Kevin Hart is facing serious backlash after defending jokes from his Netflix roast. The comedy world is split, and people are rightfully calling him out.
The 46-year-old comedian spoke on The Breakfast Club following criticism of the Roast of Kevin Hart. Tony Hinchcliffe made a joke about George Floyd—the man killed by former police officer Derek Chauvin in 2020—and it didn’t sit right with anyone. Hart acknowledged the joke wasn’t tasteful, but then basically shrugged it off. “Tony told a joke,” Hart said. “It wasn’t a tasteful joke to us. We didn’t like it. OK. … We move on.” He went on to say, “I don’t understand why we stand on a hill, and it becomes this big thing.” That’s a lot of minimizing for a Kevin Hart moment.
Hart claimed he wouldn’t have told those jokes himself, but he “got” why comics like Hinchcliffe and Pete Davidson were going there in a roast setting. “Would I tell those jokes? No. But do I get why they’re being told? Yes,” he said. That’s not the energy people wanted from him.
Terrence Floyd, George Floyd’s brother, said Hart should’ve brought some real accountability to the taping—what he called “Will Smith energy.” But Hart wasn’t having it. “I’m not compromising the live production for a reaction of what?” he said. That response showed a real lack of cultural meditation about what that moment actually meant.
The criticism kept coming. Chelsea Handler called some of the material “gross” and “disgusting.” Nikki Glaser admitted she saw “some stuff that I didn’t love.” And Twitter users weren’t letting any of this slide.
People pointed out that Hart’s excuses were hollow and his dismissal of the situation was disappointing. Some even brought up his personal history, questioning whether anyone should’ve expected better from him in the first place. The whole thing highlighted how comedy spaces need to do better—especially when it comes to jokes about our people and our pain. This isn’t about being soft. It’s about respecting the freedom struggle and the real grief behind these moments.
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