Conan O'Brien honored at Kennedy Center but Trump targeted by many comics
Washington
— On a night when half a dozen people made jokes about this being the last-ever Mark Twain Prize, Conan O'Brien made sure the ceremony at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts ended on a high note.
O'Brien accepted the award for lifetime achievement in comedy Sunday night while acknowledging the backstage turmoil that hangs over the future of the cultural center in Washington.
O'Brien, 61, was named the 26th recipient of the Mark Twain Prize in mid-January, about three weeks before President Trump upended the Kennedy Center by ousting longtime president Deborah Rutter and board chairman David Rubenstein. Mr. Trump dismissed the board of trustees and
replaced them with loyalists, who then elected him as chairman
.
On Sunday, O'Brien specifically thanked Rubenstein and Rutter - drawing an extended round of applause - as well as Kennedy Center staffers who, he said, were "worried about what the future might bring."
He said the example of Mark Twain's own life and career was particularly resonant at this moment in American history.
"Twain hated bullies. ... He punched up, not down, and he deeply empathized with the weak," O'Brien said. "Twain loved America, but he knew it was deeply flawed."
A Mark Twain impersonator then emerged from the audience. After a back-and-forth debate with O'Brien, he joined him on stage and the pair slow danced for a while. They were then joined by a dozen more Twain impersonators and previous Twain Prize recipient Adam Sandler for a raucous rendition of Neil Young's "Rockin in the Free World."
That musical ending capped off a night when the uncertain fate of the Kennedy Center itself was woven through the multiple tributes and testimonials to O'Brien.
"I think it would be insane not to address the elephant in the room," comic Nikki Glaser said on the red carpet before the ceremony. "It's in the air tonight. This night is about Conan, but it can be both."
Once the festivities began, Stephen Colbert joked that the Kennedy Center had announced two new board members: Bashar Assad, the ousted president of Syria, and Skeletor, a fictional supervillain.
John Mulaney quipped that the entire building would soon be renamed "the Roy Cohn Pavilion" after one of Trump's mentors. And Sarah Silverman made multiple Trump jokes that were too vulgar to print.
Mr. Trump, in announcing the Kennedy Center changes, posted on social media that those who were dismissed "
do not share our Vision for a Golden Age in Arts and Culture
."
How that vision takes shape remains to be seen, but Mr. Trump has spoken about wanting to book more Broadway shows there and floated the idea of granting Kennedy Center Honors status to actor Sylvester Stallone and singer-songwriter Paul Anka.
Into this maelstrom stepped O'Brien, whose comedic persona has never been particularly political.
The comic has always tended more toward goofiness and self-deprecation. But he has also leaned into sensitive societal issues at times.
In 2011, O'Brien officiated a gay wedding live on his show, overseeing the marriage of his longtime costume designer Scott Cronick and his partner David Gorshein.
O'Brien vaulted into the spotlight from near-total obscurity in 1993 when he was chosen to replace David Letterman as host of "Late Night" despite no significant on-camera experience. The former Harvard Lampoon editor had spent the previous years as a writer for "Saturday Night Live" and "The Simpsons," appearing on camera only as an occasional background extra in "SNL" skits.
He went on to host "Late Night" for 16 years, longer than any other host. O'Brien was later tapped to replace Jay Leno as host of "The Tonight Show," but that experiment ended in public failure. After seven months of declining ratings, NBC executives brought Leno back for a new show that would bump "The Tonight Show" back. O'Brien refused to accept the move, leading to a public spat that ended with a multimillion-dollar payout for O'Brien and his staff to exit the network in early 2010.
O'Brien went on to host another talk show on the cable station TBS, while launching successful podcasts and travel shows.
He is currently on a late-career elder statesman hot streak. His travel series, "Conan O'Brien Must Go," drew popular and critical acclaim, with a second season coming. His recent gig hosting the Academy Awards was so well received that the producers announced they are
bringing him back next year
.
