Julia Louis-Dreyfus targeted the new supreme court justice Brett Kavanaugh and his “weird wall calendar”, as she accepted the Mark Twain prize for lifetime achievement in comedy.
Louis-Dreyfus was honored in Washington on Sunday night, for a 35-year career which includes powerhouse roles such as Elaine Benes in Seinfeld and Vice-President Selina Meyer in Veep.
Celebrities including Tina Fey and Jerry Seinfeld honored Louis-Dreyfus before she took the stage to accept the award. Her remarks touched on her childhood interest in performing and included thinly veiled references to Kavanaugh.
Louis-Dreyfus is a graduate of the elite Holton-Arms school, alma mater of Dr Christine Blasey Ford, who accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault, which Kavanaugh vehemently denied.
“It has been in the news lately,” she said, before launching into a bit about performing in the school’s production of Serendipity.
“I can remember every single aspect of that play that night, so much so that I would testify under oath about it,” she said, referencing Blasey Ford’s testimony to the Senate judiciary committee. “But I can’t remember who drove me there or who drove me home.”
“Or if Squee or Tobin were there. Or if Bart put it on his weird wall calendar.”
That was a reference to Kavanaugh’s calendar from high school, which detailed his social life at high school and was used as evidence in a Senate hearing.
“This, by the way, is totally true and not some kind of subtle attack on our newest supreme court justice,” Louis-Dreyfus said. “ For God’s sake, the man has suffered enough.”
In September, Louis-Dreyfus joined more than 600 other Holton-Arms alumnae in signing a letter of support for Ford.
Politics was never far from the Mark Twain ceremony. Fey referenced her famous role playing the 2008 Republican vice-presidential candidate, Sarah Palin, on Saturday Night Live, saying she and Louis-Dreyfus “both won Emmys for playing people who should never be vice-president”.
“By the way, everyone talks about all the parallels between Veep and the current administration,” Fey said. “But I think it’s more like Seinfeld: just a bunch of selfish dicks who don’t give a crap about anyone other than themselves.”
Fey, who like Louis-Dreyfus came out of Chicago’s Second City comedy scene, praised the star of the night for the “secret precision” of her comedy and her willingness to make her Seinfeld character so flawed.
“Julia let Elaine be selfish and petty and sarcastic and a terrible, terrible dancer,” Fey said. “Julia’s never been afraid to be unlikable – not on screen and not in person.”
Louis-Dreyfus is the 21st Mark Twain recipient, joining a list that includes Richard Pryor, George Carlin and Carol Burnett. Bill Cosby won in 2009 but had his award rescinded earlier this year after he was convicted of three counts of aggravated indecent assault.
Louis-Dreyfus joined the cast of Saturday Night Live before a nine-year run on Seinfeld. She won her first lead comedy actor Emmy for the sitcom the The New Adventures of Old Christine then six more for her role as Vice-President Selina Meyer on Veep.
Veep’s seventh and final season is in production, after being delayed as Louis-Dreyfus received treatment for breast cancer.
The Mark Twain prize event is scheduled to air in the US on 19 November, on PBS.
