The Kennedy Centre honoured comedian Kevin Hart with the Mark Twain Prize for American Humour on Sunday with an evening that featured routines from fellow comics Dave Chappelle, Chelsea Handler and Jerry Seinfeld in tribute to Hart’s career.
In a recorded show that will air on May 11 on Netflix, Hart’s peers celebrated him with a mix of humour, profanity and emotion. “You remind me why I love comedy so much,” Chappelle, a previous winner of the award, told Hart from the Kennedy Centre stage, quipping that he had given up a trip to Jamaica to attend. “I am honoured to know somebody like you. I really wish you had come when I won this award.”
Kevin Hart, 44, became the 25th recipient of the prize, which the Kennedy Centre has previously bestowed on Adam Sandler, Whoopi Goldberg, Jon Stewart and Carol Burnett. Hart called the award amazing and thanked his peers for “showing up.” Known for films such as “Ride Along,” “Central Intelligence,” and “Fatherhood,” Hart has achieved success as a comic, a movie and television actor, and as a producer and businessman. He launched the media company HARTBEAT in 2022. Handler ribbed Hart for telling her on the talk show she hosted in the early 2000s that he was headed for greatness.