Torrei Hart says she is keeping ex-husband Kevin Hart’s last name
The comedienne says that she will keep her famous exes last name until she decides she does not want to be a Hart anymore
Torrei Hart, the ex-wife of comedian Kevin Hart, will keep her famous ex’s last name because she says “it’s mine, first of all.”
In an interview last week as she was leaving the LAX airport, the comedienne and actress was asked why she still uses her ex-husbands’ surname despite their divorce a decade ago.
The comedic duo married in 2003 and announced that they were separating in February 2010. A year later, he filed for divorce citing irreconcilable differences.
“Second of all, ’cause Kevin never asked for it back — he don’t want [me] to give it back, he’s not trippin,” she continued. “And third of all, my kids don’t want me to change my name.”
The two share two children together —16-year-old Heaven and 14-year-old Hendrix.
Kevin has since moved on and married actress and model Eniko Hart and shares two children with her as well — 3-year-old Kenzo and 2-month-old Kaori.
Torrei said that his last name has no pulling power in her life and that she will be a Hart “until I decide not to be.”
Torrei and Kevin have had a long history together.
According to Torrei’s IMDB, she met Kevin when they were both enrolled in the Community College of Philadelphia.
“We met when we were 19 and 20 and came up together, moved out to L.A. together,” said Torrei in an interview with Us Magazine. The two later dropped out of college to pursue entertainment careers in Los Angeles.
Torrei’s career took a back seat as the new mom was balancing the audition circuit with parenthood and managing the duos home. Kevin, on the other hand, saw his career take off and he was booking several acting and comedy gigs in the city.
When Kevin got his big break in the 2004 hit movie Soul Plane, Torrei said their relationship changed. “He started to get fame and I’m kind of feeling a little left behind. We grew apart,” she said in an interview with Inside Edition in 2017. “I have an ex-husband who has repeatedly used me in his stand-up routines. For years, I had to endure that.”
When the two split in 2010, Torrei was in distress.
Kevin moved on with Eniko, who Torrei said he was unfaithful with. She told Essence that she had suicidal thoughts after they split because of the emotional turmoil she felt.
“To see him move on and so publicly, that was hard for me,” she said in the interview. “So there were days I didn’t want to get out of bed, there were days when I didn’t want to go on and I was like well what do I need to live for?”
Torrei said she is now on good terms with Kevin, and even jokingly offered to babysit his new child.
Torrei said she has worked hard on reaching success on her own and doesn’t want people to think that she is using his surname to get bookings.
“I do the work, I hustle every single day,” said the business owner who has been featured in several reality and scripted television shows and movies.
In 2013, a short film she executive produced, co-wrote and starred in, called Victim of Circumstance, won numerous awards and acclaim in the short film circuit.
“So I can have the Hart name all day, but if I’m sitting on my ass and not working, you think people are gonna give me opportunity? I get opportunity because I get out there; I network, I’ve been training, I put in the word — Like ‘Yo, this project looks like it could fit me.’ Like, I hustle.”
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