WEBVTT - Kevin Hart / "The Upside" 0:00:15.360 --> 0:00:18.799 You're listening to playback a Variety I Heart Radio podcast. 0:00:19.440 --> 0:00:22.760 I'm your host, Variety Awards editor Chris Tapley. Today I'm 0:00:22.760 --> 0:00:25.280 talking to comedian Kevin Hart, whose new film The Upside 0:00:25.280 --> 0:00:28.240 with Brian Craston and Nicole Kidman his theaters January eleven. 0:00:29.280 --> 0:00:31.680 Kevin is fresh off an Australian stand up tour that 0:00:31.760 --> 0:00:34.239 broke records, but you probably haven't heard a lot about that. 0:00:34.960 --> 0:00:37.520 About a month ago, a number of years old homophobic 0:00:37.560 --> 0:00:40.160 tweets and jokes were brought back to bear against Kevin 0:00:40.200 --> 0:00:42.440 after it was announced he would be hosting the Oscars 0:00:42.440 --> 0:00:47.000 this year. There was a considerable outcry from the LGBTQ community, 0:00:47.120 --> 0:00:50.440 and Kevin initially refused to apologize, stating that he had 0:00:50.479 --> 0:00:54.880 already addressed these missteps, but ultimately he did apologize while 0:00:54.920 --> 0:00:58.720 stepping down from the hosting gig. Uh. You know, by 0:00:58.840 --> 0:01:01.720 now you are probably aware you've seen that Kevin appeared 0:01:01.760 --> 0:01:05.160 on Ellen DeGeneres show to discuss all of this. That's 0:01:05.200 --> 0:01:07.479 why we're getting this episode out to you quite early, 0:01:08.560 --> 0:01:11.800 because a major chunk of it is pretty timely. Ellen 0:01:11.840 --> 0:01:14.520 revealed she had called the Academy and endorsed Kevin's return 0:01:14.640 --> 0:01:17.959 to the hosting job. But just before that appearance, Kevin 0:01:18.000 --> 0:01:20.040 sat down with me to talk about all this, and 0:01:20.080 --> 0:01:23.640 he said unequivocally, as you'll hear, that he was not 0:01:23.959 --> 0:01:27.440 interested in hosting the Oscars because of the cloud hovering 0:01:27.520 --> 0:01:30.600 over the whole situation. Now, so you know, if indeed 0:01:30.680 --> 0:01:34.880 he's reconsidering or evaluating that possibility now, you know, I 0:01:34.920 --> 0:01:37.040 guess a lot can change in a short period of time, 0:01:37.760 --> 0:01:40.400 and we'll see. But for now, here's my chat with 0:01:40.840 --> 0:01:43.880 Kevin Hart. While we're getting settled, I gotta ask you, 0:01:44.280 --> 0:01:45.920 what's it like to kind of promo with mean Jean? 0:01:46.319 --> 0:01:49.800 Oh my god, the legend. I was obvious, honestly a 0:01:49.840 --> 0:01:52.000 little sad when I heard man, yeah, man, because he 0:01:52.120 --> 0:01:54.640 was older, so you could, uh, you could tell like 0:01:55.640 --> 0:01:59.880 that he was, um, you know, he was still there, 0:02:00.160 --> 0:02:04.520 but he was he he couldn't hear, and you know, 0:02:04.680 --> 0:02:07.520 he had to do things a bunch of times, so 0:02:07.600 --> 0:02:09.679 you could definitely tell that the other side of age 0:02:09.800 --> 0:02:12.280 was getting to him. It was definitely sad when he 0:02:12.400 --> 0:02:14.440 heard that he passed away. Though. Yeah, he was the 0:02:14.520 --> 0:02:18.400 man that was cool. I never got to meet him, nicest, 0:02:19.240 --> 0:02:22.760 very nice, but literally, I mean, wrestling was on me 0:02:22.840 --> 0:02:24.880 and jeans back for quite some time. He's one of 0:02:24.919 --> 0:02:29.200 the most consistent personalities, totally voice of the childhood man. 0:02:29.280 --> 0:02:32.320 I thank you man appreciation. Did you ever see uh 0:02:33.200 --> 0:02:36.040 the Macho Man promo where he uh was talking about 0:02:36.040 --> 0:02:37.919 being about the cream rising to the top and he 0:02:37.960 --> 0:02:44.760 keeps bringing out this coffee creamerulous but hilarious. Yeah, that 0:02:44.880 --> 0:02:48.200 was a it was a big loss. But alright, here 0:02:48.280 --> 0:02:53.360 we are this back in front of you. We're up 0:02:53.360 --> 0:02:57.560 and rolling up the rolling Thank you so much. Got 0:02:57.639 --> 0:03:04.000 the Starbucks God necessary necessary man said, keep this machine running. 