IANA Blog- May 2026

 Blog

Happy May,

I was trying to figure out what to blog about for this month. I could talk about different things happening this May. I was stumped on whether I should focus on Ghana fighting for Reparations for Black Americans at the UN, or talk about the USA's War on Iran, or even the buzz surrounding the Michael Jackson movie. I also thought about talking about a thesis that I’ve been working on, due to me being back in graduate school and working to be a teacher…maybe save that for later this year…

As I was trying to figure out what to blog for, I noticed that comedian and actor Kevin Hart had a Roast of himself on Netflix. I figured it would be pretty good, I used to watch celebrity roasts whenever they came on TV…I thought about watching it…good thing I didn’t make that mistake. I figured it’s only right that I focus this month’s blog on the awful Celebrity Roast of Kevin Hart and the state of comedy in the modern world. 

Before I start, for members of IANA who don’t know what a “roast” is, a form of insult comedy, originating in American humor, in which a specific person, or the guest of honor, is the subject of the jokes, as well as praise and tributes. The assumption is that the person being roasted, or the roastee, can take the jokes in good humor and not as serious criticism, or insult. The roastee is surrounded by friends, fans, well-wishers and others who can receive the same treatment of insult jokes as well. 

Like I mentioned, because I am a huge fan of comedy, I watched Celebrity Roasts whenever they showed up on TV, especially when they appeared on Comedy Central. I remember watching Roasts featuring model and actress Pamela Anderson, hip hop artist and hype man Flavor Flav of political rap group Public Enemy (although that roast was just as bad), comedian and actor Bob Saget, singer Justin Bieber and yes…US President Donald Trump. I have also watched clips of old school Celebrity Roasts that featured comedians Richard Pryor and Don Rickles. I would also watch videos of people roasting other people online.

Some of my favorite Roast moments include The Roast of Rob Lowe, which also featured conservative political activist, lawyer and author Ann Coulter, who is known for her racist and anti-immigrant stances. Every guest on the roast, including roastee and actor Rob Lowe had something to say to Coulter. Some of my favorite jokes about Coulter came from comedian Pete Davidson (“Ann Coulter, if you’re here, who’s scaring the crows away from our crops?”), comedian Jimmy Carr (“Ann Coulter is one of the most, repugnant, hateful, hatchet-faced b**ches alive, but it’s not too late to change Ann- you could kill yourself.”), comedian Nikki Glaser (“Ann has wrote 11 books, 12 if you count Mein Kampf," and “The only person you’ll ever make happy is the Mexican who digs your grave.”), and even from the roastee Rob Lowe himself (“Ann, after your set tonight, we’ve witnessed the first bombing that you can’t blame on a Muslim.”). Let me just say that she deserved to get embarrassed on live TV.

Another one of my favorite roast moments came from Shaq’s All Star Comedy Roast II- Emmitt Smith. Legendary NFL Player Emmitt Smith was the roastee, actor and comedian Jamie Foxx was the host, and one of the roasters was comedian Doug Williams. As it was Williams’s turn to speak, audience members were barely laughing at his jokes, including jokes he made about Foxx. This led to Foxx continuously interrupting Williams as he was performing by speaking into his microphone making sarcastic remarks and claiming that he is Williams’s conscience. Not only was everybody laughing every time Foxx interrupted, but Williams got embarrassed. Every time I watch it, I can't stop laughing.

Another one of my favorite Roast moments comes from The Roast of Justin Bieber. Before I say this, I’m here to let y’all know that I was never and will never be a fan of Justin Bieber’s music, so when I heard that he was going to have a roast, all I was thinking was that every guest better rip his ass apart. Luckily I saw comedian Hannibal Buress. He was funny and blatantly honest and let it be known that he hates Bieber’s music as well. One of my favorite jokes of his is “I hate you more than Bill Cosby hates my comedy.” For those that didn't know, he was one of the first people who called out legendary comedian Bill Cosby for his history of sexual assault. 

