Conan O’Brien explains why he went to the Kennedy Center for the Mark Twain Award

(CNN) — Conan O’Brien is opening up about his decision to honor a commitment he made to receive the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts.

Several performers have canceled performances at the renowned and historically bipartisan arts institution after President Donald Trump criticized the venue of which he’s now the chairman and installed political loyalists in top leadership positions.

On Friday’s episode of his “Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend” podcast, O’Brien said he wanted to talk about the “momentous moment” in his career.

The award was given to him by the “old regime,” O’Brien said, and he wanted to “honor their decision.”

“Obviously for the last couple of months with the new administration, there’s been some controversial stuff going on with the Kennedy Center,” he added.

“There was a question of ‘Should I go? Should I not go?’” he said. “And I felt like it was important to show up.”

The comedian described the night positively.

“It was really lovely because the young people working at the Kennedy Center for years were delighted that we came.” he said. “They don’t know what their future is.”

O’Brien was selected by The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to receive the 26th Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in January.

The prize, which is named to honor one of the world’s greatest humorists, was awarded at a gala performance on March 23 at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall and featured some of the biggest names in comedy, including David Letterman, Sarah Silverman, and John Mulaney who celebrated O’Brien.

The event was filmed to later stream on Netflix. A date for the show has not yet been announced.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2025 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.