0:03:05.320 --> 0:03:08.440 Here you all right, let's dive in. Man. Okay, everyone, 0:03:08.480 --> 0:03:11.400 I'm here today with Kevin Hart. Kevin's got a new 0:03:11.400 --> 0:03:13.760 movie called The Upside coming out January eleventh. We're gonna 0:03:13.760 --> 0:03:16.119 talk about. First of all, happy New Year, and thanks 0:03:16.120 --> 0:03:20.040 for coming on the show. Appreciate. How was your New Year? 0:03:20.040 --> 0:03:21.280 What you do? You were in Vegas? Right? I was 0:03:21.360 --> 0:03:26.320 in Vegas? Um, you know, I uh we we basically 0:03:26.360 --> 0:03:28.200 went up there for the thirty of the thirty first 0:03:28.440 --> 0:03:30.760 wife wanted to get out, she wanted to have a 0:03:30.840 --> 0:03:33.040 good time, so I said, let's just go to Vegas, 0:03:33.200 --> 0:03:37.600 and um, I think my nights were we had big showing, 0:03:37.680 --> 0:03:40.080 we had future. Little Wayne was there to night before 0:03:40.960 --> 0:03:43.960 and it was good. It was good on the thirty 0:03:44.000 --> 0:03:47.880 of thirty first, I don't remember too much. I don't 0:03:47.880 --> 0:03:50.400 remember too much from that. From that night, I'm mixed 0:03:51.040 --> 0:03:54.400 champagne with tequila, which is which is a big mistake. 0:03:54.800 --> 0:03:56.800 You know, it's all fun when you're doing it. It's 0:03:56.800 --> 0:04:00.280 all fun when everything's happening until to that moment where 0:04:00.320 --> 0:04:03.040 you black out. That that's that's when everything gets real bad. 0:04:03.120 --> 0:04:05.520 Wake up like two days later when you black out 0:04:05.560 --> 0:04:08.120 and everybody's telling you what happened. You don't remember going 0:04:08.160 --> 0:04:10.520 to the to the breakfast spot. No, no, I don't. 0:04:10.800 --> 0:04:13.120 I don't remember eating anything at all. What about the 0:04:13.160 --> 0:04:14.520 pizza place? You don't want to want to go to 0:04:14.560 --> 0:04:16.760 the pizza places? No, I have no idea about the 0:04:16.760 --> 0:04:19.839 pizza place at all. That was me the next morning, awesome. 0:04:20.160 --> 0:04:22.880 I was just here not doing much looking over my 0:04:22.960 --> 0:04:27.159 two and a half year old that get it. But anyway, 0:04:27.200 --> 0:04:28.600 we're gonna I want to talk about your movie. I 0:04:28.640 --> 0:04:30.200 want to talk about your career. I'm a big fan. 0:04:30.279 --> 0:04:32.000 I'd love to talk about how you built yourself up. 0:04:32.400 --> 0:04:34.280 Before we get into all that, I want to talk 0:04:34.279 --> 0:04:35.800 about this oscar stuff and get out of the way 0:04:35.839 --> 0:04:39.080 to talk about it, talk about whatever you want. We're 0:04:39.080 --> 0:04:41.320 gonna knocked this out first. You know. So it's been 0:04:41.360 --> 0:04:43.480 about a month now. You dropped out of hosting the 0:04:43.520 --> 0:04:47.040 Oscars in the midst of this outcry over some previous 0:04:47.120 --> 0:04:51.160 tweets and jokes that some people found offensive. Uh. Initially 0:04:51.160 --> 0:04:53.279 the Academy had asked you to apologize, and you had 0:04:53.279 --> 0:04:57.000 said you weren't gonna apologize, and then eventually you did. So. 0:04:57.279 --> 0:04:59.200 First of all, imagine you've had time to think about 0:04:59.320 --> 0:05:01.400 what's happened. Been three or four weeks. Now, how do 0:05:01.440 --> 0:05:04.680 you feel about how everything went down? I'm fine. I mean, look, 0:05:04.760 --> 0:05:10.760 you're you're in you're living in the times where words 0:05:11.120 --> 0:05:18.640 in point of views can be misconstrued because of how 0:05:18.880 --> 0:05:25.320 strong the internet is. You know, the the manipulation of 0:05:25.880 --> 0:05:29.040 headlines is what was amazing when this whole thing hit. 0:05:29.200 --> 0:05:32.760 You know, it was Kevin Hart steps down because he 0:05:32.839 --> 0:05:38.320 refuses to apologize for homophobic tweets. This is what was said, 0:05:38.440 --> 0:05:41.240 and it was blasted all over the internet, and the 0:05:41.320 --> 0:05:45.080 word again somehow got lost, which was a major word. 0:05:45.160 --> 0:05:50.320 The word again it was I've addressed this several times. 