Overview
- Kevin Hart told The Breakfast Club on Tuesday that Tony Hinchcliffe’s reference to George Floyd was “not tasteful” but said he did not utter the line and asked to be removed from blame for the joke.
- Hart defended the roast format as a space for boundary-pushing comedy and praised Hinchcliffe’s set, saying the material fit the known styles of the performers even if he personally would not tell those jokes.
- George Floyd’s family and supporters publicly condemned the Floyd remark and Terrence Floyd criticized Hart for not intervening during the live production.
- The dispute has produced public feuds among comedians, including Hinchcliffe’s later on-air attack on Chelsea Handler, and Netflix has not announced edits to the special or formal penalties for participants.
- The controversy has focused attention on how roasts are written and produced, including the racial makeup of writers and whether platforms should police live comedy that invokes traumatic real-world events.