Actor Michael Keaton to be honored as Man of the Year by Harvard's Hasty Pudding theater group
BOSTON (AP) — Actor Michael Keaton is set to be honored Friday as the 2026 Man of the Year by Harvard University’s Hasty Pudding Theatricals.
The theater group, which dates to 1844 and claims to be the world’s third-oldest still operating, said Keaton will receive his Pudding Pot award at a celebratory roast in the evening. Afterward he will attend a performance of Hasty Pudding’s 177th production, “Salooney Tunes.”
Hasty Pudding Theatricals gives out its Man and Woman of the Year awards to people who have made lasting and impressive contributions to the world of entertainment.
The Academy Award-nominated and Emmy-winning actor is known for roles in such films as “Batman,” “Birdman,” “Beetlejuice” and “Spotlight.” More recently Keaton has starred in and directed the short film “Sweetwater” and starred in and was executive producer on the eight-part Hulu miniseries “Dopesick.”
“He was Batman, then Birdman, and now, most importantly, he’s a Pudding man!” Hasty Pudding producer Eloise Tunnell said in a statement. “Keaton is no stranger to being a superhero, but let’s see if that training earns him a Pudding Pot. We cannot wait to welcome him on February 6th: until then, don’t say his name three times!”
Actor Jon Hamm won the award last year. Other recent honorees have included Clint Eastwood, Tom Hanks, Robert De Niro, Harrison Ford, Samuel L. Jackson and Ryan Reynolds.
Hasty Pudding’s Woman of the Year, which dates to 1951, will be awarded Feb. 13 to Australian actor Rose Byrne.
Friday's event comes days after the Justice Department released a huge trove of records surrounding Jeffrey Epstein, a longtime donor to the organization. The documents provided new details about the amount of money Epstein had given to Hasty Pudding roughly between 2013 and 2019, regularly donating $50,000 each year to secure top-tier donor status and receiving perks of free tickets and other gifts in return, totaling more than $300,000.
The donations were made through the Jeffrey Epstein Virgin Islands Foundation and Gratitude for America, a charity affiliated with Epstein.
In an undated news release announcing Epstein's donations, Hasty Pudding officials described Epstein as a “well-known science and Harvard philanthropist” and stated that he had “put his substantial support behind Harvard’s famous and oldest theatrical troupe.”
A spokesperson for Hasty Pudding directed questions to Andrew Farkas, chairman of the Hasty Pudding Institute of 1770, which includes the theatrical group. An email was sent to Farkas' office.
