Red Carpet Report: Bill Cosby Receives Mark Twain Prize for Humor

It was a night of stars in Washington at the Kennedy Center as many famous names came to honor their friend and comic legend Bill Cosby, who became the 12th recipient of the Mark Twain Prize for Humor. Past winners include Richard Pryor, Steve Martin, Whoopi Goldberg and George Carlin.

Washington Unplugged caught up with Cosby and some of Hollywood's biggest names at the event Monday night.

Cosby kept his trademark sense of humor as fans were cheering behind him for Jerry Seinfeld, "We're having a wonderful time and it's supposed to be about me, but you can hear that they're cheering some other people, so I just feel lost."

"Mr. Cosby saved a network. He also presented one of the most truthful and positive images of America to the entire world," said Phylicia Rashad, his co-star for 8 seasons on The Cosby Show.

"I don't even think this award begins to acknowledge his contribution to American comedy. I think he's the greatest American comedian that has ever lived," said Seinfeld.

"He's written me a lot of checks to not make jokes about him," quipped Chris Rock and added, "Bill Cosby's about as good as it gets. He's the best comedian I've ever seen. He's the best comedian working today."

Cosby had twice turned down the award because of off-color language used at the first ceremony in 1998 honoring Pryor. "I told them flat out no because I will not be used, nor will Mark Twain be used, in that way," he told the Associated Press in an earlier interview from his home in New York.

Aside from being one of America's most iconic comedians, Cosby has long been a social advocate, working for decades to promote the strengthening of struggling African-American communities. Malcolm-Jamal Warner, who played his eldest son Theo Huxtable on The Cosby Show noted, "There's so much that he's done, the tons of people he's actually sent to school and actually paid for their education. He's been very much on the forefront on the importance of education without all the fanfare."

Cosby remains as passionate as ever on the subject, "Our young people are killing each other. How much longer do we wait to speak up and see what we can do about stopping that?"

Check out highlights from the red carpet above.

"Washington Unplugged" appears live on CBSNews.com each weekday at 12:30 p.m. ET. Click here to check out previous episodes.