Friday, March 29, 2024

Kevin Hart Talks Homophobia & Race with Rolling Stone

kevin hart - rolling stone cover

*As he continues striking gold at the box office and the world of comedy, Kevin Hart can add another achievement to his list of career milestones: Making the cover of Rolling Stone magazine.

In the latest issue of the iconic publication, the funnyman gets personal about dealing with homophobia as well as staying clear of touching on race in his comedy act. Hart’s feelings on homophobia can be traced to a skit from his 2010 “Seriously Funny” comedy tour.

It was during that skit when he touched on how upset he would be as a father to have a gay son with the following joke:

“One of my biggest fears is my son growing up and being gay. That’s a fear. Keep in mind, I’m not homophobic. . . . Be happy. Do what you want to do. But me, as a heterosexual male, if I can prevent my son from being gay, I will.”

Looking back on the joke, Hart confessed that it was more of a way for him to deal with homophobia rather than it having anything to do with his son.

“It’s about my fear. I’m thinking about what I did as a dad, did I do something wrong, and if I did, what was it? Not that I’m not gonna love my son or think about him any differently. The funny thing within that joke is it’s me getting mad at my son because of my own insecurities — I panicked. It has nothing to do with him, it’s about me,” he shared with Rolling Stone. “That’s the difference between bringing a joke across that’s well thought-out and saying something just to ruffle feathers.” Even so, he adds, “I wouldn’t tell that joke today, because when I said it, the times weren’t as sensitive as they are now. I think we love to make big deals out of things that aren’t necessarily big deals, because we can. These things become public spectacles. So why set yourself up for failure?”

One issue Hart won’t set himself up for is the issue of race. The hot button topic is currently dominating headlines and something the entertainer doesn’t joke about, much less address in his stand-up shows. To put it simply, Hart stated that, offstage, the current race issues anger him.

“A guy in the hood with two nickel bags of weed gets five years in jail, because they say they want to make an example of him, but I haven’t seen one judge make an example out of one of these police officers that killed one of these young black men,” “The Wedding Ringer” star stated. (Editor’s note: Hart’s comments were made prior to white Cincinnati cop Ray Tensing was indicted for murdering black motorist Samuel DuBose.) “When I see videos of children being shot dead by police, I don’t talk about it because it’s something that scares me. Because I have kids. At that point, it’s not a joking matter. There is no joking there. I would not touch it.”

“I won’t acknowledge what I won’t let beat me,” Hart added. “Have I experienced racism? Of course. But will I make you feel superior by saying I’ve felt trumped at times? No. I’ll beat you by succeeding. I want to show my generation that a man of color, despite the roadblocks, can still make it. There’s moments when I took to social media and said things, but it’s always been on the positive side. I gave a message to Baltimore: At the end of the day, we’re only hurting ourselves by destroying what we have. We have to go back and live there. We’re torching, firebombing, looting our stuff. We need that CVS! Be smarter than this!”

For with all that said, will the day come when Hart will touch on racism in his stand-up? The answer, according to the jokester, lies in his personal way of bringing laughs.

“It’s not my style of comedy,” Hart admitted to Rolling Stone. “It angers me, but not onstage. Onstage, my job is to take away whatever problems are in the world, for that brief moment of time.”

To read Hart’s FULL Rolling Stone cover story, click here.

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