Overview
- Kevin Hart, who spoke Tuesday on The Breakfast Club, said Tony Hinchcliffe’s George Floyd line was “not tasteful” but defended Hinchcliffe’s right to tell edgy roast jokes and asked audiences to “remove” him from blame for material he did not deliver.
- Hinchcliffe’s joke — “George Floyd is looking up at us all laughing so hard he can’t breathe” — drew sharp condemnation from Floyd’s family and advocacy groups because it referenced Floyd’s 2020 killing and his repeated plea “I can’t breathe.”
- Terrence Floyd and other critics faulted Hart for not stopping the joke in the moment and said he should have publicly pushed back, while Hart said interrupting a live production was neither expected nor part of his role.
- Fellow comedians split on the episode: Chelsea Handler and others called Hinchcliffe and host Shane Gillis racist for their material, while Hinchcliffe responded on his Kill Tony podcast with profane denials and mockery of critics.
- Netflix has not issued a substantive editorial response in the coverage provided, and the dispute has widened discussion about roast norms, who writes roast material, the racial makeup of writers’ rooms, and what platforms owe audiences and affected communities.