Comedian Kevin Hart is facing heightened backlash after picking the worst venue to defend and make excuses for the racist jokes of MAGA comedian Tony Hinchcliffe. Hinchcliffe was included as a featured performer on Netflix's roast of Hart.
Despite getting his backside handed to him by Chelsea Handler, Hinchcliffe still managed to spew some of the bigotry passed off as humor that is his shtick. Hart then decided to go on the popular morning radio show The Breakfast Club to defend him.
For those unfamiliar with the program, The Breakfast Club is a highly popular, nationally syndicated hip-hop and pop-culture morning radio show based in New York City. Hosted on this episode by DJ Envy, Charlamagne tha God, and Loren LoRosa, it’s known as "The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show."
The show covers celebrity gossip, music, politics, and social issues, and is famous for its hosts' style of direct and unfiltered celebrity interviews. The Breakfast Club is not the place to bring a carefully scripted response after stepping in it with the public and to expect no pushback.
Apparently Hart didn't get that memo.
Appearing on Tuesday's episode, Hart said:
"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."
"I wasn’t shocked. That’s what they do. Go look at the Tom Brady one. That’s what they do. It happens every year when they do a roast. It's not new. It’s not a new agenda. It’s not a new approach to comedy."
The biggest fallout from Hart's roast revolves around an attempt at humor by Hinchcliffe that centered on the man murdered by a Minnesota police officer.
Charlamagne tha God responded by asking Hart directly if Hinchcliffe went too far with the George Floyd joke in particular.
Hart replied:
"It’s Tony Hinchcliffe. Like, I don’t expect less, I don’t expect more."
Leading many to wonder why, if racism, misogyny, and other forms of bigotry are all a comedian is known for, why was he invited to be there?
You can see a clip of Hart on The Breakfast Club here:
Charlamagne tha God responded:
"I feel like you’re saying going too far is the point."
Hart replied:
"Yes. That’s why you’re there. And I hate to say this, but I’m going to because we’re being honest, people are talking about that joke. Talk about his set. Tony Hinchcliffe arguably had the best set or one of the best sets."
For anyone confused about why Hinchcliffe was even there, Hart said:
"It’s my production. We’re live... What is it that you expect? You want me to take a live production and stand up and fight Tony, or have a reaction like that?"
"Tony told a joke, it wasn’t a tasteful joke, to us. We didn’t like it, okay. 'Hey man, f*ck that joke.' We move on. I don’t understand why we stand on a hill, and it becomes, like, 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."
After pointing out he supported and enabled Hinchcliffe, Hart said:
"So my last note for all attached to this is very simple. My rebuttal is: Remove me from it, I didn’t say it."
Near the end of the conversation, Hart claimed:
"I don’t f*ckin' need to prove to people that I give a f*ck. If you open that door, then that’s the door that people expect all the time. Why the f*ck do I need to do that?"
"I’ll say it again: Stop talking as if I said it."
Based on reactions to The Breakfast Club's post of the clip on Instagram, Hart's latest attempt at damage control went over like a lead balloon.
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Hart has faced backlash before for his own bigotry disguised as comedy.
In Hart's 2010 Seriously Funny comedy special, Hart told a story about watching his then-3-year-old son at a party, claiming one of his biggest fears as a parent was his son growing up to be gay. Hart then described physically knocking down another boy who was too close to his son.
Hart stated he was not homophobic, but that:
"...as a heterosexual male, if I can prevent my son from being gay, I will."
Hart later went on the Ellen talk show to gain the lesbian comedian's on-air absolution as part of his damage control after blowback from his special cost him the hosting gig for the Academy Awards.
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