The Hasty Pudding Honors Michael Keaton as 2026’s Man of the Year

On Friday, Feb. 6, Harvard’s Hasty Pudding Theatricals awarded Michael Keaton as its 59th Man of the Year with a jocular roast that spanned costumes, sport, and clever jabs tailored to the entirety of the Emmy-winning actor’s career — from his stand-up comedy roots to starring in blockbuster hits like Tim Burton’s “Batman” and “Beetlejuice” films.

Since 1967, the Hasty Pudding Man of the Year award has honored performers for exceptional contributions to entertainment each year, with Jon Hamm and Barry Keoghan among the most recent honorees. This year’s traditional roast and press conference took place in Farkas Hall, followed by the premiere performance of HPT’s 177th production: “Salooney Tunes.”

Keaton has crafted memorable, far-ranging, and far-reaching performances for generations of fans. With the feature-length films “Spotlight” and “Birdman,” which came out in 2015 and 2014, respectively, he ranks among the few leading men whose films have won the Academy Award for Best Picture back-to-back. Last year, he directed and starred in the short film “Sweetwater,” written by his son, Sean Douglas, and backed by Google.

Prior to his breakthrough in the 1982 comedy film “Night Shift,” Keaton performed stand-up comedy in his hometown of Pittsburgh. The night of the HPT roast however, the roles were reversed — with Keaton seated onstage for an onslaught of humor at his expense. Keaton endured the pranks and proverbial punches with plenty of spirit, sportsmanship, and wit.

Led by “Salooney Tunes” producers Cate Schwarz ’27 and Ellie Tunnell ’27, the roast began with a Bat-Signal projected onto the stage curtain, before HPT cast members rushed onstage to dress Keaton in a makeshift Batman costume. “I was born ready,” Keaton said in response to the iconic summon — a call to fight “The Academy,” a cast member wearing a golden morphsuit. Keaton vanquished his opponent with a sword.

Next, the roast poked fun at his days as an amateur comedian. The presenters handed Keaton a notebook, ostensibly recovered from his youth, for a read-aloud. Its contents: a grocery list, math homework, and a list of secret crushes. “Mikey, you dog!” Schwarz joked at mention of the names.

Schwarz and Tunnell then wove his filmography into their roasts.

“You reprised the role of Batman in the 2023 adaptation of ‘The Flash,’” said Tunnell. “I remember that one, because ‘The Flash’ is also what I like to call the period of time he can stay relevant after any of his movies.”

The following roast spoofed Keaton’s starring role as McDonald’s founder, Ray Kroc, in the 2016 film “The Founder.” This time, Keaton was tasked with playing an employee, flipping burgers for a cast member turned customer, who challenged him to stack a multitude of patties onto a single bun. Keaton even took a bite of his giant creation.

The final roast honored Keaton’s love for fly fishing — except now, he needed to dangle the fly into the sweat-filled pit of HPT’s band. The presenters each pulled out a set of underwear from the pit, and Keaton caught the Pudding Pot from them. Keaton donned the bra and briefs onstage as he held the Pot for a flurry of photographs.

“I can’t tell you how much fun this is,” Keaton said at the end of the roast.

At the roast, he then reflected on his initial invitation to become HPT’s Man of the Year — over three decades ago.

“30 years ago, maybe, this opportunity came to me to be here, and I couldn’t because I was off making a movie. Over 35 years, you know, it took to invite me again. Not too ‘hasty!’” he joked.

Keaton closed by expressing his inspiration from the Harvard community.

“Based on all these students I met today, people who weren’t students I met today, I’m ridiculously encouraged about this country,” he said.

Finally, at the press conference following the roast, Keaton offered a piece of wisdom in line with the humility he showed all evening.

“You’ve gotta show up and do the job before anyone thinks you’re anything,” Keaton said.

—Staff writer Jackie Chen can be reached at [email protected].