Kennedy Center Honors Celebrates Lorne Michaels

By Michael Malone
( Broadcasting & Cable )
last updated

CBS airs the black-tie DC event December 22

Kennedy Center Honors on CBS
(Image credit: CBS)

CBS has The 44th Annual Kennedy Center Honors on Wednesday, Dec. 22. Lorne Michaels, Joni Mitchell, Bette Midler, Berry Gordy and opera singer Justino Diaz were honored at the Dec. 5 event.

David Letterman, a 2012 Kennedy Center honoree, handled welcoming duties at the gala.

Steve Martin, Jimmy Fallon, Colin Jost, Michael Che, Kenan Thompson, Amy Poehler, Kate McKinnon, Pete Davidson, Kevin Nealon, Seth Meyers and Kristen Wiig introduced Michaels, creator of Saturday Night Live, and Paul Simon performed. 

Goldie Hawn, Scarlett Johansson, Melissa Manchester and Barbara Hershey introduced Midler. 

Cameron Crowe and Dan Levy presented Joni Mitchell. 

Smokey Robinson presented Berry Gordy, the founder of record label Motown. Robinson and Stevie Wonder were among the performers on behalf of Gordy. 

Grace Bumbry, Denyce Graves and Chita Rivera presented Diaz. 

President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden were in the audience. 

White Cherry Entertainment produces the Kennedy Center Honors. ■

Michael Malone
Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.