We went to two fabulous events over the weekend, the glamorous Meridian Ball and the phenomenal Mark Twain Prize for American Humor celebrating Eddie Murphy at the Kennedy Center.
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To the delight of the sold-out audience, Eddie Murphy did a stand-up comedy routine after accepting the prize, saying you "get these kinds of awards when you're either really old or dead." The crowd was in stitches when he said he thought prizes always came with money, so the Kennedy Center "should call this a surprise, because the surprise is you ain't getting any money." He also did an incredible Bill Cosby imitation as though Cosby were asked to give back his Twain prize "because when you're asked to give back your awards, you know you've really f'd up."
The roasters and toasters all came back on stage after Kennedy Center chairman David Rubenstein gave Eddie Murphy the prize: Jay Pharaoh, Joe Piscopo, Tracy Morgan, Trevor Noah, Kathy Griffin, George Lopez, Chris Rock, Kevin Nealon and Arsenio Hall, along with singers Sam Moore and Brittany Howard. George Lopez brought down the house when he said, "All of Donald Trump's wives have been immigrants, who always take the jobs US women don't want."
One of the most touching moments came when Tracy Morgan, here with his wife, Megan Wallover, walked on stage to a thunderous standing ovation. He said after he came out of his coma, Eddie Murphy was the first one who made him laugh again, and that's why he'd always love him. Eddie put his hand on his heart in salute.
Congrats to Kennedy Center chairman David Rubenstein, who told the crowd the night raised a record-breaking $2.3M. We snapped him at the after-party surrounded by Mark and Sally Ein.
Philanthropists Alan Fleischmann and Daphna Tapiero are with BridgeEdU CEO Wes Moore and his wife, Dawn.
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