Conan O’Brien takes home the Mark Twain Prize for American Humour on Sunday but the spotlight will be as much on the Kennedy Centre, where he will be accepting the prize, as the Emmy-winning comedian himself.
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O’Brien, who joins a long list of high-profile humorists who have received the award, will be celebrated at an evening show with tributes and jokes by a slew of comic greats that will be broadcast at a later date on Netflix.
The show is the first signature event at the Kennedy Centre since its takeover by US President Donald Trump, who last month announced he would become chairman of the institution, pushing out billionaire philanthropist David Rubenstein.
Trump dismissed board members appointed by former US president Joe Biden and installed officials loyal to him.
He handed leadership reins for the facility to Richard Grenell, a close Trump ally and former ambassador to Germany who is serving as envoy for special missions in the current administration.
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The new board, which includes White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and Usha Vance, wife of Vice-President J.D. Vance, fired its former president, Deborah Rutter. Trump visited the centre last week and declared it in “tremendous disrepair”.