0:05:50.360 --> 0:05:53.200 I don't do that. I address it, I apologize, and 0:05:53.279 --> 0:05:58.560 after apologizing, I said, I understand why people will be 0:05:58.720 --> 0:06:02.239 upset from these tweets. It's why people would be hurt, 0:06:02.920 --> 0:06:05.840 why people would be damaged, and you know what, I 0:06:05.960 --> 0:06:07.479 get it, so not I do only am I sorry. 0:06:07.520 --> 0:06:09.600 I'm gonna make it a point to never joke like 0:06:09.720 --> 0:06:13.320 this again because I understand. So within a ten year 0:06:13.760 --> 0:06:18.600 spaying of my career, you don't see any blemishes. You 0:06:18.640 --> 0:06:23.880 don't see any any signs of me going back to 0:06:24.000 --> 0:06:26.880 that young comedian that I was then. I was looking 0:06:26.880 --> 0:06:33.640 for an ignorant laugh. So for me to take the 0:06:33.760 --> 0:06:37.520 moment of hosting the Oscars and turn the moment of 0:06:37.560 --> 0:06:40.800 hosting the Oscars into an an apology tour, because that's 0:06:40.839 --> 0:06:45.200 what it would become, that didn't make sense to me. 0:06:45.880 --> 0:06:49.800 You know. Me doing the Oscars was to take the 0:06:49.920 --> 0:06:53.560 tension off of the Oscars. It's been so uptight for 0:06:53.640 --> 0:06:55.800 the last I don't know how many years. Kevin. We 0:06:55.880 --> 0:06:57.600 want you to host because we want you to lighten 0:06:57.640 --> 0:07:00.120 the mood up and bring you, in your essence to 0:07:00.320 --> 0:07:05.599 this night. That was immediately taken away because any promo 0:07:05.720 --> 0:07:08.599 that I do. Leading up to it, I'm still talking 0:07:08.640 --> 0:07:13.600 about past tweets that I've addressed years ago. Me touching 0:07:13.680 --> 0:07:15.560 the stage of the oscars, I would have to then 0:07:15.600 --> 0:07:18.760 address the tweets that I talked about from years ago. 0:07:19.440 --> 0:07:24.160 And it just made me say to myself, like, I'm 0:07:24.200 --> 0:07:27.560 not going to play the game that society kind of 0:07:27.680 --> 0:07:31.480 wants people to play right now. You know, your passage 0:07:31.520 --> 0:07:34.920 your pass for a reason. When you apologize for something, 0:07:35.080 --> 0:07:39.760 it's either your apology is accepted, but it's not. If 0:07:39.800 --> 0:07:41.440 it is and we say we move forward, then we're 0:07:41.440 --> 0:07:44.960 moving forward. And what you do when you move forward 0:07:45.120 --> 0:07:48.880 is become better. So when there's signs of an individual 0:07:49.000 --> 0:07:53.440 becoming better, when there's signs of an individual doing better, 0:07:54.720 --> 0:08:00.280 then what else is really needed? I will say, I look, 0:08:00.320 --> 0:08:02.000 I looked back. You have addressed that in the past. 0:08:02.120 --> 0:08:05.200 Was a rolling stone interview, particularly where you you specifically 0:08:05.240 --> 0:08:09.440 addressed thoughtfully. A particular bit that you explained was more 0:08:09.480 --> 0:08:12.200 about your own fears and your own insecurities, and that 0:08:12.320 --> 0:08:14.600 was what it was a joke about. You know how 0:08:14.680 --> 0:08:17.040 you handled quote your first your son's first game moment, 0:08:17.680 --> 0:08:19.960 and you you you dealt with that thoughtfully. I will 0:08:20.000 --> 0:08:22.600 say Did you apologize to someone and it didn't get 0:08:22.640 --> 0:08:26.560 published because you said you've apologized and I couldn't find that. Well, 0:08:26.600 --> 0:08:30.320 it's easy, it's easy not to find the good. Well no, 0:08:30.440 --> 0:08:32.439 I mean I was looking, man, because I was like 0:08:32.559 --> 0:08:34.880 he he says he's apologized, and I can't. I don't 0:08:34.920 --> 0:08:36.840 see it. Did you apologize to a to a journalist 0:08:36.840 --> 