Comedian Whitney Cummings stated that a joke she made about former President Donald Trump was cut from the broadcast of a Netflix special honoring Bill Maher, citing concerns that Trump might sue.
Cummings recounted the incident, which occurred at the Kennedy Center in Washington during an event where Maher received the Mark Twain Prize. The joke, as reported, was: “I actually heard Trump may come tonight but he couldn’t make it. He got caught in sex traffic.” The line was a reference to Trump's association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Cummings noted that the joke had already gone viral online the night she delivered it. However, she said Netflix informed her that it needed to be removed from the broadcast for the special, which is set to stream this week.
According to reports, Netflix stated that the decision to remove the joke was not theirs, but rather the Kennedy Center's. Puck's Matthew Belloni reported that Netflix communicated that the Kennedy Center holds the contractual right to make such editorial decisions.
Cummings expressed a sentiment of irony, given the nature of the Mark Twain Prize, which is intended to celebrate comedians using humor to critique public figures. She suggested that censorship is particularly incongruous in this context. She also indicated a belief that she would prevail in any potential lawsuit and might even have grounds to sue Trump herself.
On her "Good For You" podcast, Cummings reflected on the experience, saying, "I am so clear now that when somebody gets offended by something, they are guilty of the thing. I just think it’s a little weird that we can’t joke about it."