Kevin Hart: Don't F**k This Up (2019) s01e06 Episode Script
Kingdom of Kevin
1 Kevin Hart, the comedian chosen to host the Oscars, he's facing backlash over old tweets that say bad things about gay people.
Let's talk about Kevin Hart.
Okay, so I'm gonna put the tweet right here.
"Yo, if my son comes home and tries to play with my daughter's doll house, I'm going to break it over his head and say in my voice, 'Stop, that's gay.
'" If you missed it, the joke in 2010 was "If I can prevent my son from being gay, I will.
" Look, prevent him from being gay? That's That's not what you want to hear.
They don't even really seem like a joke.
We have not heard from the Academy about this yet.
Kev calls me, and I say, "Kev, uh, you gotta get up and call Haley, the publicist.
There's a lot of shit going on.
" He puts me on hold.
He didn't say, "I'mma call them and I'll call you right back.
" He puts me on hold.
After I'm on hold for a couple minutes, I'm like, "He maybe forgot.
" So I hang up the phone, I go on Instagram and see the video.
My team calls me, "Oh, my God, Kevin, the world is upset about tweets you did years ago.
Oh, my God.
" Guys, I'm almost 40 years old.
If you don't believe that people change, grow, evolve as they get older I don't know what to tell you.
If you want to hold people in a position where they always have to justify or explain their past then do you.
Oh, my God.
He said "Do you.
" All I do is spread positive He didn't even have the decency to get out of bed.
Fucking eyes is barely open.
He just started recording and said whatever it was he wanted to say, and didn't really address shit.
So I think with that one, all he did was, uh, poke the bear on that one.
Yeah, now we gotta figure out, uh Now it's, uh, damage control time now.
At this point, like, he needs to be on fucking mute.
So I just got a call from the Academy, and, um, that call basically said, "Kevin, apologize for your tweets of old, or we're gonna have to move on to find another host.
" Talking about tweets from 2009, 2010.
I chose the pass.
I passed on the apology.
The reason why I passed is because I've addressed this several times.
This is not the first time this has come up, I've addressed it.
I've spoken on it.
I've said where the rights and wrongs were.
We feeding the Internet trolls and we reward them.
I'm not gonna do it, man.
I'm gonna be me.
I'm gonna stand my ground.
Regardless, Academy, I'm thankful and appreciative of the opportunity.
If it goes away, no harm, no foul.
Kevin Hart initially refused to apologize, and then just hours later, he called it quits.
"I sincerely apologize to the LGBTQ community for my insensitive words from my past.
" Was that the right way to respond, initially, uh, through that video? Right, to try to to try to talk through it, to try to explain? Also but blaming it on Internet trolls and people who are looking for outrage.
Yes, people do are We live in an outrage culture right now, but is that really the issue when it comes to to this? He should've apologized.
He should've just been the bigger person and just apologized and owned his mistake.
Kevin, call me.
Let's talk.
I talked to him last night after that second video.
The second video, I was like, "Tonally it should be just more sorry.
I think your tone is wrong.
What you're saying not wrong, it's just your tone.
" Gave it a half-ass, "Y'all people crazy out here.
" - Fucking diamond chains on.
- What? Jesus Christ.
Look at him, got three motherfucking chains on looking like Mr.
T.
What the fuck are you doing, man? Looking like Migos in that motherfucker.
I don't get it, bro.
"Tonally, you didn't say it right.
The stuff that you were saying was right, and I know where it comes from, but that's me knowing you.
It's like, tonally, I think you may have missed it.
" He missed that opportunity.
Just wasn't his time.
Let the chips fall where they may.
- Dude, I was going to be the third - I thought it was the fifth.
- It was Chris Rock, right? - Was third? - Chris Rock and Whoopi, that's it? - Chris Rock, Whoopi, and I think I was gonna be the third African-American ever to host the Oscars.
You was the fifth.
"1972, singer, actor, comedian Sammy Davis Jr became the first African-American entertainer to host or co-host the show in the history of the Academy Awards.
Richard Pryor, in 1977, hosted the Academy Awards for the first time alongside Jane Fonda.
" That hurts.
Now Now that-that makes it sting a little bit.
- You and that goddamn conversation.
- Mm-hmm.
Sammy Davis, Richard Pryor, Chris Rock, Whoopi Goldberg, Kevin Hart.
Yeah, I've talked to him a couple times today.
The first one was more of a rehash on, "Fuck did you do yesterday?" The public perception is that he didn't want to apologize, therefore, he is homophobic.
I think everybody saw the Martin Luther King quote that he tweeted out last night.
We said that was the wrong move.
You are not Martin Luther King.
You know, you need to learn how to stop and think.
I was surprised Chase emailed this morning wanting to set-up a media strategy call.
So I gotta deal with that next week.
I heard I heard they're not sitting well.
That's all gonna happen, and it's normal, and that's okay, but there's not gonna be something else that takes the wind out of these sails.
And he's just gotta be okay living in this world that he's not used to living in.
Because he's not used to being the person who's not - loved and cherished by everybody.
- Yeah.
And that's important.
And I think it's like a big, you know, humility pill that he's gotta take.
Hey.
Wait.
S What does he want to do? I just got a call from Emile.
Kevin called him saying he wants to do a live Straight from the Hart on Monday.
Yeah, there's no Kevin's not We We had a long talk with Kevin that he needs to just shut up and put his head down for the next few weeks, and that does not include doing a radio show.