In the wake of Trump's takeover of the Kennedy Center, several artists, including
the producers of "Hamilton"
and actress and writer
Issa Rae
, announced they were canceling appearances at the venue.
Others have chosen to perform while making their sentiments known from the stage. Leftist comic W. Kamau Bell directly addressed the controversy in his performance just days after the shake-up. Earlier this month, cellist Erin Murphy Snedecor ended her set with a performance of the Woody Guthrie protest anthem "All You Fascists Bound to Lose."
Other comedians receiving the lifetime achievement award include both Letterman and Leno, along with George Carlin, Whoopi Goldberg, Bob Newhart, Carol Burnett, Bill Murray and Dave Chappelle.
The ceremony will be streamed on Netflix on May 4.
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Politico
an hour ago
- Politico
A big, beautiful week
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Los Angeles Times
an hour ago
- Los Angeles Times
Testimony against Sean Combs was shocking and graphic. But was it enough to convict?
One of the most sensational celebrity trials in decades is expected early this week to go to jurors, who must decide whether music mogul Sean 'Diddy' Combs is responsible for a shocking series of alleged sex crimes and conspiracies dating back years. The trial in New York has been marked by graphic testimony from inside Combs' music empire, alleging a pattern of violence, threats and cover-ups that prosecutors have likened to a mob-like criminal enterprise. A key question posed in the case is whether Combs — who was once worth more than $1 billion — used his power and money to conceal alleged crimes, often with the help of his sprawling organization. Prosecutors hammered home this alleged conspiracy in closing arguments. Assistant U.S. Atty. Christy Slavik told jurors Combs 'counted on silence and shame' to enable and prolong his abuse and used a 'small army' of employees to harm women and cover it up, according to the Associated Press. Combs 'doesn't take no for an answer,' she added. But legal experts have said the case may not be quite the slam-dunk that the tabloid headlines suggest. Combs' defense has freely acknowledged that the mogul behaved badly. They claim, however, that the charges against him are overblown and pointed out that some key witnesses did not report Combs' misdeeds at the time. 'The theory of the defense seems to be that Diddy did really horrible things, but they don't meet the elements of the crimes charged,' said legal expert Jeff Chemerinsky, a former federal prosecutor. On Friday, Combs' attorney labeled the prosecution's case 'exaggerated' and hammered some of his accusers. Marc Agnifilo claimed Combs enjoyed a 'swinger' lifestyle and was addled by drugs. He admitted Combs committed domestic violence, but that the racketeering and sex trafficking charges were trumped up. 'He is not a racketeer,' he said. 'He is innocent. He sits there innocent.' There is no question the trial painted a damning portrait of Combs, the hip-hop star who built a massive music, fashion and lifestyle empire and mingled with the elites of American society and power. But Dmitry Gorin, a former L.A. County sex crimes prosecutor, said jurors will have to determine whether the sheer volume and seriousness of federal charges match the evidence. Gorin questioned whether federal prosecutors overcharged in the high-profile case. The federal indictment alleges that Combs and his associates lured female victims, often under the pretense of a romantic relationship. Combs then allegedly used force, threats of force, coercion and controlled substances to get women to engage in sex acts with male prostitutes while he occasionally watched in gatherings that Combs referred to as 'freak-offs.' Combs gave the women ketamine, ecstasy and GHB to 'keep them obedient and compliant' during the performances, prosecutors say. Combs' alleged 'criminal enterprise' threatened and abused women and used members of his enterprise to engage in sex trafficking, forced labor, interstate transportation for purposes of prostitution, coercion and enticement to engage in prostitution, narcotics offenses, kidnapping, arson, bribery and obstruction of justice, prosecutors said. In bringing so-called RICO charges, prosecutors in opening statements said Combs was helped by a cadre of company employees, security staff and aides. They allegedly helped organize the freak-offs and then covered up the incidents. Combs is charged with one count of racketeering conspiracy, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison; two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison and a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison; and two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. Jurors heard from 34 witnesses, who provided six weeks of brutal and graphic testimony. At the heart of