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Kevin Hart told The Breakfast Club he didn’t make Tony Hinchcliffe’s George Floyd roast joke and won’t apologize, urging critics to leave him out of it.
Kevin Hart appeared on The Breakfast Club Tuesday and delivered his most direct response yet to the backlash over Tony Hinchcliffe‘s George Floyd joke at the Netflix Roast of Kevin Hart. His message was uncomplicated: he didn’t tell the joke, he isn’t apologizing for it, and he wants everyone to stop putting his name on it.
“Stop talking as if I said it,” Hart said. “I don’t need to prove to people that I give a fuck.”
The roast aired live May 10 from the Kia Forum in Inglewood, California, hosted by Shane Gillis. Hinchcliffe’s offending line, delivered during his roast set, joked that George Floyd was looking up at us all laughing so hard that he can’t breathe.
The Hollywood Reporter’s full breakdown of Hart’s Breakfast Club appearance and the surrounding backlash captures Hart’s central argument. He acknowledged the joke wasn’t tasteful but said the broader complaint was misplaced. “If you’re watching the roast, you get why they’re doing it. You get why the racial humor is on the table.”
Hart’s defense centered on the production format. “You want me to take a live production and stand up and fight Tony?” he said. “I’m not compromising the live production for a reaction of what? That’s not what I agreed to do.”
On Hinchcliffe specifically, Hart was firm. “It’s Tony Hinchcliffe. I don’t expect less. I don’t expect more.” He called Hinchcliffe’s set arguably the best of the night, even while distancing himself from the content: “Would I tell those jokes? No. But do I get why they’re being told? Yes.”
Hart said he had privately reached out to Stephen Jackson, one of Floyd’s closest friends, after the special. He did not characterize that conversation publicly.
USA Today’s coverage of the Breakfast Club appearance and the wider roast cast list notes that Pete Davidson’s roast set also drew criticism for a joke about Charlie Kirk’s killing. Hart said he extended the same posture to Davidson as to Hinchcliffe: “I know what you’re going to do. I know your style of comedy.”
The Floyd family’s response has been forceful. Travis Cains, spokesperson for the Gianna and George Floyd Foundation, called Hinchcliffe a racist comedian and said the family believed Hart had given Hinchcliffe the green light to include the bit. The foundation pointed out that Floyd’s daughter Gianna, now 12, is being bullied at school in the wake of the joke.
Terrence Floyd, George Floyd’s brother, gave a parallel critique. He told Breakfast Club host Loren LoRosa that Hart should have brought Will Smith energy to the moment and pushed back on Hinchcliffe live.
Hart rejected the framing. He compared the situation to being at a location where a shooting occurs that has nothing to do with you: “I didn’t fucking do it. I didn’t even know the people that fucking was shooting.”
BroBible’s recap of Hart’s full defense and the list of critics who have weighed in includes Terrence Floyd, Chelsea Handler, Michael Che, D.L. Hughley, Stephen Jackson, and Tamika Mallory. Most have placed at least partial responsibility on Hart.
The petition is what may stick. A change.org petition calling for Netflix to donate the roast’s proceeds to the Floyd Family Center for Social Equity has gathered close to 10,000 signatures.
Hart had previously posted a video on Instagram praising Hinchcliffe’s set, calling the comedian relentless as he always is, but funny, and saying he understood the assignment. That post is part of why critics say Hart cannot now wash his hands of the moment.
The roast lineup was long. Beyond Hinchcliffe, Gillis, Hart, and Davidson, the night included Chelsea Handler, Draymond Green, Regina Hall, Dwayne Johnson, Sheryl Underwood, Jeff Ross, Big Jay Oakerson, and Na’im Lynn.
Whether Hart’s Breakfast Club appearance ends the backlash is another question. He has no plans to apologize. The petition keeps growing.
