Kevin Hart has a message for everyone upset about what happened at his roast: don’t put it on him.
In a candid sit-down on The Breakfast Club, the comedian-turned-producer addressed the mounting backlash following Netflix’s The Roast of Kevin Hart, which aired live on May 10 at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, California. The special has since become one of the most controversial roasts in recent memory, and one joke in particular lit the internet on fire.
During his set, comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, known for his no-limits style on the podcast Kill Tony, directed a line straight at Hart: “The Black community is so proud of you. Right now George Floyd is looking up at us all laughing so hard that he can’t breathe.” The punchline drew audible gasps from the audience and immediate condemnation online.
On The Breakfast Club, Hart acknowledged the joke wasn’t tasteful, but said he wasn’t shocked by it either. That’s just the nature of a roast, he explained, and anyone tuning in already knows what they’re signing up for. “It wasn’t a tasteful joke to our culture, to our audience,” he said, “but our audience that’s watching the roast, if you’re watching the roast, you get why they’re doing it. You get why the racial humor is on the table.”
He also made it clear he wasn’t about to take the blame or issue an apology. Hart questioned what exactly people expected him to do in the middle of a live production, saying, “You want me to take a live production and stand up and fight Tony?” His take is that the joke was what it was and life moves on. “It wasn’t a tasteful joke to us, we didn’t like it. Okay, hey man, fuck that joke, we move on.”
For those still worked up about it, Hart had a simple response: if that kind of comedy isn’t for you, don’t watch it. “It literally is either you’re a fan of this level of content, or you’re not. And if you’re not a fan, don’t watch it.”
He also pushed back on the idea that any of this reflects on him personally, comparing the blame to being at a location where a shooting breaks out that has nothing to do with you. “I didn’t fucking do it. I didn’t even know the people that fucking was shooting,” he said. His bottom line: “The job at hand was to produce a successful roast, which I did.”
When asked directly whether Hinchcliffe went too far, Hart didn’t blink. “It’s Tony Hinchcliffe. I don’t expect less, I don’t expect more.” He added that going too far is the point of a roast, though he was also clear: “Would I tell those jokes? No.”
Hart revealed he did reach out to Stephen Jackson, one of George Floyd’s closest friends, after the special to talk through the situation. On demands that he publicly condemn the joke or distance himself from Hinchcliffe, he was blunt: “Stop talking as if I said it. I don’t need to prove to people that I give a fuck.”
A spokesman for the Gianna and George Floyd Foundation, Travis Cains, called Hinchcliffe a “racist comedian” and said the family believed Hart had given Hinchcliffe the green light to include the bit, and that Hart should have told the comedian to steer clear of the topic altogether. The foundation also noted that Floyd’s daughter, Gianna, is now 12 years old and that she is being bullied in school, suggesting the jokes aren’t helping.
Chelsea Handler, who also appeared in the roast, was among the loudest critics from inside the event itself, publicly calling out both Hinchcliffe and host Shane Gillis as racist.
The controversy has sparked a petition calling on Hart to donate roast profits to the Floyd Family Center for Social Equity, which has gathered close to 10,000 signatures. Hart himself posted a video on Instagram after the roast praising Hinchcliffe’s set, saying the comedian was “relentless as he always is, but funny” and “understood the assignment.”
Whether Hart’s Breakfast Club appearance puts the matter to rest remains to be seen. One thing is clear: he has no plans to apologize.