With that being said, I didn’t watch Kevin Hart’s roast, but I saw clips online and it was not looking good at all. One of the first clips I see from that roast comes from comedian Tony Hinchcliffe. Hinchcliffe is a right-wing comedian who also hosts a podcast called Kill Tony and is a Trump supporter, so…yeah, he is a racist. He is also well known for roast comedy and for using racist, dark humor which led to multiple controversies. In 2021, Hinchcliffe was dropped from his agency and lost multiple endorsements after a video appeared online of him using racist jokes against Peng Dang, an Asian American comedian. In 2024, Hinchcliffe performed at a Trump campaign rally in New York City, at Madison Square Garden. He insulted Latinos (he described Puerto Rico as “a floating piece of garbage”), Black people (he made a “watermelon” joke) and made tasteless, antisemetic jokes involving the Israel-Palestine rivalry. So, when I heard that Hinchcliffe was at the roast, I knew he was going to make a racist, tasteless, stupid joke. Here’s what Hinchcliffe said as he roasts Hart.

“The Black community is so proud of you…right now, George Floyd is looking up at us all, laughing so hard he can’t breathe.”

Yeah…he said that. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the only awful joke he said. He also made awful jokes about stand-up comedian Sheryl Underwood. The joke involved her husband’s suicide.

“Her husband committed suicide three years into the marriage. I’ve been sitting next to her for two hours, and I have to ask: how did he last that long?”

Hinchcliffe wasn’t the only one making racist jokes. The host of the roast, comedian Shane Gillis, was also making racist jokes about Hart. Here’s the joke,

“Kevin’s so short that they’re gonna have to lynch him from a bonsai tree.”

Of course, referencing Kevin Hart’s height at being 5’3”, but…really? A lynching joke. FYI, Gillis has also caused controversy as he was fired by the sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live after he made racist jokes about Asians in 2019. He also had some jokes to say about Sheryl Underwood, also referencing her late husband. Gillis also disrespected singer Lizzo and singer/actress Teyana Taylor “b*tches”…the damn disrespect.

“Sheryl’s husband killed himself. Apparently Black does crack if it’s married to Sheryl and it jumps off a f**king roof.”

Even comedian Jeff Ross, who is known for appearing in roasts, even had a damn racist joke about Underwood, who said she looks like Donkey from Shrek. Luckily, Sheryl clapped back at the comedians who mocked her, especially Hinchcliffe. She said,

“Question of the day. Who has had more Black d**k in this town? Me or Chelsea Handler? The answer is Tony Hinchcliffe.”

Underwood also responded to Hinchcliffe and Gillis by reminding them that the roast was filmed in Inglewood, so they needed to watch what they say, especially with words that rhyme with the N-Word. Comedian Chelsea Handler was also there. She had some jokes for both Hinchcliffe and Gillis. She roasted Hinchcliffe with a couple jokes.

“Tony is what happens when you don’t have safe access to abortion care.”

“Tony, you have the face of a school shooter and the personality of someone who gets shot first.”

“If you're here tonight, who’s keeping Joe Rogan’s balls warm in his mouth?”

Handler was referring to how Hinchcliffe has collaborated with comedian and podcaster Joe Rogan. She also roasted multiple comedians who were involved with performing at the Saudi Arabian government-sponsored Riyadh Comedy Festival last year, which also included Hart himself. Handler states,

“Now that your favorite leader is making the draft mandatory, I assume that all of you will be signing up to go fight the war in Iran, or do you tough talking p**sies only go to the Middle East for comedy festivals?”

Kinda ironic, considering that Gillis has called out Handler for being a Zionist, as they were going back and forth with each other all roast. Pete Davidson was also at the roast and had some things to say to Hinchcliffe as well.

“Tony looks like a child m**ester and the doll they give the child to show where he touched them.”

“Tony reminds me of C****** K***, in that he’s definitely been on camera letting a guy unload on his throat.”

“Tony, nothing you say tonight will hurt my feelings. I was in a beef with Kanye, so I’ve taken shots from better Gay Nazis.”

Davidson was both referring to his longtime feud with hip hop artist and loudmouth Kanye West, who is also a Nazi sympathizer and referring to the “assassination” of C****** K***.

Other attendees featured singer Lizzo, actress Regina Hall (who didn’t seem pleased throughout the show at all), Eritrean comedian Tiffany Haddish, actor and WWE legend Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, former NFL player Tom Brady, NBA player Draymond Green (who was the butt of many jokes, including many racial jokes) and a special appearance by legendary comedian Katt Williams, who is Kevin Hart’s longtime rival and had some things to say about Hart back in 2024, during his epic rant on the entertainment industry on the Club Shay Shay podcast, hosted by NFL Legend Shannon Sharpe. Katt referred to Hart as an industry plant, so it was a surprise to see Katt on the show. Here are some of the things Katt had to say about Hart.

