Overview
- The Gianna and George Floyd Foundation, through spokesperson Travis Cains, called Tony Hinchcliffe’s George Floyd remark “sad for the culture” and criticized Kevin Hart for allowing the joke during his Netflix roast.
- Hinchcliffe said, “Right now, George Floyd is looking up at us all laughing so hard he can’t breathe,” drawing groans in the room and a laugh from Hart that drew further criticism online.
- Comedian Lil Rel Howery called the bit “disgusting,” and activist Tamika Mallory wrote that there is nothing funny about how George Floyd was murdered, with many social media users also rebuking Hart’s reaction.
- Coverage notes a pattern, pointing to Hinchcliffe’s earlier line at Netflix’s Tom Brady roast that compared Rob Gronkowski to a “final boss in George Floyd the video game.”
- Hart later defended the roast in an Instagram video, saying roasts are “no emotions” and praising every comic, including Hinchcliffe, while neither performer has issued an apology.