the case are three women who described graphic sexual assaults, including Combs' onetime lover Casandra 'Cassie' Ventura, who the defense acknowledged was a key witness for prosecutors. It was Ventura's lawsuit in 2023 that set off the unraveling of Combs' enterprise with its details of sex, violence and freak-offs. Witnesses testified that Combs gave the women ketamine, ecstasy and GHB to keep them compliant during the performances. His last former girlfriend, referred to only as Jane in court, described how the freak-offs and coerced sex continued even after the lawsuit and a raid by Homeland Security Investigations in 2023 until his arrest last year. A former employee, testifying under the pseudonym Mia, also testified that she was sexually assaulted. The federal indictment alleges that Combs and his associates lured two of the women under the pretense of a romantic relationship. Combs then allegedly used force, threats of force, coercion and controlled substances to get women to engage in sex acts with male prostitutes. R&B singer Ventura, who had a long relationship with Combs, testified early in the trial. Ventura told jurors she felt 'trapped' in a cycle of physical and sexual abuse, and that the relationship involved 11 years of beatings, sexual blackmail and a rape. She said Combs threatened to leak videos of her sexual encounters with numerous male sex workers while drug-intoxicated and covered in baby oil as he watched and orchestrated the freak-offs. One of those alleged freak-offs led to an infamous hotel beating, Ventura testified. Video from that March 2016 night shows Combs punching and kicking Ventura as she cowers and tries to protect herself in front of an L.A. hotel elevator bank. He then drags her down the hall by her hooded sweatshirt toward their hotel room. A second angle from another camera captures Combs throwing a vase toward her. She suffered bruising to her eye, a fat lip and a bruise that prosecutors showed was still visible during a movie premiere two days later, where she donned sunglasses and heavy makeup on the red carpet. A cover-up then ensued, according to prosecutors. Ventura stated that the police visited her apartment. She answered a few of their questions, but told the jury she still wanted to protect Combs at the time. 'I would not say who I was talking about,' she told the jury. 'In that moment, I did not want to hurt him in that way. There was too much going on. It was a lot.' Eddie Garcia, the InterContinental Hotel security guard, testified that Combs gave him a brown paper bag containing $100,000 in cash for the video. Garcia said that after his supervisor agreed to sell the video recording, he met with Combs, Combs' chief of staff, Kristina Khorram, and a bodyguard. After Garcia raised concerns about the police, he said Combs called Ventura on FaceTime, handed him the phone and told Ventura to tell Garcia that she also wanted the video 'to go away.' After that, Garcia said he took the money and split it with co-workers, according to reporting from inside the courtroom. Prosecutors allege this shows the conspiracy. In her closing argument, Slavik said racketeering law applies when someone commits crimes as part of a group, and in Combs' case, 'the defendant was a powerful man, but he became more powerful and dangerous because of his inner circle, his businesses — the enterprise,' she told jurors, according to AP. Under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, known as RICO, there are 35 specific offenses, including murder, bribery and extortion, and federal prosecutors need to show a pattern involving at least two overt acts as part of a criminal enterprise. People typically think of the mob, street gangs or drug cartels. But any loose association of two or more people is enough, like Combs' entourage, said Neama Rahami, a former federal prosecutor and defense attorney. While the testimony against Combs was graphic and detailed, Rahami said the defense hopes jurors will question why those on the stand did not report the behavior to authorities at the time and in some cases stayed in Combs' orbit. Rahami said she found parts of the prosecution's case underwhelming, especially given the complex and serious charges they filed. 'I still think Combs is guilty, but the defense has a good chance of securing not guilty verdicts, especially on the sex trafficking counts,' she said. The defense was aggressive in cross-examination, hammering witnesses about why they did not report Combs at the time or simply leave him. They also presented text messages of support and love after the alleged attacks. The defense also focused on the money and other things they got from Combs. 