Uh, who's calling Kevin? - What, right now? - Yeah.
- To do what? - Tell him that ain't happening.
I thought we was just gonna let them shut it down from that side.
If you tell him it's not gonna happen, the defiant one is going to make it happen.
Um No, no.
He's That's That ain't happening.
Agh, it's fucking nuts.
Just gonna act like I don't even know about that.
He won't just go off the cuff.
Ninety-five percent of the time, he won't go off the cuff.
But that five percent, when he goes, it's gonna be fucking It's emotional and it's-it's bad.
So If we call Kevin and tell him he can't because we don't want him to, he's going to.
All right, can we do this? Can we The producer hasn't talked to him yet, right? To Kevin.
All right.
No, no, it's okay.
I'm glad I'm in the loop.
Okay, bye.
When he calls you, you just tell him, like, "Look, I tried, and they said there's no way we can make that happen.
" - All right.
All right.
- All right, peace.
Um Yeah, man, this should be fine, man.
I think so.
But I think what he needs to remember, which is really important, is that it's not just the Plastic Cup Boyz anymore.
- He's feeding 50, 60 people.
- Yeah.
And like, when he takes a shitter, everybody takes a shitter.
- Right.
- And that's a big issue now.
You're not speaking for Kevin Hart.
You're speaking for HartBeat Productions, Laugh Out Loud.
You're speaking for all these movies, all these different production deals that you've now closed with these networks.
There are a bunch of people who work underneath you.
Come on, let's all jump in.
Let's go.
Thank you all for sacrificing Sunday morning.
You people being the closest to me, I want you to hear me and understand that the tweets I want you to know how stupid, idiotic, those things were, wholeheartedly.
But I want you to hear from my mouth what my stance was about.
My last ten years have been an example of how I've learned from my mistakes in the past.
My last ten years, there's been no homophobic tweets, or slander, or anything.
There's been nothing.
Because I learned from what was wrong.
Me not apologizing again isn't being insensitive to the gay community at all.
It's me trying to take a stand for today and the way that things are handled.
The high level of sensitivity is so high that we're now making it okay to go backwards.
It's just, I don't wanna go backwards.
I just I just wanna keep going forward.
I think we're missing a big part of this.
You are one of the most famous people in the world.
There are still people who don't know who you are and aren't familiar with your past, your comedy now, the movies you make, what you stand for.
That part of the society who doesn't know and isn't familiar, they're the ones who took offense.
People who were looking for an immediate apology, they're not familiar with the fact that that's not who you are, nor that's not what you stand for.
I know that you're a good dude, but I work here, and, you know, I can only imagine some people going, "I know you say he's a good guy, I know he's a good guy, but, bah, bah" So gotta be some of you going, "Shit, am I at the right place? Am I gonna lose everything? Is Kevin gonna go, 'You know what? Fuck this.
I'm rich.
I'm done.
'" There's gotta be a unique shit.
No, I think I think, Dave, exactly what you just said is very real for a lot of us.
You know, people texting You know, we've all had it.
Industry people.
"Oh, well, how are you? Are you gonna still work there? Carli, you're gay, so how are you Did he call you?" "Yeah, he called me.
" "How fast did he call you?" It's like You know, it's it's a lot.
We know you, I know you.
We've had We've had many conversations.
- It wasn't about me.
- Mm-hmm.
It was about the moment when it hit when my gay brother reaches out and is furious, and when my therapist, gay, reaches out, is furious.
That's the person I talk to every week, so suddenly Now our work conversations I know will shift because it's like, okay, that's in there.
You know, the the venue owner for my wedding is gay and called me in for a meeting because he didn't want to support It's like It It's that kind of stuff, that trickle effect and the and the people talking.
Again, it's It's not about me.
It's not about my opinion.
I know my opinion, I know my relationship, my friendship with you.
But I know for me, it's not just a matter of, "Oh, tomorrow I pick up and all is good, and I'm going out and yelling your name on the streets.
" It's like, I think it's gonna take a second.
I understand that.
I didn't want to start to do all of the interviews where you're just pleading your case or you're trying to talk, because no matter what, it's just you're not gonna win.
The biggest platform for me to talk about it on is Ellen.
And that was already happening, you know, uh by coincidence.
I will not tap out on this place, and my mistakes as bad as they are, are mistakes of the past.
There won't be any of the present, okay? I'm trying my hardest.
Please do not let the conversation of the old Kevin affect what you guys see as the new Kevin.
Thank you for coming in.
Thank you.
The Twitter apologies or explanations on Ellen have fallen flat.
I'm sure you've seen what folks are saying.
If you haven't, check it out.
He has somehow turned himself into a victim instead of acknowledging the real victims of violent and sometimes deadly homophobia.
- Okay, we gotta talk about Upside.
- Okay.
Have you talked to Bryan Cranston? - No.
- Or Adam from SCX? Okay.
They feel like he shouldn't have to speak to what happened to you.
- Mm-hmm.
- He's also on Broadway, which is a very large you know, that's very LGBTQ-heavy in ticket sales.
So we lost Bryan.
Gotcha.
Yeah, that's fine.
But there comes the question of, you're gonna have to do an apology tour.
I've talked to everybody, all offers we had.
Everybody kinda needs to address it.
The The tour's gonna be very simple.
- "I addressed it on Ellen.
" - Not even gonna be that.
Just have to know the question is coming.
That's fine, but the answer's gonna be very simple.
It's not even "I addressed it on Ellen.
" "Guys, I've addressed this several times.
