Kennedy Center Tarp Becomes the Running Joke at Bill Maher's Mark Twain Prize Night

Bill Maher accepted the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor on Sunday, but the Kennedy Center itself supplied one of the night’s biggest punchlines.

The ceremony was the first major event at the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts since a federal judge ruled that President Donald Trump’s attempt to rename it in his own honor was unlawful. Trump’s name was removed from the facade on June 13, but scaffolding and tarps remained outside the building Sunday night, turning the venue’s exterior into an unavoidable visual joke.

U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled in May that Trump could not rename the center The Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts without approval from Congress.

“Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it,” Cooper said.

Speaking to reporters on the red carpet, Maher called the tarp “hysterical.”

“I mean, as much as you could try to think of his next move, you could never do it,” Maher said. “Only he could think of that. The tarp. I just never would have gone there. To me it just makes it better and funnier, and it’s a funny event celebrating funny.”

Jay Leno also found the image hard to resist.

“You know what’s funny? It’s vanity. It’s not a war, it’s not people getting killed. It’s not antisemitism. It’s not racism. It’s a silly thing covering a name. I mean, what’s funnier than that? You know, it’s high school with money,” Leno said.

NBC Washington reported that the rigging remains so crews can address maintenance needs involving marble and soffit panels, according to a Kennedy Center spokesperson.

On the red carpet, the outlet asked Allison Lutnick, a member of the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees and wife of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, why the tarp remained, and when it might come down.

“I'm not sure,” Lutnick said. “They're fixing the stone, so I'm not sure how much that should help.”

The tarp fit the mood of a night already shaped by Trump jokes. Actor Woody Harrelson referenced the attempted rename from the stage, calling the venue “the Trump Kennedy Center” before adding, “Oh, right, we fixed that. Not as though you’d be able to notice.”

Comedian Matt Friend said the building had a surreal quality.

“You come in here, it's like the Hunger Games, Trump's face is on the wall, it's like I'm in the Capitol. I don't even know what's going on, right?” Friend said. “This is just so surreal. Either way, it's great for comedy.”