0:08:39.760 who didn't publish that. Here's here's a good example. Okay, 0:08:40.600 --> 0:08:44.600 all of this stuff hit, and three days after hit, 0:08:44.679 --> 0:08:48.480 Variety put up a little piece from an interview that 0:08:48.559 --> 0:08:51.559 I did in Variety, and it was me saying, I 0:08:51.600 --> 0:08:55.800 don't joke in a homophone matter at all. I don't 0:08:55.840 --> 0:08:57.640 partake in that kind of humor. Whatever it was, it 0:08:57.720 --> 0:09:00.200 was just me saying something about it, just a little 0:09:00.240 --> 0:09:02.840 tidbit that they found. Wait, this is Kevin saying something 0:09:02.920 --> 0:09:05.839 else about it. But in the context of what it 0:09:05.920 --> 0:09:07.719 was said, you can tell her was something that I've 0:09:07.760 --> 0:09:10.640 said over and over again. That was found three days after. 0:09:11.440 --> 0:09:14.000 If somebody chose to put the energy and effort in, 0:09:15.000 --> 0:09:17.640 they can easily find Because when me and Will Farrow 0:09:17.720 --> 0:09:20.280 did Get Hard and we did the promo tour for 0:09:20.360 --> 0:09:23.480 Get Hard, that's where we were hit with so much stuff. 0:09:24.040 --> 0:09:26.440 That's what Kevin Hart was hit, was so much stuff. 0:09:27.679 --> 0:09:30.280 My old joke that were talking about and seriously funny 0:09:30.920 --> 0:09:34.480 that didn't just happen. That special has been out for years. 0:09:35.280 --> 0:09:40.959 I've addressed that several times. Those tweets did not just 0:09:41.160 --> 0:09:45.240 come out. Those tweets from two thousand, two thousand nine 0:09:45.640 --> 0:09:49.880 were there. You can't you can't make up because I've 0:09:49.880 --> 0:09:53.480 talked about this. I do. I do promo tourism. We 0:09:53.600 --> 0:09:57.760 sit inside the room and journalists come in and journalists 0:09:57.800 --> 0:10:01.520 ask you questions. Oh, over and over and over and 0:10:01.679 --> 0:10:05.800 over and over again. I remember this span in two 0:10:05.920 --> 0:10:10.240 thousand and eleven where this came up. My tweets came up, 0:10:10.320 --> 0:10:13.559 and I had to say to a person that was 0:10:13.600 --> 0:10:18.719 in the LGBTQ community, Hey, I understand, and you know what, 0:10:19.040 --> 0:10:22.200 I'm wrong, But I can't do nothing about that joke 0:10:22.240 --> 0:10:24.839 because it was done. I can't do nothing about the 0:10:24.880 --> 0:10:28.200 tweets because they're out there. I was wrong. It will 0:10:28.240 --> 0:10:32.599 never happen again. I'm sorry. Please accept my apology. You 0:10:32.679 --> 0:10:35.040 go on other interviews and it comes up. Now the 0:10:35.080 --> 0:10:37.960 conversation starts to change. If you know that, the response 0:10:38.040 --> 0:10:40.920 got more professional because now it's I don't joke in 0:10:40.960 --> 0:10:43.520 that manner anymore because now I'm in the mindset of 0:10:44.040 --> 0:10:47.240 I left that moment behind me. I've addressed it. So 0:10:47.320 --> 0:10:49.719 when people say, yo, man, I can't find it, well, 0:10:49.840 --> 0:10:52.040 then ask the individual that went and dug up the 0:10:52.040 --> 0:10:54.640 stuff from two thousand nine to go do the same. 0:10:55.679 --> 0:10:59.800 I can't put that energy into something that's in my past. 0:11:00.559 --> 0:11:04.719 I can't put that energy into negativity. What we're what 0:11:04.840 --> 0:11:10.000 we're what we're doing is allowing trolling to get you 0:11:10.040 --> 0:11:13.319 an all time high. You know where was this at 0:11:14.000 --> 0:11:17.520 when the premier Foo Jamanji came? What about Central Intelligence? 