" - No, no, you can't do that.
- I have after Ellen.
- I know, but you're gonna have to - No, I don't, 'cause they saw it.
I'm telling you, the easier answer is to say, "I just addressed it on Ellen this week.
" - I have talked about this.
- I know, but if you go back to that That means that nobody watched the time that I did it.
- It's going back to my point.
- Just say, "I talked about it on Ellen.
" - Say I addressed it.
- Do you want to look to see what I have? What I thought was gonna blow over ended up becoming much more of a serious mess than I expected.
But what what other talk show am I doing for The Upside, though? You're still doing a hefty schedule, - plus all the other filler stuff.
- Okay.
Gotcha.
My team is telling me, "Kev, you need to shut up.
Kev, this is wrong.
" At this point, I don't know I don't know what's right.
I got a movie to promote.
Everybody is telling me my approach is wrong, what I'm trying to articulate isn't coming off the way that I think it's coming off.
I ain't gonna bitch and complain about it.
I'mma still go ahead and do what I gotta do.
There's a lot of fucking cooks in the kitchen, but there's only one person that's that's in the fucking hot water.
I'm the person that's in it.
How am I gonna promote The Upside when every headline you're reading is, "Homophobe, homophobe, homophobe, homophobe, homophobe"? And I know what that word means.
I know I know real-life homophobes.
I know the level of hate that goes into being a homophobe.
I know I know what that means.
I know I'm nowhere close to that.
So when you see people saying it and just running with it, it gets under your skin a little bit.
- All right.
- All right.
Would you ever consider hosting the Oscars down the line at any point? No comment.
A lot of attention on this guy right now.
Of course, the whole controversy about the Oscars What's up with the Oscars, Kev? I got y'all on the way out.
On the way out My guest, Kevin Hart, is doing interviews to promote his new film, The Upside, at a time when he's in the news for a totally different reason.
- What do you want to say to - No comment.
Jokes are funny 'cause they're based on truth.
- What was the joke part, the funny part? - It didn't work.
Comedians try to be edgy and funny.
That's what comedians do.
It doesn't mean that you get it right all the time.
Oh, God.
This promo tour's probably been one of the most draining, uh, - that I've done.
- They wanna talk about everything - except the movie.
- They wanna just keep on, you know, dragging this Oscars thing up.
By the time I got done this run of outlet, outlet, outlet, outlet, I'm hearing the same thing over and over again.
So you gotta understand, my frustration just keeps building, man.
When I got to Good Morning America, I was like, "I'm not doing it anymore.
" I'm gonna shut it down on the platform that I know everybody is going to see.
I got on there and I just gave a very direct answer to the question I knew I was gonna get.
"Kevin, the Oscars, how do you feel" And I just stopped them.
I was like, "Yo, I'm not talking about it no more.
" Point blank.
"I'm not addressing it anymore.
I'm not talking about it no more.
" "Do you feel" "I'm not talking about it anymore.
Get over it.
" What I thought that was gonna do it did not do.
The complete opposite happened.
- He can't do it.
- Nasty.
Can we get back to the Oscars? Do you think you could've handled it differently? Looking back at it, what I thought it was, it wasn't.
And my approach to dealing with it, because of the assumption that I had was just wrong.
You know, I had conversations with tons of gay friends.
I remember Lee Daniels telling me, "Kevin, it's not about the apology.
It's about you saying that you don't condone violence.
" And that's when the light bulbs really started going off.
I missed an opportunity to say simply that I don't condone any type of violence in any way, shape or form to anyone uh, for being who they are.
I fucked up.
Sometimes you just go off the You go far left.
Right then and there, though.
You weren't You weren't in your right mindset.
Something as simple as that.
Instead I said, "I addressed it.
" I said, " I apologized.
" I said, "I talked about this already.
" It was just immature.
Be careful, man.
Be careful, hot foot.
Here's what I now know.
You're not Superman.
- You - You think you are.
But I'm saying I I know I'm not.
You're not invincible.
You don't know everything.
Your way is not always the right way.
And sometimes it it's very valuable to stop for a second and assess.
- Uh-huh.
- Does that make sense? - Yeah.
- To stop and assess.
I know the things that I could've did better.
I have no problem with saying I was wrong.
Well, I am proud of you.
- I've definitely seen a change - Mm-hmm.
- within the last two years, you know.
- Mm-hmm.
You've You are definitely growing on me, honey.
He's grown.
I will say that.
Come on.
- Oh, wow! - I know, oh, wow.
Come on.
From talking to people and just processing things a little bit, he got it.
He gets it.
Oh, wow.
Wow.
- Down.
- You down? Lets talk Uptown Saturday Night.
Where is our movement? I know - I know we have a script out, right? - Yeah.
And I know that right now they've been commenced.
And it's supposed to come back when, as of now, Carli? Beginning of October, realistically.
I would love just to check their temperature and-and check in with them.
Right now, that gives us Lil Dicky, which is currently in production on FX.
We also have our doc that is currently in production.
Guys, you're looking at four to five television shows.
This is This is TV.
This is done.
This is in stone with the HartBeat title on it.
Um, I have something to bring up that's not on here.
- Mm-hmm.
- What, if any, is our - Kung Fu Panda? What is our Shrek? - I love that.
Some animal or creature, what is the the one for Kevin's voice? - Pretty dope.
That's pretty fucking dope.
- I think we can sell that.
That's pretty fucking dope.
Kevin is the guy who did the shit and made the change, and is trying to continue the change.
