Names and faces
■ Kevin Hart became the latest recipient of the Mark Twain
Prize for American
Humor in a ceremony at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. “I didn’t start doing what I was doing to get awards,” Hart said Sunday. “I just fell in love with the idea of comedy.” According to IMDB, Hart has appeared in 93 movies and television shows, with nine in development. “Kevin really cares about the quality … of the check,” said his frequent co-star Regina Hall. “Not the product — honestly some of that stuff is pretty bad — but the man knows how to get paid!” Dave Chappelle, who received his own Mark Twain Prize in 2019, called Hart “a very powerful dreamer.” Chappelle spoke of Hart selling out a 53,000-seat football stadium — Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field in 2015 — as a level of ambition and achievement was inspirational to him and Chris Rock. “You made me dream bigger, and you’re younger than me,” he told Hart, 44. Now in its 25th year, the Mark Twain Prize annually honors performers who have made a lasting impact on humor and culture. Honorees receive a bronze bust of Twain. Sunday’s ceremony will be broadcast on Netflix beginning May 11.
■ Joni Mitchell’s music has quietly returned to Spotify, more than two years after she followed Neil Young in protest of what she called “lies” about covid-19 vaccines being spread on the streaming platform. There was no official announcement of Mitchell’s decision, but fans on social media began Thursday to note with excitement the reappearance of some of her albums on Spotify. By Friday morning, most of Mitchell’s original albums had returned. Representatives of the singer-songwriter, her record labels and Spotify either did not answer or had no comment when asked Thursday and Friday about the apparent return of Mitchell’s albums. In January 2022, Mitchell, now 80, said she would be removing all of her music from Spotify. Young had done so after criticizing the service for its support of podcaster Joe Rogan. “Irresponsible people are spreading lies that are costing people their lives,” Mitchell wrote. Young returned his music to Spotify last week, saying: “My decision comes as music services Apple and Amazon have started serving the same disinformation podcast features I had opposed at Spotify.”