'This isn't about a crime. This is about money. It's about money,' Agnifilo said, according to the AP. But the level of graphic testimony might be hard for jurors to ignore. Bryana Bongolan, a friend of Ventura, testified that Combs dangled her over a 17-story balcony and tossed her onto balcony furniture in September 2016. Capricorn Clark, a former assistant to Combs, told jurors Combs forced her from her apartment at gunpoint to go with him to musician Kid Cudi's home in December 2011. Once there, Combs and Clark entered the empty house, and then Cudi, whose real name is Scott Mescudi, showed up. To avoid getting law enforcement involved, Clark testified, Combs ordered her to call Ventura, who was at that time Combs' ex-girlfriend, and said they needed to convince Cudi not to snitch to the cops. 'If you guys don't convince him of that, I'll kill all you m—,' Clark quoted Combs saying. Cudi testified that his Porsche was later firebombed in his driveway with a Molotov cocktail. Prosecutors got the last word Friday before the jury went home for the weekend, reminding them of the Cudi car explosion. 'He delegated and his inner circle handled the dirty work for him,' prosecutor Maurene Comey said, according to CNN. 'He said he was going to blow up the car, and lo and behold, it blew up. 'For 20 years, the defendant got away with his crimes. That ends in this courtroom,' Comey added. 'The defendant is not a god. He is a person.' Associated Press contributed to this report.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
GB News announces US expansion with nightly show focused on American politics
GB News is set to expand its reach across the Atlantic, launching a new live nightly show from Washington D.C. hosted by Bev Turner. The channel, which began broadcasting in 2021, will establish a new bureau in the US capital as part of its transatlantic expansion. The two-hour programme is slated to commence in September, broadcasting from a studio described as "close to the White House." GB News states the show aims to "bring British audiences closer than ever to the political news which unfolds each day in America." According to the channel, the programme will feature "headline-making exclusives, thought-provoking interviews with major figures, and in-depth analysis of the Trump presidency as well as stories from across the US." The move includes an extension of GB News' distribution across the US, with content to be made available free to American audiences. Turner said: 'With the gutsiest guests and the most iconic backdrops, I intend to keep viewers up late. Fronting the next stage of GB News's evolution is both a huge honour and an immense responsibility, and I cannot wait to represent the people's channel on a global stage. 'We will be disrupting the late-night TV space as the next day's papers land in the UK and America's prime-time analysis gears up. This affords us the chance to deliver a unique UK-USA hybrid of political, cultural and social issues from the start-line of global politics. 'We will fulfil the need for a British voice with an international perspective to help our viewers get a sense of who's really on their side. 'Tapping into Washington's heartbeat and delivering real-time perspective with editorial edge, the show will be alive, and a conversation that's punchy, intelligent and unmissable. What happens in DC reverberates in GB and we will capture every moment. 'Our highly engaged British audience understands how events in the US are directly impacting government policy and living standards here. 'We have a job to do: bridging the gap between British and American politics in the fearless style that typifies GB News. 'We will include the very best guests that Washington has to offer, alongside quintessentially British voices in an unparalleled assessment of events on both sides of the Atlantic. 'This isn't just a media experiment, this is a market intervention. And I look forward to leading it from the front.' Turner, 51, who began presenting her own show on GB News in 2022, previously hosted a talk show on LBC and has appeared on ITV's This Morning and Good Morning Britain. Michael Booker, GB News editorial director, said: 'This is a huge moment for GB News as we grow our presence and deliver more of the fearless journalism that defines us. 'The world's biggest political story is playing out in Washington, and its impact is being felt daily in towns and cities across Britain. 'More than ever before, what happens in the USA is having huge consequences, both socially and economically, for the people of Britain. 'We've seen time and again this year that a decision made on one day in Washington DC is felt the next day in Washington, Tyne and Wear. 'It's essential the people's channel is right there, reporting live, asking the tough questions, and telling it like it is. 'While others scale back on live free coverage, GB News is investing in our content. 'Our new Washington investment, our expanded programming and our brilliant on-the-ground team will ensure we're not just reporting on the story but that we're right at the heart of it.'
