Hart admits that the line from Hinchcliffe “wasn’t tasteful.”

Kevin Hart defends himself and Tony Hinchcliffe after backlash to George Floyd joke at roast: ‘I didn’t say it’

Hart admits that the line from Hinchcliffe "wasn't tasteful."

By Derek Lawrence

Derek Lawrence

Derek Lawrence is a former associate editor at **. He left EW in 2022.

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May 26, 2026 2:11 p.m. ET

Kevin Hart and Tony Hinchcliffe at 'The Roast of Kevin Hart'. Credit:

Kevin Mazur/Getty (2)

- Kevin Hart responded to those criticizing Tony Hinchcliffe's George Floyd joke at Hart's roast.

- The comedian believes Hinchcliffe had one of the best sets that night, but the line "wasn't tasteful."

- Hart wants people to remove his name from the conversation.

Kevin Hart is pushing back on any criticism of him for Tony Hinchcliffe's joke about the late George Floyd at the recent Netflix roast of Hart.

In a night full of wild NSFW jabs at the people onstage, Hinchcliffe took aim at Floyd, who was murdered by a Minneapolis police officer in 2020, an incident that sparked an international movement against police violence under the Black Lives Matter banner. After previously making a Floyd joke at the 2024 roast of Tom Brady, Hinchcliffe returned to the topic by saying to Hart, “The Black community is so proud of you. Right now George Floyd is looking up at us all laughing so hard that he can’t breathe.”

Following plenty of backlash, including from Floyd's family, Hart responded on Tuesday's episode of *The Breakfast Club*. The comedian said Hinchcliffe had "arguably the best set," but that the joke "wasn't tasteful to our culture," while acknowledging that "racial humor is on the table" at a roast. When asked if Hinchcliffe went too far, he replied, "It's Tony Hinchcliffe. I don't expect less, I don't expect more."

Hart continued, "Would I tell those jokes? No. But do I get why they are being told? Yes. I'm not looking at Tony crazy. I know what you're going to do, I know your style of comedy."

Michael Che previously called out the roast for hiring so many white writers for a celebration of the "most successful Black comic in the last 10 years." And Chelsea Handler, who participated in the event, said Hinchcliffe and Shane Gillis' jokes about race were "gross" and that they are both "racist" and "bigots."

In his discussion on *The Breakfast Club*, Hart reminded the hosts that he attended the funeral for Floyd and "made sure the family felt supported." He also revealed that after the roast, he connected with former NBA player Stephen Jackson, who was a close friend of Floyd. When told that he should have led with that information, Hart quickly retorted, "I don't need to prove to people that I give a f---."

"Whatever the headlines or dialogue, remove me from it — I didn't say it," declared Hart, who pointed out that jokes were made about his dead parents. "Like, what do you want me to do? Drag him off? Fight afterwards? That's not the job at hand. The job was to produce a successful roast, which I did.... I don't understand why we stand on a hill and it becomes this big thing. Either you're a fan of this level of content or you're not, and if you're not a fan then you don't watch it."

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The conversation wrapped with Charlamagne tha God asking Hart what he would do if Hinchcliffe called and told him that he was "smacked" by Floyd's brother at a comedy club over the joke.

"You gotta deal with that," Hart said. "What do you want me to do? That's the consequences of the s---."

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