Kevin Hart cannot seem to accept that not everyone wants to overlook a distasteful George Floyd joke. In an interview on "The Breakfast Club," Hart addressed the backlash faced by some participants in Netflix's "Roast of Kevin Hart," particularly Tony Hinchcliffe, who quipped that Floyd, killed by former police officer Derek Chauvin in 2020, is "looking up at us all, laughing so hard that he can't breathe."
Hart acknowledged that Hinchcliffe's joke about Floyd was not "tasteful," but said he "wasn't shocked" and argued that Hinchcliffe "arguably had the best set, or one of the best sets" of the roast. "Tony told a joke," Hart explained. "It wasn't a tasteful joke to us. We didn't like it. OK. … We move on. I don't understand why we stand on a hill, and it becomes this big thing ... It doesn't have to be that. It literally is, either you're a fan of this level of content or you're not. And if you're not a fan, then you don't watch it."
Comedians have a right to say what they want, but when a comedian makes a joke about a Black man being killed by the state, the public has every right to complain about that comedian and everyone complicit in his actions. Hart should not have been shocked by Hinchcliffe's joke about Floyd because Hinchcliffe had made similar tasteless jokes prior, including his infamous performance at Donald Trump's rally at Madison Square Garden, where he called Puerto Rico a "floating island of garbage."
Hinchcliffe, like many white comedians before him, has often conveyed racial animus through comedy bits. Hart seems to take no issue with it, but when pressed about how he, as the host and a Black man, could have allowed that joke, he feigned helplessness, saying there was "nothing" he could have done. "It's a live production," Hart said. "I'm not compromising the live production for a reaction of what? What do you want me to do? I'm going to drag him off? You want me to fight afterwards? That's not what I agreed to do."
Terrence Floyd, George Floyd's brother, previously told "The Breakfast Club" host Loren LoRosa that Hart should have brought "Will Smith energy" to the roast by pushing back on Hinchcliffe's joke "right then and there." Even if Hart opted not to go to that extreme, he was not without options. When "The Roast of Tom Brady" aired earlier this year, comedian Jeff Ross took a shot at New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft over his 2019 visit to a Florida massage parlor. Brady smiled, then got up, reached the podium, and whispered to Ross: "Don't say that s**t again." Ross kept smiling and said, "OK, OK, OK."
It is pathetic that one of the most outspoken participants about Hinchcliffe's comments is a white woman. Comedian Chelsea Handler criticized the "gross" and "disgusting" jokes made by Hinchcliffe and Shane Gillis, who also made offensive remarks about lynching and the death of comedian Sheryl Underwood's husband. "People are like, 'It's a roast. You go for it,'" Handler said. "I'm like, 'You can go for it without being gross.'" Separately, the Wayans Brothers essentially said a comedian can say whatever but should at least make it funny, which Hinchcliffe failed to do.
Hinchcliffe's response to critique is predictable: "I got called a Nazi, gay, a racist over and over again. I'm none of those three things … but they are what I said. They are fat, ugly, Black, Jewish." It is no wonder he feels that way because Hart has not held him accountable. Following his interview, Hart posted a clip and wrote: "We are living in crazy times.... Truth no longer matters and it's pretty damn funny. Nobody does research.... Everyone just assumes and runs with the narrative of click bait. Even when the proof is right in front of your face.... Most will forever choose the lazy road of assumption.... Even when I clearly say that comics are comics and comics operate on their own.... Nobody controls a comedian .... Comedians do what they want and how they want. It's that simple... the rules to being a comedian are understood by all comedians. Enjoy ur day.... #LiveLoveLaugh P.S NEW MOVIE DROPPING THIS SUMMER!!!!!!!!!"
Despite the truth that not every comedian agrees with Hart's rationale, he smugly doubles down and goes into promotion mode, as if there are no real-world consequences. Floyd's daughter, Gianna, still faces harassment from classmates. Chances are, some of those people will use material from "The Roast of Kevin Hart" to further torment her, but Hart sounds indifferent. Some criticize Hart for being quick to apologize for homophobic jokes in the past, but he eventually tried to squash the controversy once it impacted him professionally. Perhaps he needs another wake-up call, as it appears Hart does not care that Black people are disgusted by the racist jokes he allowed. Is it because he values the money others bring to his bottom line? That sounds more plausible than his professed love of comedy. It is a shame he could not be bothered to understand the community that made him a star.