Forward thinking.
I love it.
I didn't feel that way six months ago.
I didn't feel that way three months ago.
The thing that makes me emotional is the change.
It's been humbling to watch how open he is.
I'm a gay executive.
I would love to have LGBTQ representation in our shows.
We're gonna do it, and we're gonna do it big.
You wanna know the beauty of having execs? It's having people that you trust that that get shit done.
We have things on our slate right now we would not have a year ago.
Not because he didn't want them.
Because he didn't know.
I'll briefly give you guys an update.
We talked yesterday.
NBC has agreed to, uh, give us a pilot.
- Everybody's aware.
Everybody's aware.
- Wow! - Great.
- That's amazing.
It was a great moment for us as a company, and, I think, uh, a better moment just to understand the importance and value of relationships.
I got to see the bad of being defiant and not listening and not giving my team an opportunity to be my team.
- Great.
- We'll close that out, okay? Okay! - Wow! - After you talk all that shit? Holy shit! - Holy fucking shit! Wait a minute.
- No! What the fuck is going on? - Kev, wow! - I'm tired of spending on y'all.
Shit! You listened to what I was saying I wanted, yo.
This motherfucker got me the Chevelle SS.
Come give me a hug, you little bitch.
Give me a fucking hug.
God damn! You can't do it by yourself.
You put people in a position to make you better for a reason.
Nah, this is dope as hell.
Nah, this is dope as hell.
I mean, you don't let them do their jobs by being the defiant one, you're kinda going against yourself.
Goddamn about to kill themselves.
And sometimes you may be right.
I've been right.
I've been right a lot.
And when you're wrong, it's gonna hurt.
Because you're gonna look back and go, "Fuck I should've listened.
" - My guy.
Give me a hug, man.
- No way.
Fucking love you, dude.
Man! Wow, bro.
- I love you, boy.
- I love you, man.
It's fucking amazing.
I'm so thankful.
You know, he didn't He don't owe us shit.
You can't pay for loyalty.
Y'all niggas deserve it.
I don't wanna be the only one with the old school.
We gonna ride together.
- We ride together from now on.
- You son of a bitch! God damn, man! You gotta kinda stop once again and just realize you can't do it by yourself.
I tried to show my kids where I grew up, thinking it's gonna be like a, "Oh, my goodness!" Backfired.
"It's so cool! Can we live here?" "Shut up, man.
" Oh, Jesus Christ.
"Fuck you talking about? Everybody, in the car right now.
We'll talk about this when we get back.
" "This did not go the way it was supposed to.
" "Oh, my God! It's so cool, Dad! It's so different.
" "We lived on the top floor, not the whole thing.
No.
This is three separate units.
So, the top floor was me and grandmoms, the middle, that was somebody else, that was a neighbor, and downstairs was somebody else.
Three different people lived in this one thing.
" "Together? Y'all were strangers?" Like they don't "What? Hey, shut up.
" My only answer is, "Everybody get in the car" Hey, man! Hey, man! - What's wrong with you, man? - Hey, man! - It's Papa! - Give me five! Everything that I didn't have, I want them to have plus more.
- Come here.
Aah, how you doing? - I'm good.
Making sure they have a bond with their grandpop is the priority.
Kenzo! Whoa! Man, look at that! I know my sons love me.
You know And-And I love my sons.
I I know, um my time is limited.
- Ooh! - Ooh! Wait, Zo.
Wait, wait, wait! Is there anything that you have never told Kevin that you would want to tell him? It is one thing.
You know, um I guess it's, "Thank you.
" 'Cause I ain't never say that because he would tell me, "Aw, nigga, shut up.
" You know, "Turkey, shut up.
" Do one of them numbers to me.
'Cause that's that's us.
I don't think it's too many fathers and sons went through some of the things we did.
- It hurts.
- I want you to know that I love you.
You're my fucking dad.
Like, nigga, I love you.
That's not gonna change.
There's nothing that's ever going to change that.
You don't have to prove to me why or what or the reasons.
I understand.
My dad has never not faced his fuck-up.
He's always laid in the bed that he made.
I'm a product of that.
You can't fix what our past is because it's it's the past.
The present is what matters.
Do grandpop Do grandpop walking up a hill and then needing to catch his breath.
Y'all go without me.
I'll be good.
Y'all need one more.
- Tell him, Pops.
- Heaven said she want a girl.
He doesn't want to, though.
He don't want another kid, period, but he has no choice.
Make some bacon, boy.
Y'all want me to have another one of these? Is four enough? Is that it? At the end of the day, it comes down to what you guys do in bed.
- Hey! Hey! Get outta here! - Hey! - Have you always been like this? - I'm a positive fucking guy, man.
I look at Heaven and Hendrix, and I look at Zo, I look at my wife, I go, "Yo, I didn't have the family shit when I was coming up.
Y'all got one.
" Look what I done did.
Look what I built.
These people depend on me.
I provide for these people.
That makes me happy.
But this is coming just from your own personal experiences.
- Own experiences.
- Have any role models? - My mother, Nancy Hart.
- Did she speak to you like this? My mom reinforced, "You don't quit.
If you're gonna do it, do it to try and be the best.
" We're in a time right now where people expect perfection.
Perfection doesn't exist.
From I don't know what happened that this is the criteria for living.
You're gonna do things, you're gonna make mistakes, you're gonna fuck up.
You're supposed to learn and then move forward with the understanding of what not to do.
When you are okay with being flawed it means you can be fixed.