0:11:18.000 --> 0:11:22.080 What about the large am irresponsible tour with why did this? Why? 0:11:22.200 --> 0:11:25.920 The day after Kevin Hart it's now hosting the oscar 0:11:25.920 --> 0:11:27.199 I think you're talking about the show that has a 0:11:27.320 --> 0:11:30.080 very large homosexual audience. I think that could be the case. 0:11:30.720 --> 0:11:36.120 But if somebody were to call you racists right and 0:11:36.960 --> 0:11:39.959 dig up something that you may have said from your 0:11:40.200 --> 0:11:44.959 past history that could have been a racial slur, you 0:11:45.040 --> 0:11:48.560 could have said it and a joking manner. You could 0:11:48.559 --> 0:11:51.800 have said it amongst a group of people that may 0:11:52.000 --> 0:11:53.959 or may not have the knowledge of how bad this 0:11:54.080 --> 0:11:57.280 slur could be. You only know your environment. It's not 0:11:57.400 --> 0:11:59.679 until you get exposure to you get experienced, to you 0:12:00.040 --> 0:12:02.960 understand the world, that you start to understand things from 0:12:02.960 --> 0:12:05.640 a different point of view. Everybody doesn't have that opportunity. 0:12:06.040 --> 0:12:09.520 Everybody doesn't have that chance. So when you do, you grow. 0:12:10.440 --> 0:12:13.960 So I can't judge you from something that you said 0:12:14.000 --> 0:12:18.160 back then if now you're in a position to understand 0:12:18.240 --> 0:12:21.440 the world from a different lens. But if you did 0:12:21.559 --> 0:12:23.319 get judged, are you going to be the guy to 0:12:23.400 --> 0:12:29.200 go Wait a minute, I got black friends. What about 0:12:29.240 --> 0:12:33.640 my friend Rob, Well, Malcolm, I'm gonna call him right now. 0:12:33.720 --> 0:12:36.640 They can tell you that I love black people. No, 0:12:36.920 --> 0:12:39.599 because there's no win. What do we do? So what 0:12:39.679 --> 0:12:41.400 am I gonna do? Do I Do I start going 0:12:41.480 --> 0:12:44.320 down the list of gay people that earned my life? 0:12:45.040 --> 0:12:47.840 Do I start going down the list of gay people 0:12:47.880 --> 0:12:51.160 that work for me and my company? No? I don't 0:12:51.200 --> 0:12:53.880 have to play that game with the world, because that's 0:12:53.920 --> 0:12:57.240 what the world wants. What who are we searching for? 0:12:57.520 --> 0:13:00.640 Tell me the perfect individual that we're searching for. Because 0:13:00.679 --> 0:13:03.199 the way I see it, I can't be a good 0:13:03.280 --> 0:13:06.679 parent if I don't have lessons to give my children. 0:13:07.520 --> 0:13:10.679 If I don't have life experiences that I lived through, 0:13:10.720 --> 0:13:12.280 that I've made it through, that I can talk to 0:13:12.480 --> 0:13:15.520 my kids about and make them understand why what I'm 0:13:15.559 --> 0:13:19.120 saying is right, why this is wrong? What am I 0:13:19.240 --> 0:13:23.920 parenting off of? What am I parenting off of? The 0:13:23.960 --> 0:13:27.479 word perfection does not exist. If you have not experienced imperfection, 0:13:28.320 --> 0:13:30.079 you don't know what perfection is. If you don't know 0:13:30.120 --> 0:13:34.719 what imperfection is, Somewhere along the lines, we've lost sight 0:13:34.800 --> 0:13:38.520 of reality and this person that we're searching for. I 0:13:38.600 --> 0:13:41.120 pray to God that they're out there. I hope we 0:13:41.240 --> 0:13:45.439 find a perfect individual that the world is somehow seeking 0:13:45.520 --> 0:13:49.120 to find. It's not me. It's not me, And the 0:13:49.160 --> 0:13:51.760 beautiful thing about me is that I wear I wear 0:13:51.920 --> 0:13:55.880 all of my flaws or my sleeve. I'm an open book. 0:13:57.320 --> 0:14:00.240 I'm not a I'm not I'm not a secret. I'm 0:14:00.320 --> 0:14:03.959 a walking open book. Well, I think what you ultimately 0:14:04.000 --> 0:14:06.280 said was perfect. You ultimately apologize. At the end of 0:14:06.320 --> 0:14:08.079 the day, what happened between saying I'm not going to 0:14:08.160 --> 0:14:13.199 apologize and you apologizing, giving me an ultimatum, give me 0:14:13.240 --> 0:14:18.840 an ultimatum, giving me an ultimatum, and nobody looking at 0:14:18.920 --> 0:14:24.080 the past ten years of my life. Not only that, 0:14:25.200 --> 0:14:31.640 also saying in the world of comedy, comedians are some 0:14:31.760 --> 0:14:35.160 of the biggest risk takers. Comedians are the people that 0:14:35.160 --> 0:14:37.480 are gonna say what you may think, but you never say. 0:14:38.200 --> 0:14:42.240 It's our job to put humor in the world. That 0:14:42.480 --> 0:14:47.080 job can be done dis tastefully, it can't be tacky. 