Overview
- The live Netflix roast of Kevin Hart, which streamed Sunday from the Kia Forum in Inglewood, featured racially charged jokes that drew groans in the room and backlash online.
- Michael Che, reported by Variety as previously slated to perform but sidelined by SNL scheduling, posted Tuesday that “White guys and Black people joke different” and highlighted a photo of five white writers hired by host Shane Gillis.
- Coverage notes the telecast credited 17 writers overall, including several Black writers such as Harry Ratchford, Chris Spencer, and Joey Wells, and that some comedians brought their own writing teams.
- Pete Davidson’s set included a line referencing the video of Charlie Kirk’s 2025 onstage killing, which the Charlie Kirk Show’s executive producer Andrew Kolvet called “distasteful.”
- Defenders of the roast argued the format invites boundary-pushing, with Jeff Ross saying “Nothing was off limits,” while Netflix declined to comment on Che’s criticism.