I tried to find my way in PA Holding onto family And though I had to find the spirit I had to go and find me And I said thank you
Let's talk about Kevin Hart.
Okay, so I'm gonna put the tweet right here.
"Yo, if my son comes home and tries to play with my daughter's doll house, I'm going to break it over his head and say in my voice, 'Stop, that's gay.
'" If you missed it, the joke in 2010 was "If I can prevent my son from being gay, I will.
" Look, prevent him from being gay? That's That's not what you want to hear.
They don't even really seem like a joke.
We have not heard from the Academy about this yet.
Kev calls me, and I say, "Kev, uh, you gotta get up and call Haley, the publicist.
There's a lot of shit going on.
" He puts me on hold.
He didn't say, "I'mma call them and I'll call you right back.
" He puts me on hold.
After I'm on hold for a couple minutes, I'm like, "He maybe forgot.
" So I hang up the phone, I go on Instagram and see the video.
My team calls me, "Oh, my God, Kevin, the world is upset about tweets you did years ago.
Oh, my God.
" Guys, I'm almost 40 years old.
If you don't believe that people change, grow, evolve as they get older I don't know what to tell you.
If you want to hold people in a position where they always have to justify or explain their past then do you.
Oh, my God.
He said "Do you.
" All I do is spread positive He didn't even have the decency to get out of bed.
Fucking eyes is barely open.
He just started recording and said whatever it was he wanted to say, and didn't really address shit.
So I think with that one, all he did was, uh, poke the bear on that one.
Yeah, now we gotta figure out, uh Now it's, uh, damage control time now.
At this point, like, he needs to be on fucking mute.
So I just got a call from the Academy, and, um, that call basically said, "Kevin, apologize for your tweets of old, or we're gonna have to move on to find another host.
" Talking about tweets from 2009, 2010.
I chose the pass.
I passed on the apology.
The reason why I passed is because I've addressed this several times.
This is not the first time this has come up, I've addressed it.
I've spoken on it.
I've said where the rights and wrongs were.
We feeding the Internet trolls and we reward them.
I'm not gonna do it, man.
I'm gonna be me.
I'm gonna stand my ground.
Regardless, Academy, I'm thankful and appreciative of the opportunity.
If it goes away, no harm, no foul.
Kevin Hart initially refused to apologize, and then just hours later, he called it quits.
"I sincerely apologize to the LGBTQ community for my insensitive words from my past.
" Was that the right way to respond, initially, uh, through that video? Right, to try to to try to talk through it, to try to explain? Also but blaming it on Internet trolls and people who are looking for outrage.
Yes, people do are We live in an outrage culture right now, but is that really the issue when it comes to to this? He should've apologized.
He should've just been the bigger person and just apologized and owned his mistake.
Kevin, call me.
Let's talk.
I talked to him last night after that second video.
The second video, I was like, "Tonally it should be just more sorry.
I think your tone is wrong.
What you're saying not wrong, it's just your tone.
" Gave it a half-ass, "Y'all people crazy out here.
" - Fucking diamond chains on.
- What? Jesus Christ.
Look at him, got three motherfucking chains on looking like Mr.
T.
What the fuck are you doing, man? Looking like Migos in that motherfucker.
I don't get it, bro.
"Tonally, you didn't say it right.
The stuff that you were saying was right, and I know where it comes from, but that's me knowing you.
It's like, tonally, I think you may have missed it.
" He missed that opportunity.
Just wasn't his time.
Let the chips fall where they may.
- Dude, I was going to be the third - I thought it was the fifth.
- It was Chris Rock, right? - Was third? - Chris Rock and Whoopi, that's it? - Chris Rock, Whoopi, and I think I was gonna be the third African-American ever to host the Oscars.
You was the fifth.
"1972, singer, actor, comedian Sammy Davis Jr became the first African-American entertainer to host or co-host the show in the history of the Academy Awards.
Richard Pryor, in 1977, hosted the Academy Awards for the first time alongside Jane Fonda.
" That hurts.
Now Now that-that makes it sting a little bit.
- You and that goddamn conversation.
- Mm-hmm.
Sammy Davis, Richard Pryor, Chris Rock, Whoopi Goldberg, Kevin Hart.
Yeah, I've talked to him a couple times today.
The first one was more of a rehash on, "Fuck did you do yesterday?" The public perception is that he didn't want to apologize, therefore, he is homophobic.
I think everybody saw the Martin Luther King quote that he tweeted out last night.
We said that was the wrong move.
You are not Martin Luther King.
You know, you need to learn how to stop and think.
I was surprised Chase emailed this morning wanting to set-up a media strategy call.
So I gotta deal with that next week.
I heard I heard they're not sitting well.
That's all gonna happen, and it's normal, and that's okay, but there's not gonna be something else that takes the wind out of these sails.
And he's just gotta be okay living in this world that he's not used to living in.
Because he's not used to being the person who's not - loved and cherished by everybody.
- Yeah.
And that's important.
And I think it's like a big, you know, humility pill that he's gotta take.
Hey.
Wait.
S What does he want to do? I just got a call from Emile.
Kevin called him saying he wants to do a live Straight from the Hart on Monday.
Yeah, there's no Kevin's not We We had a long talk with Kevin that he needs to just shut up and put his head down for the next few weeks, and that does not include doing a radio show.
Uh, who's calling Kevin? - What, right now? - Yeah.
- To do what? - Tell him that ain't happening.
I thought we was just gonna let them shut it down from that side.