0:14:48.280 --> 0:14:53.200 Someone's approach to that job can be a little, a 0:14:53.240 --> 0:14:58.840 little edgy and rub people wrong. But that's where the 0:14:59.040 --> 0:15:02.720 art of comedy comes in, and that's where the individual 0:15:03.320 --> 0:15:07.040 that's performing said jokes has to maneuver the way that 0:15:07.080 --> 0:15:10.720 they feel its best for them. Where I was at 0:15:10.800 --> 0:15:16.000 that point a mature comic two thousand, two thousand nine, 0:15:16.040 --> 0:15:19.560 I'm figuring it out. I'm just now getting there. Me 0:15:19.760 --> 0:15:23.120 my son, whoa, No, Hey, that's gay. You gotta laugh, 0:15:23.240 --> 0:15:26.320 that's what you I'm doing things for the laugh. The 0:15:26.440 --> 0:15:31.640 laugh is with fueling me. Man, I killed tonight, me killing. 0:15:32.000 --> 0:15:36.240 I don't know that I'm literally killing. I don't have that. 0:15:36.560 --> 0:15:40.200 I don't have that comprehension. Oh my god. But now 0:15:40.320 --> 0:15:45.080 I move out to l A. Now I'm around a 0:15:45.320 --> 0:15:51.000 world that I haven't been around. Now I'm I'm introducing 0:15:51.080 --> 0:15:53.680 myself to people and people are sharing their stories and 0:15:53.880 --> 0:15:59.120 now I'm seeing things through a different lens. That's where 0:15:59.320 --> 0:16:01.120 I don't I don't stand how people lose out of 0:16:01.200 --> 0:16:04.560 that reality. You don't know until you know. I think 0:16:04.600 --> 0:16:06.200 what happened that day, and I'll just this is what 0:16:06.320 --> 0:16:08.720 I think is because that rubbed you wrong, giving you 0:16:08.760 --> 0:16:12.440 an ultimatum, it read as defiance to people at a 0:16:12.480 --> 0:16:13.760 time when they just wanted you to say what you 0:16:13.840 --> 0:16:17.200 ultimately said. And you know, maybe had you said that, 0:16:17.320 --> 0:16:20.960 you'd still be the host and maybe we'd be past everything. 0:16:21.800 --> 0:16:23.360 But I think I think that's what happened. I think 0:16:23.400 --> 0:16:25.359 people were just like, why is he not just apologizing 0:16:25.400 --> 0:16:27.600 even if you say you have before. And I think 0:16:27.720 --> 0:16:30.840 that was what really ratcheted it up. You know, people, 0:16:30.960 --> 0:16:33.000 you know what someone said to me and and this 0:16:33.200 --> 0:16:35.240 is where you know, I got a little confused because 0:16:35.240 --> 0:16:39.360 it said, Kevin, you know, I know who you are. 0:16:41.160 --> 0:16:42.920 There's so many people that know who you are, so 0:16:43.000 --> 0:16:46.720 many people know your heart. But there's a younger there's 0:16:46.760 --> 0:16:51.080 a younger world. There's a younger world that has a 0:16:51.280 --> 0:16:57.240 younger generation within the gay community, within the lgbt Q community, 0:16:57.720 --> 0:17:00.400 and they don't know that you've addressed is they don't 0:17:00.400 --> 0:17:03.040 know that you've apologized, so you should just say it 0:17:03.120 --> 0:17:07.040 to them. And I said, if that's the case, then 0:17:07.080 --> 0:17:13.440 I'm apologizing forever because it never stops. There's always gonna 0:17:13.480 --> 0:17:19.800 be younger people, There's always gonna be new members. When 0:17:20.000 --> 0:17:23.639 when is the apology accepted? And do I have to 0:17:23.800 --> 0:17:27.920 always go back ten years? I gotta keep doing that 0:17:28.000 --> 0:17:31.000 for the rest of my life. Guys, I don't think 0:17:31.080 --> 0:17:32.920 I'm I don't think I'm gonna do that because the 0:17:33.000 --> 0:17:36.159 same way that there's younger people, there's older people that 0:17:36.359 --> 0:17:40.639 know who I am, that are in this community that 0:17:40.720 --> 0:17:44.240 can speak on my behalf. Where the older people that 0:17:44.480 --> 0:17:48.400 that know me that they can't educate the younger generation. 