Why Conan O'Brien Accepted the Kennedy Center Prize Amid Trump Takeover

justjared.com:

Conan O’Brien is accepting a big honor, although it comes amid controversy. While some performers have canceled upcoming appearances and pledged not to return to the Kennedy Center amid Donald Trump‘s takeover, including stars like Whoopi Goldberg and Lin-Manuel Miranda, the 61-year-old comedian and former late night TV host accepted the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor on Sunday (March 23). Conan was named the 26th recipient of the Mark Twain Prize back in January, weeks before Trump fired most of the institution’s board and replaced them with his own supporters to elect him as the new chairman. Keep reading to find out more… Conan explained his decision to still come and accept the honor on the red carpet at the event. “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.” Stars who appeared in support of Conan also continuously took digs at Trump, per The Wrap. Stephen Colbert joked in a Hot Ones parody 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. John Mulaney joked that the Kennedy Center will likely be renamed to “the Roy Cohn Pavilion” in honor of one of Trump’s mentors. Sarah Silverman remarked that she missed the days when Conan was “America’s only orange a–hole.” In his own speech, Conan reminded the audience that the prize’s namesake Mark Twain “hated bullies” and “punched up, not down.” “Twain was suspicious of populism, jingoism, imperialism, the