In an interview with Deadline, comedian Kevin Hart criticized “cancel culture” and defended Ellen DeGeneres and Nick Cannon despite recent controversies that jeopardized both celebrities’ careers.
Last month, Cannon was dropped from ViacomCBS after making comments on his podcast that many considered anti Semitic. He later apologized and said that he did not condone hate speech in any way.
In the past month, DeGeneres has also dealt with controversy surrounding her daytime talk show after current and former employees revealed the toxic culture of fear and racism that went on behind the scenes. DeGeneres sent a letter to her staff in July claiming that she was unaware of the issues involving her staff but that she’s was taking steps to make things right. Despite this, there were still calls for DeGeneres to be replaced and on Monday, producers Ed Glavin, Kevin Leman and Jonathan Norman “parted ways” with The Ellen Show after WarnerMedia launched its investigation of the show’s staff.
In his interview with Deadline, Kevin Hart explained why he chose to defend both Cannon and DeGeneres. He said that he is friends with both and refuses to lose sight of that for the sake of business.
“There’s a lot of relationships that are fake, and there’s some that are real,” Hart said. “In my case, the ones that are real are the ones that I’m always going to be adamant about speaking on behalf of.”
Even though Hart clarified that he didn’t ignore the claims made against these celebrities, he also said that he valued his friendship with them more.
“When it comes to Nick, and it comes Ellen, I know who they are, and I know who they’ve been for the years that I’ve been around them, and I can only speak to that. Those are two of the most amazing people that I know,” he said.
Kevin Hart has had his own fair share of controversies over the years. In 2018, older Tweets of Hart making homophobic comments resurfaced and the comedian initially refused to apologize. He was fired from hosting the 2018 Academy Awards, a gig that Hart had said would have been a dream come true.
In the interview, Hart was also openly critical of “cancel culture” and the idea that a person’s career could end from a single mistake.
“What, it’s over, and then you can’t do nothing else for the rest of your life, because you made a mistake? What happened to the days of making a mistake, learning from the mistake, not doing that, and educating others on what not to do because of your mistakes?” he asked.
Hart emphasizes that not everyone deserves the same kind of treatment and that someone who made a problematic comment in their past shouldn’t be ridiculed the same way as some who actively mistreats other people.
As social media and public opinion on morality dictate the viability of celebrities now more than ever, only time will tell whether Hart’s perspective will be embraced by the culture.
