Trevor Noah Calls Out Racial Double Standard in Kevin Hart Roast

Trevor Noah Says White Comedians Missed the Point of the Kevin Hart Roast

The former "Daily Show" questions why Black people became the punchline instead of Kevin Hart.

Trevor Noah podcast interview — Trevor Noah/YouTube screenshot

*Trevor Noah discussed the backlash surrounding Kevin Hart’s Netflix roast on the “What Now?” podcast with co-host Eugene Khoza and guest Don Lemon.

0:00 / 0:00

The former “Daily Show” host argued that the special exposed a troubling double standard in how race factored into the comedy. Noah noted that Black comedians directed their jokes at Hart and others participating in the roast, while some non-Black performers appeared to operate under different expectations.

“I felt like it was weird that all the Black comedians who came on stage told jokes about the people who were there, but then a lot of the white comedians who came on told jokes about Black people,” Noah said, The Daily Beast reports. “I was like, ‘Wait, wait, wait. I thought it was The Roast of Kevin Hart.'”

Kevin Hart - screenshot.jpg — Kevin Hart – screenshot.jpg

The special featured sets from Tony Hinchcliffe, Shane Gillis, Chelsea Handler, Sheryl Underwood, Katt Williams, Jeff Ross, and Regina Hall, with Gillis serving as host. Two moments in particular ignited widespread criticism. Hinchcliffe worked George Floyd’s death into his set. Gillis joked that Hart’s height made him small enough to be lynched from a bonsai tree.

Scroll to continue reading

Pepper Pot Stew was Survival Food for the Poor and a Path to Freedom for Black Women in Early Philadelphia

Eve Says England Feels Like Home After Nearly 12 Years Abroad | VIDEO

Whitney Houston Estate Disputes Oprah’s Drug Claim Over Stage Fall

Michael Jackson Biopic Breaks Box Office Records in Africa

Jasmine Guy’s ‘A Different World’ Credits Absence Explained

LaVar Ball Says Wife Left Him After Nearly Three Decades of Marriage

Jonathan Majors Makes Comeback in Ben Shapiro’s Provocative Action Film ‘Run. Hide. Fight: Infidels’ | TRAILER

Welch’s Unveils First New Jelly in 30 Years with Four Berry Blend

Applebee’s Brings Back $1 DOLLARITA in July

Noah parsed the two very differently. The Floyd reference left him genuinely confused about the creative logic. “I don’t even understand the connecting thread between George Floyd and Kevin Hart,” he said.

The Gillis joke, however, earned a more complicated response. “Lynching is not funny. Slavery is not funny. All these things are not funny,” Noah said. “But that’s not the job. The job of comedy is to find funny in what’s not funny.”

Hart stood behind the special during a recent “Breakfast Club” appearance, framing the controversy as consistent with the roast format. “I wasn’t shocked. That’s what they do,” he said of Hinchcliffe. “It’s not a new agenda and it’s not a new approach to comedy.”