If you tell him it's not gonna happen, the defiant one is going to make it happen.
Um No, no.
He's That's That ain't happening.
Agh, it's fucking nuts.
Just gonna act like I don't even know about that.
He won't just go off the cuff.
Ninety-five percent of the time, he won't go off the cuff.
But that five percent, when he goes, it's gonna be fucking It's emotional and it's-it's bad.
So If we call Kevin and tell him he can't because we don't want him to, he's going to.
All right, can we do this? Can we The producer hasn't talked to him yet, right? To Kevin.
All right.
No, no, it's okay.
I'm glad I'm in the loop.
Okay, bye.
When he calls you, you just tell him, like, "Look, I tried, and they said there's no way we can make that happen.
" - All right.
All right.
- All right, peace.
Um Yeah, man, this should be fine, man.
I think so.
But I think what he needs to remember, which is really important, is that it's not just the Plastic Cup Boyz anymore.
- He's feeding 50, 60 people.
- Yeah.
And like, when he takes a shitter, everybody takes a shitter.
- Right.
- And that's a big issue now.
You're not speaking for Kevin Hart.
You're speaking for HartBeat Productions, Laugh Out Loud.
You're speaking for all these movies, all these different production deals that you've now closed with these networks.
There are a bunch of people who work underneath you.
Come on, let's all jump in.
Let's go.
Thank you all for sacrificing Sunday morning.
You people being the closest to me, I want you to hear me and understand that the tweets I want you to know how stupid, idiotic, those things were, wholeheartedly.
But I want you to hear from my mouth what my stance was about.
My last ten years have been an example of how I've learned from my mistakes in the past.
My last ten years, there's been no homophobic tweets, or slander, or anything.
There's been nothing.
Because I learned from what was wrong.
Me not apologizing again isn't being insensitive to the gay community at all.
It's me trying to take a stand for today and the way that things are handled.
The high level of sensitivity is so high that we're now making it okay to go backwards.
It's just, I don't wanna go backwards.
I just I just wanna keep going forward.
I think we're missing a big part of this.
You are one of the most famous people in the world.
There are still people who don't know who you are and aren't familiar with your past, your comedy now, the movies you make, what you stand for.
That part of the society who doesn't know and isn't familiar, they're the ones who took offense.
People who were looking for an immediate apology, they're not familiar with the fact that that's not who you are, nor that's not what you stand for.
I know that you're a good dude, but I work here, and, you know, I can only imagine some people going, "I know you say he's a good guy, I know he's a good guy, but, bah, bah" So gotta be some of you going, "Shit, am I at the right place? Am I gonna lose everything? Is Kevin gonna go, 'You know what? Fuck this.
I'm rich.
I'm done.
'" There's gotta be a unique shit.
No, I think I think, Dave, exactly what you just said is very real for a lot of us.
You know, people texting You know, we've all had it.
Industry people.
"Oh, well, how are you? Are you gonna still work there? Carli, you're gay, so how are you Did he call you?" "Yeah, he called me.
" "How fast did he call you?" It's like You know, it's it's a lot.
We know you, I know you.
We've had We've had many conversations.
- It wasn't about me.
- Mm-hmm.
It was about the moment when it hit when my gay brother reaches out and is furious, and when my therapist, gay, reaches out, is furious.
That's the person I talk to every week, so suddenly Now our work conversations I know will shift because it's like, okay, that's in there.
You know, the the venue owner for my wedding is gay and called me in for a meeting because he didn't want to support It's like It It's that kind of stuff, that trickle effect and the and the people talking.
Again, it's It's not about me.
It's not about my opinion.
I know my opinion, I know my relationship, my friendship with you.
But I know for me, it's not just a matter of, "Oh, tomorrow I pick up and all is good, and I'm going out and yelling your name on the streets.
" It's like, I think it's gonna take a second.
I understand that.
I didn't want to start to do all of the interviews where you're just pleading your case or you're trying to talk, because no matter what, it's just you're not gonna win.
The biggest platform for me to talk about it on is Ellen.
And that was already happening, you know, uh by coincidence.
I will not tap out on this place, and my mistakes as bad as they are, are mistakes of the past.
There won't be any of the present, okay? I'm trying my hardest.
Please do not let the conversation of the old Kevin affect what you guys see as the new Kevin.
Thank you for coming in.
Thank you.
The Twitter apologies or explanations on Ellen have fallen flat.
I'm sure you've seen what folks are saying.
If you haven't, check it out.
He has somehow turned himself into a victim instead of acknowledging the real victims of violent and sometimes deadly homophobia.
- Okay, we gotta talk about Upside.
- Okay.
Have you talked to Bryan Cranston? - No.
- Or Adam from SCX? Okay.
They feel like he shouldn't have to speak to what happened to you.
- Mm-hmm.
- He's also on Broadway, which is a very large you know, that's very LGBTQ-heavy in ticket sales.
So we lost Bryan.
Gotcha.
Yeah, that's fine.
But there comes the question of, you're gonna have to do an apology tour.
I've talked to everybody, all offers we had.
Everybody kinda needs to address it.
The The tour's gonna be very simple.
- "I addressed it on Ellen.
" - Not even gonna be that.
Just have to know the question is coming.
That's fine, but the answer's gonna be very simple.
It's not even "I addressed it on Ellen.
" "Guys, I've addressed this several times.
" - No, no, you can't do that.
- I have after Ellen.
- I know, but you're gonna have to - No, I don't, 'cause they saw it.
