Comedians roast Trump as Conan O’Brien honored at Kennedy Center

Sarah Silverman, John Mulaney, Will Ferrell and others pull no punches at first signature event at cultural center since Trump took over

Leading comedians have defied Donald Trump's takeover of the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in a show that one described as the most entertaining gathering of the resistance, ever".

Trump did not attend Sunday's Mark Twain Prize for American Humor honouring Conan O'Brien for lifetime achievement in comedy. But his ears may have been burning as comics and celebrities joked at his expense in what became a rallying cry for freedom of artistic expression.