Hollywood jabs Trump while celebrating Conan O’Brien amid Kennedy Center shake-up

Members of Hollywood took shots at President Donald Trump on Sunday while gathered in Washington, D.C., for the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor to honor television host and comedian Conan O’Brien, weeks after Trump unveiled sweeping changes to the structure of the Kennedy Center. 

Trump, who removed the Kennedy Center’s leadership in February, is now serving as the Kennedy Center Board Chair. New members on the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees include second lady Usha Vance, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, and White House deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino. 

Comedian Sarah Silverman took aim at Trump several times on Sunday at the Mark Twain event, specifically citing a 2016 appearance of hers on Conan on TBS where she dressed up as Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.

“They wrote a bit where Conan interviews Hitler, who comes on because he’s embarrassed that he’s being compared to Donald Trump,” Silverman said. 

“I am actually not an obvious choice for Hitler. I mean, I am an obvious choice for Hitler,” said Silverman, who is Jewish. “Not an obvious choice to play Hitler. But they chose me, and it’s this way of thinking that makes Conan great again. I just really miss the days when you were America’s only orange a–hole.” 

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Silverman also recalled when she took a sideways photo of O’Brien’s mouth, and placed the image on her phone between her legs during an appearance on Conan in 2012, prompting TBS to censor the image because of its resemblance to female genitalia. She then instructed the audience to look under their seat, where they would find a copy of the image of O’Brien’s pursed lips. 

“You can go ahead and leave those photos on your seat when you go – the guy who took over loves grabbing pussy,” Silverman said, a reference to the leaked Access Hollywood tape where Trump bragged about kissing and groping women due to his fame. 

The tape, originally filmed in 2005, leaked ahead of the 2016 election.

Silverman wasn’t the only comedian to poke fun at Washington at the ceremony. John Mulaney also directly referenced Trump’s Kennedy Center shake-up, joking that the president would rename the building after Roy Cohn, Republican Sen. Joseph McCarthy’s chief counsel who supported the Wisconsin senator investigating suspected communists. Cohn also had ties to Trump, and served as an attorney for Trump in the 1970s and 1980s. 

“It’s an honor to be here at the Kennedy Center, or as it will be known next week, the Roy Cohn Pavilion for Big, Strong Men Who Love Cats,” Mulaney said. 

Comedian Will Ferrell, who previously won the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2011, also took a jab at Trump’s executive order on Thursday to upend the Department of Education. 

“I don’t have time for this. You know what I’m supposed to be doing right now?” Ferrell said. “Do you have any idea? I’m supposed to be shutting down the Department of Education.” 

Comedian Nikki Glaser, who hosted the Golden Globes in January, told reporters on the red carpet it would be “insane” to not address Trump’s shake-up at the event, while also remembering that the purpose of the night was to celebrate O’Brien. 

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“I think it’s insane not to address the elephant in the room. And it’s like, it’s insane comedically, to not do that, because it’s, it’s right there,” Glaser said. 

Glaser said the current political atmosphere provides comedians with an opportunity to seize a “rebellious moment.” 

“It’s an easy laugh to just say anything about it, but also you get to say something and have a little bit of a rebellious moment, which is always a fun thing to work in,” Glaser told reporters on the red carpet. “But I’m not going to make a meal of it…that’s not what it’s about.” 

Glaser also told reporters she previously didn’t want to discuss politics because she didn’t want to alienate any audience members, and while she is more inclined to do so now, she’s concerned about death threats and being doxxed. 

O’Brien also addressed the Kennedy Center’s shake-up, and thanked the Kennedy Center’s former president Deborah Rutter and chairman David Rubenstein, as well as other staff members “who are worried about what the future might bring.” 

“Thanks to my people who invited me here a few months ago: Deborah Rutter and David Rubenstein,” O’Brien said. 

O’Brien also paid homage to author Mark Twain, whom the award is named after, claiming that “Twain was a patriot in the best sense of the world.” 

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“He loved America, but knew it was deeply flawed,” O’Brien said. “Twain wrote, patriotism is supporting your country all of the time and your government when it deserves it.” 

O’Brien, who hosted the Oscars this month and is slated to host the event next year as well, told reporters on the red carpet that his material for next year’s awards will depend on current events, and that ideas for content are always changing leading up to such events. 

“I could no more tell you what next year’s Oscars would be now than I could three months out of it, you know, nine months from now,” O’Brien said. 

Other comedians who’ve won the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor include Ferrell, Tina Fey, Dave Chappelle, Ellen DeGeneres, Adam Sandler and Kevin Hart. 

Fox News’ Emma Colton contributed to this report.