Jon Stewart to Receive 2022 Mark Twain Prize for American Humor

Jon Stewart will be honored with the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on April 24.

“I am truly honored to receive this award,” Stewart said in a statement about the prize. “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 is currently an executive producer on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. He also hosts The Problem with Jon Stewart, the Apple TV+ show he created and executive produces. Before then, he hosted The Daily Show from 1999 to 2015 and served as the co-creator and executive producer of The Colbert Report on Comedy Central from 2005 to 2014.

“For more than three decades, Jon Stewart has brightened our lives and challenged our minds as he delivers current events and social satire with his trademark wit and wisdom,” Kennedy Center President Deborah F. Rutter said in a statement. “For me, tuning into his television programs over the years has always been equal parts entertainment and truth.”

The Kennedy Center accolade is among myriad prizes won by Stewart, including his whopping 22 Emmy Awards, two Grammy Awards and five Peabody Awards.

Rutter also praised the comedian’s “undaunted advocacy for first responders and veterans” and his ability to “make a difference in the world through humor, humanity, and patriotism.”

Rutted added: “He is most deserving of this award and I certainly cannot wait to hear the Concert Hall full of laughter again on April 24th.”

Stewart follows in the footsteps of Dave Chappelle who earned the award in 2019 and Julia Louis-Dreyfous who took it home in 2018. (Due to the pandemic, no ceremony was held in 2020 and 2021.)