Ellen DeGeneres Honored With Mark Twain Prize for American Humor

"You don't do it for awards, you do it to make people happy," she said

In case you didn't know, Ellen DeGeneres is funny, but she wasn't the one making people laugh tonight at John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Instead, the talk-show host's friends and colleagues—including Jane Lynch, John Krasinski, Jason Mraz and Kristen Chenoweth—gathered to honor the funnywoman for becoming the 15th recipient of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. 

"I'm flattered. It's fantastic. Of course I think, 'What took so long?'" she joked on the red carpet, according to USA Today. "You don't do it for awards, you do it to make people happy."

"I am very, very proud of Ellen. She's not only the funniest person I know, but she's such a good person," Ellen's wife, Portia de Rossi said.

Previous receipients of the Mark Twain Prize include Bill Cosby, Lorne Michaels, Will Ferrell and Tina Fey.