Kevin Hart continues to back fellow comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who faced backlash for making jokes about George Floyd during his Netflix special, kevin hart roast, a few weeks back.
“Yeah, the George Floyd joke. It wasn’t a good fit for our culture or audience,” Hart commented during a recent chat on The Breakfast Club. “But those who tune in to the roast understand the humor and the context of racial jokes.”
Hart added, “I wasn’t surprised. This is the nature of roasts – it’s routine. Nothing about it is new.”
Host Charlamagne the God later asked if Hart felt Hinchcliffe crossed a line with his joke. Hart replied, “I don’t expect anything less or more from Tony.”
When pressed for more details, Hart acknowledged, “Yeah, that’s the purpose of being there [at a roast].”
“I hate to say it, but honestly, that joke has people talking. Tony’s set was one of the best—or maybe even the best,” Hart added.
Charlamagne chimed in, mentioning he found Hinchcliffe funny until the George Floyd joke came up.
“It’s not just about that joke. I really dislike jokes surrounding tragic deaths,” he noted. He reflected on Pete Davidson’s set, saying, “I liked Pete’s performance, but I questioned the necessity of his comment about Charlie Kirk.”
Hart praised both performances, saying, “Pete’s set was great too. Did I want to tell that joke? No. But I get why it was said.”
On his podcast, Hinchcliffe responded to criticism from Chelsea Handler, mentioning that he had never encountered so many accusations in such a short time frame. He joked, “I’ve been called a Nazi repeatedly—how bizarre is that?”
He elaborated, saying, “It seems like being in a writers’ room in L.A. surrounded by diverse groups makes some people think that.”
Hinchcliffe continued, asserting, “I’ve faced so many labels—Nazi, racist, you name it. I’m actually none of these, though everything I said was truthful.”
He humorously remarked, “Just a fun fact: they’re fat, ugly, black, Jewish—everything I said about them was factual.”
Also, he reacted to Handler’s commentary on his set, describing it as amusing because, in his view, it was exaggerated. “I really need to witness things myself now,” he confessed.
Closing his thoughts on Handler, he said, “She was quite persistent, I’ll say that.”