0:17:49.960 --> 0:17:52.960 Why do we only think on one side? Well, the 0:17:53.200 --> 0:17:55.119 point you make about comedy and where where we're at 0:17:55.160 --> 0:17:57.840 with comedy is interesting. I mean, just this week Louis 0:17:57.840 --> 0:18:01.000 c k is through the ringer with some tasteless jokes 0:18:01.040 --> 0:18:04.320 that he was recorded, Uh you know, giving I forgot 0:18:04.320 --> 0:18:08.400 where that was. But uh, is comedy so beyond reproach, 0:18:08.600 --> 0:18:12.640 beyond being interrogated, not for me. I think I think 0:18:12.680 --> 0:18:17.119 the world is trying to We're we're trying to create 0:18:17.200 --> 0:18:20.159 a space like I said, this this perfect space, it 0:18:20.240 --> 0:18:23.880 doesn't exist. We're we're living just in a false reality 0:18:24.119 --> 0:18:30.280 with what we're looking for. But comedy, m there's so 0:18:30.480 --> 0:18:33.600 much that you can't say now and this is a 0:18:33.760 --> 0:18:37.920 this is a world where everybody, you know, we're looking 0:18:38.000 --> 0:18:40.960 to get rid of so much negativity. We're looking for 0:18:41.040 --> 0:18:43.399 an escape. Oh my god, there's so much to be 0:18:43.520 --> 0:18:48.159 sad about. Uh what I want to let go for 0:18:48.240 --> 0:18:51.359 a second. Where can I go to let go and 0:18:51.560 --> 0:18:54.439 and step away? Comedy is that comedy is your release. 0:18:55.640 --> 0:18:59.119 That's what comedy is. Comedy was a space where you know, 0:18:59.240 --> 0:19:03.560 you could poke and at races, ethnicities, men, women, kids, 0:19:04.680 --> 0:19:08.960 we're laughing at one another. That that was the beauty 0:19:09.000 --> 0:19:12.080 of comedy, to joke at each other and point out 0:19:12.160 --> 0:19:19.320 our flaws and make those flaws become laughs. If you 0:19:19.480 --> 0:19:23.080 have a Asian comic and this Asian comic is doing 0:19:23.240 --> 0:19:25.879 jokes and all these jokes are based off of the 0:19:26.000 --> 0:19:28.880 Asian community, guess what, as a black man in that audience, 0:19:29.080 --> 0:19:32.320 I'm getting educated on the Asian prop If there's a 0:19:32.359 --> 0:19:35.000 member of the l g B t Q and they 0:19:35.000 --> 0:19:37.639 are comic and they're doing jokes and it's all about 0:19:37.760 --> 0:19:41.400 things that happened in the gay community. Guess what, I'm 0:19:41.480 --> 0:19:44.040 now laughing at the world that you created that you're painting. 0:19:45.000 --> 0:19:48.200 There's something through your lens, through your eyes as a 0:19:48.240 --> 0:19:49.680 black man. If I want to talk to you about 0:19:49.680 --> 0:19:51.359 black people and the way we go and when I 0:19:51.480 --> 0:19:54.720 first traveled to India and I got to sit with 0:19:54.840 --> 0:19:57.199 Indian people and I didn't know that you're laughing at 0:19:57.280 --> 0:20:01.639 me and my experiences. You can't put comedy in a 0:20:01.720 --> 0:20:08.399 place to where the individuals that have chosen to do 0:20:08.520 --> 0:20:14.200 that craft can't share their experiences. My experience with a 0:20:14.920 --> 0:20:17.960 gay man, a gay women, maybe a funny experience I 0:20:18.000 --> 0:20:19.639 don't want to talk about. But right now I'm in 0:20:19.720 --> 0:20:23.320 a place where I don't I would never talk about 0:20:23.359 --> 0:20:26.640 it because what can I say? And what can I say? 0:20:27.840 --> 0:20:32.639 And when when is the constructive criticism of opinion not 0:20:32.800 --> 0:20:36.280 malicious intent? Once again? Opinion? When is that taken away? 0:20:37.240 --> 0:20:41.320 When can I just have an opinion? Why? Why is 0:20:41.400 --> 0:20:43.480 everybody so happy at the fact that they can have 0:20:43.600 --> 0:20:46.560 an opinion and they can get their opinion seeing publicly 0:20:46.680 --> 0:20:50.119 right now, that's the exciting thing that people love. I 0:20:50.200 --> 0:20:54.480 got a Oh, I'm gonna tweet it and somebody gonna 0:20:54.480 --> 0:21:00.080 see it. I'm gonna tweet it. I'm a post it. 0:21:01.160 --> 0:21:03.359 Everybody can do it. Everybody has access to be heard. 