John Waters turned 80 on April 22, 2026, and outlets marked the milestone with interviews, tributes, and retrospectives. A profile called "The Gospel According to Saint John" dubs Waters the "Pope of Trash" and revisits 50 years of Pink Flamingos. The Academy released a PSA called "John Waters Doesn't Want You To Smoke," and Baltimore Magazine ran a birthday photo shoot by Christopher Myers. In a Boston Globe interview Waters said Pink Flamingos once accidentally screened at a Boston porn theater, where "nobody was watching the movie, everyone was in the bathroom."