With multiple experiences of being canceled under his belt, Kevin Hart had quite a lot to say about cancel culture. During a promo run for his upcoming Netflix film, Fatherhood, the comedian sat down with The Sunday Times and unleashed his thoughts about the concept of being canceled as well as the social media judge and jury that deems one worthy of being shunned.
“If somebody has done something truly damaging then, absolutely, a consequence should be attached,” Hart said. “But when you just talk about… nonsense? When you’re talking, ‘Someone said! They need to be taken [down]!’ Shut the fuck up! What are you talking about?”
“When did we get to a point where life was supposed to be perfect?” he continued. “Where people were supposed to operate perfectly all the time? I don’t understand.” Perfection, the comedy star added, is not something he expects from anyone as he believes that real growth comes after “fucking up.”
As Hart told The Times, he’s been canceled about “three or four times” throughout the course of his career. In perhaps the most memorable occurrence, old tweets in which he made unfavorable comments about gay people and sexuality resurfaced in 2018, inciting an onslaught of negative reactions as well as ensuing apologies from the actor. He eventually decided to step down from his plans to host the Academy Awards.
Being canceled, Hart claimed, never bothered him. “If you allow it to have an effect on you, it will,” he said. “Personally? That’s not how I operate. I understand people are human.”
“Everyone can change,” he went on. “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?”
Hart is the latest person to discuss cancel culture. As REVOLT previously reported, Katt Williams expressed his belief that “cancellation doesn’t have its own culture.”