved America, but knew it was deeply flawed. Twain wrote, ‘Patriotism is supporting your country all of the time, and your government when it deserves it.’”
Conan O’Brien’s Kennedy Center ceremony will be streaming on Netflix on May 4.
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