Eddie Murphy to Be Awarded Top Humor Prize at the Kennedy Center

This fall Eddie Murphy will step into the limelight once again, and hopefully give a speech longer than 72 seconds, when he receives the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. Suggested Reading The Best Black Super Bowl Halftime Performances of the Modern Era, Ranked Say It Loud: The Ultimate Black History Month 2026 Playlist Rapper…

This fall Eddie Murphy will step into the limelight once again, and hopefully give a speech longer than 72 seconds, when he receives the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.

Video will return here when scrolled back into view
17 Fashion Trainwrecks from Met Gala 2025

Murphy, 54, will be honored at the Kennedy Center in October during the 18th annual gala. The Kennedy Center said that Murphy was the “the most commercially successful African-American actor in the history of the motion picture business, and is one of the industry’s top-five box-office performers overall.”

Murphy, who recently made an appearance on Saturday Night Live’s 40th-anniversary show, joins previous honorees such as Richard Pryor and Whoopi Goldberg.

Straight From The Root

Sign up for our free daily newsletter.