0:21:04.800 --> 0:21:08.000 When everybody has access to be heard, ultimately, is gonna 0:21:08.000 --> 0:21:10.440 be too many cooks in the kitchen? Yeah, that many 0:21:10.440 --> 0:21:12.160 cooks in the kitchen. The food ain't never gonna get done. 0:21:12.880 --> 0:21:14.840 It's never gonna get done. So in this case with me, 0:21:15.200 --> 0:21:19.080 with comedy, I'm going to continue to talk about me 0:21:19.240 --> 0:21:21.480 in my life and my experiences. I don't need to 0:21:21.640 --> 0:21:24.520 joke in a malicious manner. I don't need to attack. 0:21:24.680 --> 0:21:27.520 I don't need to offend. That's not who I am, 0:21:27.560 --> 0:21:30.600 It's not who I've been. And in that tweeting rant 0:21:30.640 --> 0:21:32.760 where these things came up, that was young, and I 0:21:32.880 --> 0:21:35.200 thought it was fun and funny to do on social media. 0:21:36.119 --> 0:21:38.680 Who knew that social media would live for ten years 0:21:38.760 --> 0:21:41.080 and somebody could go back and dig up stuff? Who 0:21:41.119 --> 0:21:44.200 knew it wasn't in the blueprint when they broke down 0:21:44.320 --> 0:21:47.400 how to use social media. Nobody said all the stuff 0:21:47.440 --> 0:21:49.720 you do now is going to come up. It's a 0:21:49.760 --> 0:21:52.040 little unnatural to be living in public that way. I 0:21:52.119 --> 0:21:57.320 guess for for so long, nothing I'll say, you can't 0:21:58.480 --> 0:22:06.200 you can't fake genuine. You can't. You can't fake good person. 0:22:07.440 --> 0:22:09.840 If you are, you aren't. Look at the way that 0:22:09.880 --> 0:22:11.399 I live, look at who I am, looking at my 0:22:11.560 --> 0:22:14.840 voice on a daily basis. I am motivation, I am inspiration, 0:22:15.680 --> 0:22:17.640 I am get up, go after it, I am love, 0:22:18.640 --> 0:22:21.600 I am laugh. The only other person who I can 0:22:21.640 --> 0:22:25.240 say matches my energy on a daily basis publicly as 0:22:25.240 --> 0:22:28.400 a close friend of mine, and that's Dayne Rock Johnson. Publicly, 0:22:28.480 --> 0:22:33.760 we make it our business to share positivity at all 0:22:33.840 --> 0:22:38.719 time high, to bring people together. My comedy shows are 0:22:38.880 --> 0:22:43.879 driven on bringing people together. Yeah, globally. Well, I just 0:22:43.960 --> 0:22:46.280 want to say that ultimately, the apology you that you 0:22:46.359 --> 0:22:48.919 made on Twitter, I think that was a very positive 0:22:48.960 --> 0:22:51.920 thing to do. So I'm glad you did. Thank you. 0:22:52.080 --> 0:22:53.920 I did it, and I felt that I did it 0:22:53.960 --> 0:22:56.560 in the fashion that was true to me. And I 0:22:56.680 --> 0:23:00.240 stepped down because I'm not going to allow us to 0:23:00.359 --> 0:23:03.359 tarnish uh an amazing night for the other actors and 0:23:03.400 --> 0:23:06.239 actresses that are going to be on that stage at night. 0:23:06.280 --> 0:23:08.879 It shouldn't be about Kevin Hart and his tweets from 0:23:08.920 --> 0:23:12.840 old And I stated again to anybody that I've hurt, 0:23:12.920 --> 0:23:16.639 I'm sorry, but I'm not gonna partake and you know, 0:23:16.840 --> 0:23:19.600 hosting the Oscars. At this point, what's that relationship with 0:23:19.640 --> 0:23:22.399 the Academy, Like, I mean, it's do it will? No, 0:23:22.560 --> 0:23:25.359 will it will towards the Academy. Will I do it? No, 0:23:25.640 --> 0:23:30.119 I wouldn't. I wouldn't. Now it's done. It's done. At 0:23:30.160 --> 0:23:32.119 the moment came and it was a it was a 0:23:32.200 --> 0:23:36.680 blessing and I was excited at the opportunity, and I 0:23:36.760 --> 0:23:40.640 still am. In my mind it happened. I got the job. Uh, 0:23:41.160 --> 0:23:43.840 it was a dream job, and you know, things came 0:23:43.920 --> 0:23:48.240 up that simply prohibited it from happening. But I'm not 0:23:48.280 --> 0:23:50.040