Comedian, talk show host, and political pundit Jon Stewart received the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.
Celebrities gathered at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Sunday night to honor Stewart.
“I am truly honored to receive this award,” he said. “I have long admired and been influenced by the work of Mark Twain, or, as he was known by his given name, Samuel Leibowitz.”
Stewart, who hosts The Problem on Apple TV+, made reference to the threat against and debate surrounding comedy’s purpose.
“There’s a lot of talk right now about what’s going to happen in comedy. You know, there was the slap,” Stewart said, referring to the shocking Oscars moment when Will Smith slapped Chris Rock. “But it’s not the fragility of audiences, it’s the leaders. It’s not the Fresh Prince, it’s the crown prince.”
“Comedy is the bellwether, we’re the banana peel in the coal mine,” Stewart continued. “Authoritarianism is the threat to art, theater, poetry. … What we have is fragile and precious, and the way to guard against it isn’t to change how audiences think, but to change how leaders lead.”
The Mark Twain Prize, considered one of comedy’s top awards, recognizes individuals who have had an impact on American society through creative and humorous works.
Stewart is the 23rd recipient of the prize. The award ceremony included fellow comedians and previous Mark Twain Prize recipients honoring Stewart with testimonials and skits, including Olivia Munn, Pete Davidson, Jimmy Kimmel, Dave Chappelle, Steve Carell, and Stephen Colbert.
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Munn, a The Daily Show alumna, shared how Stewart mentored her, saying that he “changed the way my generation saw the news and public policy.”
“Jon made it cool to have an opinion on the news — and that’s why every g**d*** a****** now has an opinion on everything,” Munn said.
Ahead of the ceremony, late-night talk show host Kimmel talked about working with Stewart for decades but most recently on Live in Front of a Studio Audience — Kimmel’s remake of classic episodes of The Fact of Life and Diff’rent Strokes in 2019.
“He’s just always funny,” Kimmel said of Stewart. “You could probably wake him up in the middle of the night, and he would say something funny within four seconds.”
Kimmel also praised Stewart’s activism, saying, “He does a lot more than most people realize.”
In March, Stewart gave a speech on the steps of the Capitol advocating a bill to benefit veterans that would establish a presumption of service connection for 23 new conditions, namely respiratory conditions and cancers for those exposed to burn pits, along with other airborne hazards.
In 2004, Stewart went on CNN’s Crossfire and blasted the entire premise of left-wing versus right-wing debate for cheapening political discussion with insincere role-playing, saying cable news network hosts have a “responsibility to the public discourse.”
Stewart, 59, is perhaps best known for his 16-year tenure as host of The Daily Show. His impact as a host and comedian stretched beyond America’s borders.
Egyptian surgeon Bassem Youssef modeled a modest YouTube show after Stewart’s. Youssef gained notoriety in 2011 during the Egyptian revolution.
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“I think it’s actually too late. He should have received this award 15 years ago,” said Youssef, who now reportedly lives in the United States and is pursuing a full-time comedy career.
Youssef said he was particularly inspired by Stewart’s “honesty and the way he tackles complicated stuff using intelligent humor.”
The 2022 Mark Twain Prize ceremony will be broadcast on PBS on June 21.
