Kevin Hart responds to backlash over cancel culture comments: ‘Jokes on you’
"I have been the highest grossing comedian in entertainment for years now," Hart said.
Kevin Hart has responded to the backlash over his opinion on cancel culture, after his own controversial moments nearly curbed his career.
While promoting his upcoming film Fatherhood with the Sunday Times, Hart also shared his thoughts on “cancel culture.” As theGRIO reported, the actor and comedian recalled the backlash he faced regarding past homophobic comments resurfacing in 2019. He shared in the interview, “If somebody has done something truly damaging then, absolutely, a consequence should be attached, but when you just talk about…nonsense? When you’re talking, ‘Someone said! They need to be taken [down]!’ Shut the f*** up! What are you talking about?”
His comments left several social media users all up in their feelings, with many claiming that Hart is not as funny as he believes himself to be. Some even noted that “the bigger he got the more whitewashed his comedy got.”
Hart made time on Tuesday to respond to his critics in a series of tweets. He began his rant by specifically addressing the folks who claim “He’s not funny.”
“I have 3 stand up comedy specials that fall in the top 10 highest grossing comedy specials of all time….2 of my specials are in the top 3 of all time,” Hart wrote.
“I have been the highest grossing comedian in entertainment for years now….I have also been the highest grossing comedian in the box office with over 4 billion in earnings,” he added in a follow-up tweet.
“I have also turned my comedic talent into a place of business and branding and radio and other revenue streams….The hate/slander fuels me to do more,” he continued.
“You guys are what makes this business fun….because it’s not about getting to the top….it’s about doing your best to stay on top after you get there,” Hart tweeted.
Hart went on to note that he “felt the need” to address the critics, and urged his fans to “Stop believing these headlines and read the actual articles…. you guys fall for the banana in the tail pipe trick every damn time,” he wrote.
In his final tweet, Hart said “J Cole said it best “If ur laughing at a millionaire the jokes on YOU” …..Now back to ur regularly scheduled program. Live love and laugh!!!!”
Speaking to the Sunday Times, Hart said “When did we get to a point where life was supposed to be perfect? Where people were supposed to operate perfectly all the time? I don’t understand. I don’t expect perfection from my kids. I don’t expect it from my wife, friends, employees. Because, last I checked, the only way you grow up is from f***ing up. I don’t know a kid who hasn’t f***ed up or done some dumb shit.”
“I’ve been canceled, what, three or four times? Never bothered. If you allow it to have an effect on you, it will. Personally? That’s not how I operate,” said the comedian, who stepped down from hosting the 2019 Academy Awards due to the fallout over his older tweets.
When it comes to the landscape of comedy today, Hart shared, “You’re thinking that things you say will come back and bite you on the as. I can’t be the comic today that I was when I got into this. It’s about the intent behind what you say — there’s an assumption it’s always bad and, somehow, we forgot comedians are going for the laugh. You’re not saying something to make people angry. That’s not why I’m on stage. I’m trying to make you laugh and if I did not make you laugh I failed. That’s my consequence.”
Hart’s new film, Fatherhood, is set to premiere on Netflix on June 18.
theGRIO’s Jared Alexander contributed to this report.
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