Kevin Hart wiped away tears on stage as he looked up from the bronze bust on a pedestal to the trio of comedy legends who had come to witness his professional highlight.

In the VIP balcony of the Kennedy Center opera house, Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle sat side by side, watching Hart accept the Mark Twain Prize for lifetime achievement in comedy Sunday night.

Shakira, the boundary-breaking Colombian performer, has been remarkably consistent since beginning her career in the early '90s. Without fail, she toured, released albums, won awards, woven global, genre-defying sounds into her pioneering singles, performed at the Super Bowl halftime show and more. Then, things slowed. Or so it appeared.

In reality, the last few years haven't been kind to Shakira. In 2022, after 11 years and two children together, she separated from soccer player Gerard Piqué, leading to what she's called the "dissolution of my family." She faced charges of tax evasion in Spain; in November 2023, she received a suspended three-year sentence and paid a fine of 7.3 million euros ($8 million) in addition to previously unpaid taxes and interest.