“I’m surprised they invited me…that’s how little star power you have, they had to start inviting your enemies.”

“I’ve been trying to tell y’all that Kevin Hart was a plant…cause I try to bury him and he keeps springing back the f**k up.”

“All the [Kevin Hart] movies, I turned down, because I wasn’t comfortable being a coon.”

“Just because Kevin went to Diddy parties does not mean he did something wrong, the fact he gets all quiet when you bring it up, that means he did something wrong.”

See that, Hinchcliffe and Gillis. You can roast Kevin Hart without having to deal with stupid, racist stereotypes. Katt and Hart supposedly ended their longtime beef on the roast, but Katt and Hart both said they were “acting”, so we’ll just have to see.

With that being said, the whole roast looked awful. The whole roast is receiving backlash for the use of racist, misogynistic and homophobic jokes. NBA Player Stephen Jackson, who was best friends with George Floyd, criticized the roast for allowing the disrespectful joke about Floyd, saying “Everybody laughing, until it’s their family member that gets murdered, then it ain’t funny.” Members of Floyd’s family, including his brother, criticized the roast. Pastor Jamal Bryant criticized the roast, saying “the Kevin Hart roast wasn’t comedy, it was disrespect dressed as jokes. In this climate, for it to go unchecked is to give consent.” Comedians DL Hughley and Lil’ Rel Howery also criticized the roast for the George Floyd joke. Comedian Michael Che, who was supposed to be part of the roast, but had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts, criticized the roast over the racial humor used. Che’s comments touched on the comedic direction of the show and the writers involved. Here’s what Che had to say,

“White guys and Black people joke differently. Black guy roasts are like ‘look at this n***a’s shoes! White roasts are like, ‘Slavery, math, slain teens, sex crimes, slurs, family secrets.’ White guys don’t give a f**k about their shoes.”

“Let’s do a roast celebrating the career of the most successful Black comic in the last 10 years. I love that! Who should we get to write it? [He showed an image of White writers linked to Shane Gillis]. C’mon…that’s not funny.”

Unfortunately, there have been a lot of comedians popping up and defending that roast, especially a lot of Black comedians defending the roast, including Hart, Sheryl Underwood and Tiffany Haddish. Hart said that people whining about it are sensitive and defended Tony Hinchcliffe for his performance.

I’ve already said what I had to say about the roast, but I have more to say:

-A couple of people on social media said it best, that the whole roast was the equivalent of a minstrel show. That feeling of using Racial stereotypes to make White people laugh, it was disgusting.

-If you’re a White comedian or a non-Black comedian, who only has to resort to using Anti-Black jokes, YOU’RE NOT FUNNY!!! Especially if you’re White, you’re a f**king racist!! I bring up non-Black comedians too, because I’ve witnessed too many of them resort to making Anti-Black jokes and it’s pathetic.

-The majority of the writers for the show were White. Pathetic!!

-White comedians who choose to disguise their racism as comedy/humor are pathetic.

-If you have to use George Floyd jokes, YOU’RE NOT FUNNY!!! George Floyd jokes are not funny!!! There’s nothing funny about watching an innocent Black man get choked out by a cop for 8 minutes on video, you moron! 

-George Floyd has been dead for 6 years and the fact that racist White people still have him on their minds and come up with stupid lies about him being a criminal or being on Fentanyl when he was murdered, is pathetic. They somehow think that Black people just look up to George Floyd like he was some kind of messiah.

-I noticed that the people who thought the George Floyd joke was hilarious got angry when Pete Davidson made fun of C****** K***.

-For anyone saying, “It’s a roast,” I don’t give a f**k! Remember the point of a roast is to make people laugh, yeah you use insults, but you make people laugh. If you have to use racist jokes to get some cheap laughs, I’ll say it again, you’re not funny!

-They weren't just attacking Sheryl Underwood for having a husband who committed suicide, they also attacked her natural hair and her dark skin. There were also Black jokes made towards Draymond Green.

-Attacking a dark-skinned Black woman (yes, I’m referring to Sheryl Underwood) is pathetic. I don't want to hear a damn thing about comedy, because dark skinned Black women have been attacked for centuries in the media. There’s nothing funny about Colorism!

