Kevin Hart‘s Netflix roast had some major players sitting it out—and Wanda Sykes is perfectly fine with that decision.
On Vulture’s Good One podcast, Sykes opened up about why she passed on Kevin Hart‘s roast special. The comedian revealed that Hart personally called her before the Netflix announcement even dropped, pitching her to participate.
“Kevin called me before it was announced, and I said, ‘No!'” Sykes said. “He said, ‘Come on, Wanda. Come on, it’ll be good. It’ll be good for your special. You’ve got a special coming out.’ I was like, ‘Kevin, you know I love you, man.'”
Sykes explained that Hart knew roasts weren’t really her comedic lane, but he still encouraged her to make a quick appearance. Instead of taking the stage, she chose to spend her evening differently—catching a Los Angeles Sparks game. Smart move, honestly.
“I consumed enough to go, ‘Thank god,'” she said about watching the final special later.
When Sykes finally did see the roast, she wasn’t impressed with the material. She criticized the writing as “just lazy, lazy writing,” noting that recent roasts recycle the same tired jokes about sex, race, and sexuality. It’s the kind of criticism that hits different coming from someone with her sharp comedic sensibility and spoken word presence in the industry.
The roast has continued to draw backlash, particularly over Tony Hinchliffe’s distasteful George Floyd joke. Hart later defended the joke, but fans weren’t buying it. Some accused the star of compromising his values for a paycheck—a conversation that speaks to larger questions about artistic integrity in comedy.
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