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5d ago

Outcry Over Tony Hinchcliffe’s George Floyd Joke at Kevin Hart Roast Intensifies

Public pressure now centers on Netflix’s responsibility for what it chose to air.

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Mandatory Credit: Photo by CRAIG LASSIG/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock (10667561j) Former NBA player Stephen Jackson speaks to the press at a news conference about Floyd's death while under arrest, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, 02 June 2020. A bystander's video posted online on 25 May, shows George Floyd, 46, pleading with arresting officers that he couldn't breathe as one officer knelt on his neck. The unarmed black man soon became unresponsive, and was later pronounced dead. According to news reports on 29 May, Derek Chauvin, the police officer in the center of the incident has been taken into custody and charged with murder in the George Floyd killing. Minneapolis Police Abuse Protest, USA - 02 Jun 2020

Overview

  • During Netflix’s live roast, Tony Hinchcliffe said George Floyd was “looking up at us all, laughing so hard he can’t breathe,” drawing gasps as Kevin Hart and others onstage laughed.
  • The Gianna & George Floyd Foundation called the line “sad for the culture,” and Terrence Floyd said Hart should have stopped it and faulted Netflix for not cutting it.
  • An online petition urging donations from the roast to the Floyd Family Center for Social Equity has topped 9,000 signatures, according to The Mirror US.
  • Kevin Hart defended the roast as “hard-hitting” comedy and urged people to watch the full special, while Hinchcliffe has not responded and Netflix has announced no edits.
  • Critics note Hinchcliffe made a similar George Floyd joke during Netflix’s 2024 Tom Brady roast, a pattern the family says deepens the harm felt by loved ones, including Floyd’s daughter.