Missouri’s Nikki Glaser says she’s scared of ‘death threats’ if she tells political jokes
Missouri comedian Nikki Glaser isn’t known for holding back. Just go watch her brutal, viral takedown of that dude named Tom Brady at his roast last year. It’s still on Netflix.
But these days, some jokes don’t feel safe to tell.
Glaser, a University of Kansas alum, was one of the few celebrities who walked the red carpet Sunday at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., at the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor ceremony.
Former late-night TV host Conan O’Brien was chosen the honoree in January before President Donald Trump ousted Kennedy Center board members and replaced them with his own picks, who then elected him chairman.
The Sunday ceremony was the first to draw an A-list crowd to the performing arts center since the upheaval.
Glaser told reporters she thinks twice these days before telling political jokes. In January, Glaser became the first woman to host the Golden Globes as a solo act.
“You just are scared that you’re gonna get doxxed and death threats or who knows where this leads, like, detained. Honestly that’s not even like a joke. It’s like a real fear,” she told reporters, according to Deadline.
“So it’s unfortunate that that’s true, but I’m not gonna lie and say I don’t think about that sometimes and go, ‘Oh, god. Can I just say, I hope they all know, I can be up on the gallows and say I was just joking. I’m a comedian.’ I hope that’s a defense.”
In comments reported by The Hill, Glaser said she feels like she’s “missed that moment where I could say stuff because I had a point of view and I felt safe speaking to that. And I totally missed that.
“I went from being like, ‘I don’t want to talk about politics because I don’t want to alienate anyone,’ to like, ‘I want to talk about it but now I’m scared to.’ And that’s just a (bleeping) place to be.”
She said she’s scared of “getting on some sort of list because I spoke in opposition to the powers-that-be. Who wouldn’t be? I’m not stupid. I see how this stuff works.”
“Everything I say is a joke,” she said. “I’m a comedian.”
The comedians who appeared on stage to honor O’Brien were not as reticent to go all in on what’s happened at the Kennedy Center in recent weeks.
The prestigious comedy award recognizes people whose impact on American society reflects the work of humorist and writer Samuel Clemens, whose pen name was Mark Twain.
Here are some of the night’s highlights according to media reports.
“There is no more fitting recipient getting the last-ever Twain Prize here at the Robert F. Kennedy Center,” Martin Short joked in a video message to O’Brien.
The Kennedy Center was named after President John F. Kennedy, not RFK Jr., Trump’s Health and Human Services secretary.
“I’m not a historian, but I believe that history will show this will be the most entertaining gathering of the resistance ever,” David Letterman said in presenting the award to the man of the hour.
O’Brien received a standing ovation when he gave a “special thanks to all the beautiful people who have worked here at the Kennedy Center for years and who are worried about what the future might bring.”
Of Missouri native Twain, O’Brien said: “first and foremost, Twain hated bullies. … He punched up, not down, and he deeply, deeply empathized with the weak.
“Twain was suspicious of populism, jingoism, imperialism, the money-obsessed mania of the Gilded Age, and any expression of mindless American might or self-importance.
“Above all, Twain was a patriot in the best sense of the word. He loved America, but knew it was deeply flawed. Twain wrote, ‘Patriotism is supporting your country all of the time, and your government when it deserves it.’”
He capped his speech surrounded by dancing Twain impersonators and singing Neil Young’s “Rockin’ in the Free World” with previous Twain Prize recipient Adam Sandler.
The program will air on May 4 on Netflix.
Glaser appeared Monday on “The Tonight Show” with Jimmy Fallon. She had her parents with her — Julie and Edward Glaser — and posted photos of them meeting Fallon backstage.
She brings her Alive and Unwell tour to Kansas City and Independence for three shows in September.
This story was originally published March 25, 2025 at 10:23 AM.
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