Kevin Hart is addressing the backlash to jokes made at Netflix‘s Roast of Kevin Hart, particularly those made by Tony Hinchcliffe.
During the roast earlier this month, Hinchcliffe took jabs at many of the guests, including Hart, but he faced criticism for a joke referencing George Floyd, who was murdered by police in 2020. “The Black community is so proud of you,” Hinchcliffe said of Hart. “Right now, George Floyd is looking up at us all laughing so hard he can’t breathe.”
On Tuesday, Hart appeared on The Breakfast Club, where he shared his thoughts on Hinchcliffe’s backlash.
“Yeah, the George Floyd joke, it wasn’t a tasteful joke to our culture, to our audience, 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,” Hart said. “I wasn’t shocked. That’s what they do. Go look at [The Roast of] Tom Brady, like, that’s what they do. It happens every year when they do a roast. It’s not new.”
When asked if he thought the joke went “too far,” Hart responded: “It’s Tony Hinchcliffe. I don’t expect less. I don’t expect more.”
“Tony Hinchcliffe arguably had the best set or one of the best sets,” he said. “Pete [Davidson] had a great set, too. Pete had a Charlie Kirk joke in it. Like, would I tell those jokes? No. But do I get why they’re being told? Yes. I’m not looking at Pete crazy. I’m not looking at Tony. That’s what I know what you’re going to do. I know your style of comedy.”
Hart also pleaded with audiences not to blame him for the jokes made during the roast.
“Whatever the dialogue is, my rebuttal is simplicity. Remove me from it. I didn’t say it. If you are upset that the night went on, that’s a different conversation. It’s nothing I could do. It’s a production,” he said, later adding, “Stop talking as if I said it.”
Following the roast, George Floyd’s brother, Terrence Floyd, criticized Hart for not interjecting when Hinchcliffe told the joke. He previously told Breakfast Club host Loren LoRosa that Hart should have brought “Will Smith energy” and pushed back on Hinchcliffe’s joke.
Chelsea Handler, who was also among the night’s roasters, later slammed Hinchcliffe and Shane Gillis, the host of The Roast of Kevin Hart, calling them “racist,” “bigots” and “sexist.”
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