Kevin Hart Shared How Cancel Culture Affects Friendship With Dave Chappelle
Kevin Hart recently spoke about cancel culture and how it has come into play regarding his relationship and friendship with Dave Chappelle
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When it comes to cancel culture, things can turn very quickly for celebrities. One minute you can be on top of the world only to find the next minute the internet mob is out to get you. That’s the state of things, lately, with a number of folks, comedians especially, finding themselves in the proverbial crosshairs if a joke or opinion they share misses the mark. Such is the case recently with Dave Chappelle who’s caught a ton of flak about his most recent Netflix special. Fellow comedian and friend, Kevin Hart discussed how the current climate around cancel culture had (or hadn’t) affected his relationship with Chappelle.
The interview Kevin Hart did was with Power 105.1 (via iheart.com) and during it, he discussed a number of different topics. Part of what came up was his relationship with Dave Chappelle and how, in the past, the latter had been in Hart’s corner when the cancel culture crowd came calling. Hart discussed how things played out and the media narrative around the situation differing from the actual reality of their friendship. Check out part of what Hart had to say:
“For my brother, Dave. I did an interview, with the Wall Street Journal, and the reporter asked me ‘How do you feel about Dave coming to your defense?’ And I said. ‘Why do you feel like he’s coming to my defense? Why can’t you see that he’s just my friend…The conversation attached to Dave’s name is attached to him as if people know him.”
It’s interesting to see Kevin Hart relate to the current situation with Dave Chappelle like this. For starters, it’s clear that he is making a distinction between coming to someone’s defense and just being a friend. Having a friendship with someone means that you aren’t necessarily backing them up as much as just being there for them. And among comedians, there clearly is a camaraderie, a brothers-in-hilarious-arms kind of situation that will often have these guys and gals supporting each other through these negative media cycles.
Plus, Kevin Hart went on to say, “ There’s the light bulb that has to go off. These people have no effect on my day-to-day life.” In this way, he seems to know that a possible vocal minority of detractors might not need to be given space rent-free in your head, also something he’s spoken about in the past.
In Kevin Hart’s case, he’s referring to a time a few years ago when he was run through the cancel culture ringer thanks to resurfaced tweets he had sent out that came back to light in 2019. This was around the time he was slated to host the Academy Awards but there was a collective stink thrown about perceived homophobic jokes he had made a decade earlier. He didn’t apologize at the time and instead said that he had grown and was no longer the person who would send things like that out. He stepped down from hosting duties.
Meanwhile, Dave Chappelle has been through a negative media cycle of late because of his Netflix special, The Closer. In it, he makes remarks about the transgender community and there were some at the streamer who thought Netflix should not have aired the special. Chappelle, much like Hart a few years ago, hasn’t backed off the comments at all. He recently played to a sold-out show alongside Joe Rogan in which they talked about the response to his special, mostly saying that he was joking and that the commentary was more about himself than the transgender community.
From his most recent comments, Kevin Hart definitely seems to think that the way to deal with cancel culture, especially when it may have gone overboard is to be comfortable with yourself. There are some who definitely won’t want to hear that talking point, but it is likely one many comedians share when it comes to their jokes putting them in the crosshairs. It would seem to be difficult being a comedian and thinking any other way.