I'm telling you, the easier answer is to say, "I just addressed it on Ellen this week.
" - I have talked about this.
- I know, but if you go back to that That means that nobody watched the time that I did it.
- It's going back to my point.
- Just say, "I talked about it on Ellen.
" - Say I addressed it.
- Do you want to look to see what I have? What I thought was gonna blow over ended up becoming much more of a serious mess than I expected.
But what what other talk show am I doing for The Upside, though? You're still doing a hefty schedule, - plus all the other filler stuff.
- Okay.
Gotcha.
My team is telling me, "Kev, you need to shut up.
Kev, this is wrong.
" At this point, I don't know I don't know what's right.
I got a movie to promote.
Everybody is telling me my approach is wrong, what I'm trying to articulate isn't coming off the way that I think it's coming off.
I ain't gonna bitch and complain about it.
I'mma still go ahead and do what I gotta do.
There's a lot of fucking cooks in the kitchen, but there's only one person that's that's in the fucking hot water.
I'm the person that's in it.
How am I gonna promote The Upside when every headline you're reading is, "Homophobe, homophobe, homophobe, homophobe, homophobe"? And I know what that word means.
I know I know real-life homophobes.
I know the level of hate that goes into being a homophobe.
I know I know what that means.
I know I'm nowhere close to that.
So when you see people saying it and just running with it, it gets under your skin a little bit.
- All right.
- All right.
Would you ever consider hosting the Oscars down the line at any point? No comment.
A lot of attention on this guy right now.
Of course, the whole controversy about the Oscars What's up with the Oscars, Kev? I got y'all on the way out.
On the way out My guest, Kevin Hart, is doing interviews to promote his new film, The Upside, at a time when he's in the news for a totally different reason.
- What do you want to say to - No comment.
Jokes are funny 'cause they're based on truth.
- What was the joke part, the funny part? - It didn't work.
Comedians try to be edgy and funny.
That's what comedians do.
It doesn't mean that you get it right all the time.
Oh, God.
This promo tour's probably been one of the most draining, uh, - that I've done.
- They wanna talk about everything - except the movie.
- They wanna just keep on, you know, dragging this Oscars thing up.
By the time I got done this run of outlet, outlet, outlet, outlet, I'm hearing the same thing over and over again.
So you gotta understand, my frustration just keeps building, man.
When I got to Good Morning America, I was like, "I'm not doing it anymore.
" I'm gonna shut it down on the platform that I know everybody is going to see.
I got on there and I just gave a very direct answer to the question I knew I was gonna get.
"Kevin, the Oscars, how do you feel" And I just stopped them.
I was like, "Yo, I'm not talking about it no more.
" Point blank.
"I'm not addressing it anymore.
I'm not talking about it no more.
" "Do you feel" "I'm not talking about it anymore.
Get over it.
" What I thought that was gonna do it did not do.
The complete opposite happened.
- He can't do it.
- Nasty.
Can we get back to the Oscars? Do you think you could've handled it differently? Looking back at it, what I thought it was, it wasn't.
And my approach to dealing with it, because of the assumption that I had was just wrong.
You know, I had conversations with tons of gay friends.
I remember Lee Daniels telling me, "Kevin, it's not about the apology.
It's about you saying that you don't condone violence.
" And that's when the light bulbs really started going off.
I missed an opportunity to say simply that I don't condone any type of violence in any way, shape or form to anyone uh, for being who they are.
I fucked up.
Sometimes you just go off the You go far left.
Right then and there, though.
You weren't You weren't in your right mindset.
Something as simple as that.
Instead I said, "I addressed it.
" I said, " I apologized.
" I said, "I talked about this already.
" It was just immature.
Be careful, man.
Be careful, hot foot.
Here's what I now know.
You're not Superman.
- You - You think you are.
But I'm saying I I know I'm not.
You're not invincible.
You don't know everything.
Your way is not always the right way.
And sometimes it it's very valuable to stop for a second and assess.
- Uh-huh.
- Does that make sense? - Yeah.
- To stop and assess.
I know the things that I could've did better.
I have no problem with saying I was wrong.
Well, I am proud of you.
- I've definitely seen a change - Mm-hmm.
- within the last two years, you know.
- Mm-hmm.
You've You are definitely growing on me, honey.
He's grown.
I will say that.
Come on.
- Oh, wow! - I know, oh, wow.
Come on.
From talking to people and just processing things a little bit, he got it.
He gets it.
Oh, wow.
Wow.
- Down.
- You down? Lets talk Uptown Saturday Night.
Where is our movement? I know - I know we have a script out, right? - Yeah.
And I know that right now they've been commenced.
And it's supposed to come back when, as of now, Carli? Beginning of October, realistically.
I would love just to check their temperature and-and check in with them.
Right now, that gives us Lil Dicky, which is currently in production on FX.
We also have our doc that is currently in production.
Guys, you're looking at four to five television shows.
This is This is TV.
This is done.
This is in stone with the HartBeat title on it.
Um, I have something to bring up that's not on here.
- Mm-hmm.
- What, if any, is our - Kung Fu Panda? What is our Shrek? - I love that.
Some animal or creature, what is the the one for Kevin's voice? - Pretty dope.
That's pretty fucking dope.
- I think we can sell that.
That's pretty fucking dope.
Kevin is the guy who did the shit and made the change, and is trying to continue the change.
Forward thinking.
I love it.
I didn't feel that way six months ago.
I didn't feel that way three months ago.
