Of Course Kevin Hart Is Upset About Cancel Culture

In recent months, we’ve heard everyone from Seth Rogen to Billy Crystal weigh in on “cancel culture” and the ways they believe (or don’t believe) it to have impacted the world of comedy. Now Kevin Hart has chimed in on the issue, telling The Times of London that he thinks his stand-up is being hindered by fear of backlash.

“You’re thinking that things you say will come back and bite you on the ass,” he told the publication. “I can’t be the comic today that I was when I got into this.”

Of course, it makes sense that Hart would be concerned about being canceled, given that he famously lost his Oscars hosting gig in 2018 after old homophobic tweets of his were resurfaced. He obviously hasn’t been “canceled” — he’s continued to work in the years since losing the Oscars job, so much so that his net worth is currently estimated to be roughly $200 million — but consequences can apparently be just as scary as cancellation.

“It’s not necessarily about cancel culture,” Hart said. “It’s backlash. It’s about the intent behind what you say — there’s an assumption it’s always bad and, somehow, we forgot comedians are going for the laugh. You’re not saying something to make people angry. That’s not why I’m on stage. I’m trying to make you laugh and if I did not make you laugh I failed. That’s my consequence.”

Hart, however, insisted that his personal experience with facing consequences for his homophobic material — which included several bits about using violence in an attempt to prevent his son from being gay — hasn’t had an effect on him or his feelings about cancel culture.

“I’ve been canceled, what, three or four times? Never bothered,” he said. “If you allow it to have an effect on you, it will. Personally? That’s not how I operate … I understand people are human. Everyone can change. It’s like jail. People get locked up so they can be taught a lesson. When they get out, they are supposed to be better. But if they come out and people go, ‘I’m not giving you a job because you were in jail’ — then what the fuck did I go to jail for? That was my punishment — how do you not give those people a shot? They’re saying that all life should be over because of a mistake? Your life should end and there should be no opportunity to change? What are you talking about? … And who are you to make that decision?”

He makes a fair point about the failings of the criminal justice system (and yes, a broader one about how people should be allowed to grow and learn from their mistakes). But it’s still not quite the same thing; one quick glance at his lengthy IMDb page, and it’s clear that Hart hasn’t exactly been struggling to find work since his 2018 controversy.