The ceremony for the Mark Twain Prize, one of comedy’s top honors, celebrated Mr. Stewart’s achievements on “The Daily Show” and his activism on behalf of veterans and 9/11 emergency workers.
WASHINGTON — Jon Stewart walked onstage at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on Sunday night serenaded by Bruce Springsteen covering the Beatles’ “Come Together,” in an ode to Mr. Stewart’s long-held aspirations for America, despite his career based on biting political satire.
The comedian and former host of “The Daily Show” became the 23rd recipient of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, one of comedy’s top honors. The award had been postponed for two years because of the pandemic, making Mr. Stewart the first person to be honored since the comedian Dave Chappelle in 2019.
Mr. Stewart, 59, was celebrated as a staple of American late-night television for 16 years, appearing weeknights behind his desk on “The Daily Show,” dispensing quick-witted takes on the news media, ripping into political punditry, mocking conservatives and critiquing government.
“When Jon got the show, it had soul,” said Mr. Chappelle, a longtime friend of Mr. Stewart’s whose program on Comedy Central, “Chappelle’s Show,” once led into “The Daily Show.”
Mr. Stewart took over the half-hour show in 1999 from its inaugural host, Craig Kilborn, a comedian and former ESPN host, and turned it into a hot spot for public figures who included politicians, journalists, world leaders and entertainers. They included dozens of members of Congress, Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, Christiane Amanpour of CNN, the actor George Clooney and the former baseball player Derek Jeter. Barack Obama notably appeared on the show five times, first as a candidate and later as president.
“Jon actually made it cool to be informed and have an opinion on the news,” said Olivia Munn, one of several of Mr. Stewart’s former “Daily Show” correspondents who spoke on Sunday.
Also present to laud their old boss were the former correspondents Stephen Colbert (via video call), Steve Carrell and Ed Helms.
As Mr. Stewart’s colleagues celebrated the impact of “The Daily Show” under his leadership, they also griped at his work ethic, which often left his team in precarious situations, like a Ku Klux Klan rally and a mobile home full of snakes. Jimmy Kimmel, the late-night host, joked that Mr. Stewart had spent the years running a “comedy sweatshop.”
Mr. Stewart went on to win multiple Peabody awards and 10 straight Emmys for Outstanding Variety Series from 2003 to 2012, though “The Daily Show” did not quite change the politics and media culture he was so critical of. He left “The Daily Show” in 2015, passing the mantle to the South African comedian Trevor Noah just as the 2016 presidential primaries were taking shape.
“Before Jon, we had no idea you could make a TV show where you play clips of another TV show and then said, ‘Boy, that other TV show sucks,’” Mr. Kimmel said. “He took on Fox News every night and he exposed their hypocrisy, their cynicism and lies — and thanks to his heroic work, they were never heard from again.”
But his impact was not lost on the world of comedy.
“He inspired a generation of imitators,” said Samantha Bee, another former correspondent who praised him for paving the way for other news satire shows that prod at politics, media and culture, including her own, “Full Frontal,” on TBS; “The Colbert Report”; and “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver.”
His influence was not limited to the United States.
“You are the origin story of every one of us,” said Bassem Youssef, an Egyptian comedian who was run out of his country after his own satirical news show, “Al Bernameg,” took on the government.
Mr. Stewart was also recognized on Sunday night for his activism and advocacy on behalf of emergency workers and veterans. Pete Davidson, the “Saturday Night Live” star whose father, a Brooklyn firefighter, died responding to the Sept. 11 attacks, thanked Mr. Stewart for the work he had done. That included Mr. Stewart’s emotional rebuke of Congress’s failure to secure funding for ailing victims, which led to the reauthorization of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund.
“If my dad were here,” Mr. Davidson said, “I know he’d be happy that you’re looking out for him and his friends after all these years.”
The prize itself, a bust of Mark Twain, was presented to Mr. Stewart onstage by John Feal, an advocate for survivors of the Sept. 11 attacks, and Sgt. Israel Del Toro, a wounded Air Force veteran.
“He likes to say that he’s not an activist, not a player of the arena, but only an observer,” said Jon Meacham, a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian who appeared on “The Daily Show” multiple times. “Well, Jon, we love you — but you’re really wrong about that.”
Also in attendance were members of Washington’s political class, including Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House; Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary; and Pete Buttigieg, the transportation secretary.
On Sunday night, Mr. Stewart showed that his talent for sharp social commentary had not faded.
In remarks accepting the award — the ceremony will be broadcast on June 21 on PBS — he maintained that he was not at the end of his career, despite the jabs that his post-cable television endeavors, including his debut as a film director and a television show streaming on Apple+, have fallen far short of his success with “The Daily Show.”
“There’s a lot of talk right now about what’s going to happen in comedy. You know, there was the slap,” he said, referring to the episode at the Oscars last month when Will Smith struck the comedian Chris Rock after a joke about Mr. Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.
Mr. Stewart said that the “fragility of leaders” was the real threat to comedy, not the “fragility of audiences,” citing the dangers overcome by Mr. Youssef in Egypt’s authoritarian society.
“Comedy doesn’t change the world, but it’s a bellwether,” Mr. Stewart said. “We’re the banana peel in the coal mine.”
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