-I also don’t want to hear a damn thing about “freedom of speech,” especially from these White comedians and these right-wing comedians and Trump supporters. Y’all are supporting a man who is taking that away from us. People were losing their jobs over making jokes about C****** K***. College professors and college students were getting kicked out of school or penalized for speaking on Palestine. Spare me the whole “freedom of speech” nonsense, especially when freedom of speech doesn’t mean freedom of consequence.

-The whole show not only felt like a minstrel show, but a humiliation ritual for Kevin Hart, and especially for Black people.

The show was criticized for its racist, misogynistic and homophobic jokes and it deserves as much criticism as it gets. I mostly wanted to focus on how racist the show was, but right now, I wanna focus on Kevin Hart.

I know a lot of people who don’t find Kevin Hart funny. There are those who think that Kevin Hart is one of the most overrated comedians of all time, and should never be mentioned among the greats like Richard Pryor, Redd Foxx, Eddie Murphy, etc. For me, I didn’t jump on the bandwagon, at least not yet, just because, I’ll admit, I found him funny when I first saw him in the film, The 40-Year-Old Virgin. The scene where he plays an angry customer in the film is one of my favorite scenes in the whole film, and I can watch it over and over. I would then see him in movies like Scary Movie 3 or Soul Plane, although I didn’t like either film, especially Soul Plane.

Later in the 2010s, he blew up and appeared in multiple comedy films such as Think Like A Man, Think Like A Man Too, Get Hard, Ride Along and more. A majority of those films had mixed reviews, but as I mentioned, not many people were fans of Hart’s style of comedy. Many people were accusing him of being a Hollywood puppet and a celebrity plant, including comedian Katt Williams.

In 2020, Kevin Hart went to George Floyd’s funeral, and said that he went to stand in solidarity with Floyd’s family. Six years later, he’s seen on camera laughing and cracking up jokes about George Floyd and at these racist-ass jokes. It was his show and he could have stopped it, he could have told them “no racist jokes,” especially with his star power. He sat there and laughed at every damn joke. After this, I won’t defend Kevin Hart…at all. Hart also put many of the Black women involved in the roast under the bus. He really showed his true colors, but he was showing them, especially when Katt exposed him. There’s nothing worse than a Black comedian or a Black celebrity cooking for White people. Kevin Hart is one of them.

This also proves how many people, especially celebrities, were so damn performative during the 2020 uprisings, and Hart is one of them. So many people were protesting police brutality and the killings of Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor, including the people of Nigeria (who were protesting for that and against the SARS police) and I saw a lot of people say they’re gonna change and fight the system. Six years later, I see a lot of liars and a lot of people doing the same sh*t. As for these celebrities, especially these Black celebrities, I just keep thinking that everyday they prove Malcolm X right, when he criticized Black celebrities.

Looking back at this roast, it really makes me reminisce of comedians like Paul Mooney, Dick Gregory, George Carlin, old school Chris Rock and 2000s Dave Chappelle, comedians who used their stand up comedy as a way of social commentary. This also makes me question the state of comedy, because if there are so many Black comedians that are Ok with non-Black comedians, especially White comedians disguising their anti-blackness/racism as comedy, then there isn’t any point watching stand up comedy anymore, since some of these comedians wanna get an “N-word” pass. I keep hearing that it’s hard to do comedy in this era, due to “cancel culture”, or due to everyone being sensitive. There’s a part of me that believes that, but there’s also a part of me that thinks that doing comedy in this era is not hard. I still see clips of funny stand-up comedians. They’re out here making people laugh, not having to resort to racist-ass jokes, homophobic jokes, sexist jokes or stereotypes. It’s possible…so I don’t want to hear about “cancel culture” or “wokeness” ruining comedy…maybe you’re not funny…or not funny anymore.

Oh yeah, I didn’t talk about Netflix yet. Netflix is trash for allowing that roast to air. I know it’s probably what they want, I don’t care. It’s still trash! Thank god I stopped using Netflix and honestly you should too. I don’t care how many Nollywood films they got, Netflix is trash!

Kevin Hart…trash! Netflix…trash! That whole roast…trash! Tony Hinchcliffe…super trash!!! George Floyd’s death will never be funny!!! Black Oppression will never be funny!!! Anyone defending that damn roast…You…Are…TRASH!!!

But that’s just me. For anyone that did watch the roast, what did you think of it? Did you like it? Are you a fan of Kevin Hart? Let me know.