Comedian Bill Maher will be awarded the prestigious Mark Twain Prize for American Humor on Sunday in what might be one of the last major onstage moments at the Kennedy Center for the next several years.

Kennedy Center Upheaval

The award has been presented since 1998 as a way to recognize those who have made significant contributions to humor and commentary in the United States. In announcing the honor in March, the Kennedy Center described Maher as someone who has long influenced American comedy “one politically incorrect joke at a time,” a reference to the late-night show “Politically Incorrect” that he hosted for much of the 1990s and helped lift him to prominence.

Previous winners include Conan O’Brien, Dave Chappelle, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, David Letterman, Carol Burnett and Tina Fey. Woody Harrelson, Arianna Huffington and Jay Leno are among the celebrities expected to appear at the Sunday night ceremony.

President Donald Trump, who has spent much of his second term reshaping the performing arts venue, is not expected to attend. The Kennedy Center has been at the center of a legal battle over the extent of the president’s power after he fired much of the center’s leadership and installed a board largely composed of allies.

Trump and Maher’s Fraught Relationship

Given Trump’s sway over the Kennedy Center, Maher’s selection for the award is notable because the two men have long had a fraught relationship. Before he entered politics, Trump filed a $5 million lawsuit against Maher in 2013 for breach of contract.

Maher hosted Vice President JD Vance on his show heading into the weekend. Vance, who is promoting a book, said he watches the show and laughed at Maher’s monologue “even though you were making fun of me.” During the interview, Maher pressed Vance on the Iran war, immigration enforcement and election conspiracy theories.

Original reporting: KTBS 3 (Shreveport) — read the source article.