The thing that makes me emotional is the change.
It's been humbling to watch how open he is.
I'm a gay executive.
I would love to have LGBTQ representation in our shows.
We're gonna do it, and we're gonna do it big.
You wanna know the beauty of having execs? It's having people that you trust that that get shit done.
We have things on our slate right now we would not have a year ago.
Not because he didn't want them.
Because he didn't know.
I'll briefly give you guys an update.
We talked yesterday.
NBC has agreed to, uh, give us a pilot.
- Everybody's aware.
Everybody's aware.
- Wow! - Great.
- That's amazing.
It was a great moment for us as a company, and, I think, uh, a better moment just to understand the importance and value of relationships.
I got to see the bad of being defiant and not listening and not giving my team an opportunity to be my team.
- Great.
- We'll close that out, okay? Okay! - Wow! - After you talk all that shit? Holy shit! - Holy fucking shit! Wait a minute.
- No! What the fuck is going on? - Kev, wow! - I'm tired of spending on y'all.
Shit! You listened to what I was saying I wanted, yo.
This motherfucker got me the Chevelle SS.
Come give me a hug, you little bitch.
Give me a fucking hug.
God damn! You can't do it by yourself.
You put people in a position to make you better for a reason.
Nah, this is dope as hell.
Nah, this is dope as hell.
I mean, you don't let them do their jobs by being the defiant one, you're kinda going against yourself.
Goddamn about to kill themselves.
And sometimes you may be right.
I've been right.
I've been right a lot.
And when you're wrong, it's gonna hurt.
Because you're gonna look back and go, "Fuck I should've listened.
" - My guy.
Give me a hug, man.
- No way.
Fucking love you, dude.
Man! Wow, bro.
- I love you, boy.
- I love you, man.
It's fucking amazing.
I'm so thankful.
You know, he didn't He don't owe us shit.
You can't pay for loyalty.
Y'all niggas deserve it.
I don't wanna be the only one with the old school.
We gonna ride together.
- We ride together from now on.
- You son of a bitch! God damn, man! You gotta kinda stop once again and just realize you can't do it by yourself.
I tried to show my kids where I grew up, thinking it's gonna be like a, "Oh, my goodness!" Backfired.
"It's so cool! Can we live here?" "Shut up, man.
" Oh, Jesus Christ.
"Fuck you talking about? Everybody, in the car right now.
We'll talk about this when we get back.
" "This did not go the way it was supposed to.
" "Oh, my God! It's so cool, Dad! It's so different.
" "We lived on the top floor, not the whole thing.
No.
This is three separate units.
So, the top floor was me and grandmoms, the middle, that was somebody else, that was a neighbor, and downstairs was somebody else.
Three different people lived in this one thing.
" "Together? Y'all were strangers?" Like they don't "What? Hey, shut up.
" My only answer is, "Everybody get in the car" Hey, man! Hey, man! - What's wrong with you, man? - Hey, man! - It's Papa! - Give me five! Everything that I didn't have, I want them to have plus more.
- Come here.
Aah, how you doing? - I'm good.
Making sure they have a bond with their grandpop is the priority.
Kenzo! Whoa! Man, look at that! I know my sons love me.
You know And-And I love my sons.
I I know, um my time is limited.
- Ooh! - Ooh! Wait, Zo.
Wait, wait, wait! Is there anything that you have never told Kevin that you would want to tell him? It is one thing.
You know, um I guess it's, "Thank you.
" 'Cause I ain't never say that because he would tell me, "Aw, nigga, shut up.
" You know, "Turkey, shut up.
" Do one of them numbers to me.
'Cause that's that's us.
I don't think it's too many fathers and sons went through some of the things we did.
- It hurts.
- I want you to know that I love you.
You're my fucking dad.
Like, nigga, I love you.
That's not gonna change.
There's nothing that's ever going to change that.
You don't have to prove to me why or what or the reasons.
I understand.
My dad has never not faced his fuck-up.
He's always laid in the bed that he made.
I'm a product of that.
You can't fix what our past is because it's it's the past.
The present is what matters.
Do grandpop Do grandpop walking up a hill and then needing to catch his breath.
Y'all go without me.
I'll be good.
Y'all need one more.
- Tell him, Pops.
- Heaven said she want a girl.
He doesn't want to, though.
He don't want another kid, period, but he has no choice.
Make some bacon, boy.
Y'all want me to have another one of these? Is four enough? Is that it? At the end of the day, it comes down to what you guys do in bed.
- Hey! Hey! Get outta here! - Hey! - Have you always been like this? - I'm a positive fucking guy, man.
I look at Heaven and Hendrix, and I look at Zo, I look at my wife, I go, "Yo, I didn't have the family shit when I was coming up.
Y'all got one.
" Look what I done did.
Look what I built.
These people depend on me.
I provide for these people.
That makes me happy.
But this is coming just from your own personal experiences.
- Own experiences.
- Have any role models? - My mother, Nancy Hart.
- Did she speak to you like this? My mom reinforced, "You don't quit.
If you're gonna do it, do it to try and be the best.
" We're in a time right now where people expect perfection.
Perfection doesn't exist.
From I don't know what happened that this is the criteria for living.
You're gonna do things, you're gonna make mistakes, you're gonna fuck up.
You're supposed to learn and then move forward with the understanding of what not to do.
When you are okay with being flawed it means you can be fixed.
I tried to find my way in PA Holding onto family And though I had to find the spirit I had to go and find me And I said thank you