Stephen Colbert as host of the Kennedy Center Honors ceremony welcomed the “endangered swamp dwellers” and got in a few digs at President Barack Obama, who was in the audience with wife, Michelle.
The ceremony, which was held in Washington and aired Tuesday night on CBS, was created to celebrate and honor the nation’s greatest artists. This year’s honorees included musician James Taylor, blues singer Mavis Staples, actor Al Pacino, The Eagles rock band and pianist Martha Argerich.
Colbert, to Obama, said that if he wanted to be a future honoree it wouldn’t be easy. "It's not like the Nobel Peace Prize where they just give those things away," he said.
Obama won the peace prize in 2009 amid criticism from conservatives he'd done nothing to deserve it.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.