Do we like Kevin Hart?
Our score: 6 out of 10. Real good work and an apology on the old anti-gay tweets, balanced by a patchy follow-through, a contested roast response and a company in dispute.
Kevin Hart was born in Philadelphia in 1979 and raised by his mum as a single parent, with his dad often in jail. He sold shoes while chasing stand-up, and humour was how he coped. The 2011 tour Laugh at My Pain made him a star, then films like Ride Along and Jumanji made him a very busy bloke.
The big stain is the 2018 Oscars saga. Old tweets from 2009 to 2012 resurfaced, reportedly including jokes using an anti-gay slur and mocking lesbians, and he stepped down as host after first digging his heels in. He then apologised to the LGBTQ community for “insensitive words from my past”. Later, in a Netflix doc, he said he had been “immature” in how he handled the backlash.
On the harm check, I found no campaigning against LGBTQ+ or trans people, and nothing on vaccines, climate or migrants. What did turn up is a 2019 HBO interview where he cut in on Lil Nas X's coming-out story and was criticised for brushing it off. Lil Nas X said he wasn't mad at him. That's a poor look, not a pattern of hate.
The newest stoush is the May 2026 Netflix roast. Tony Hinchcliffe's George Floyd joke drew criticism from Floyd's family, and Floyd's brother reportedly said Hart should have stopped the roast. Hart said he didn't say the joke himself and defended Hinchcliffe. Where you land depends on whether you see that as loyalty to a mate or as failing to protect the room.
On the courts, he won a 2019 summary judgment in a business suit over an app, and the case was later reported closed. In 2025 a judge dismissed, without prejudice, his own claims against a former assistant over remarks she made, so he could refile. His lawyers said she had breached an NDA; she disputed it.
The good stuff is real. He, Meek Mill and Michael Rubin put up $15 million so kids from low-income Philadelphia families could attend private and parochial schools. He also received the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2024.