Kevin Hart says Oprah Winfrey is the one celebrity who should never be roasted
Kevin Hart has named the one celebrity he believes should never be roasted — Oprah Winfrey.
The comedian drew a firm line at poking fun at the iconic talk show host while discussing who could be a future candidate for Netflix’s popular roast specials during an appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Wednesday.
Hart first suggested LeBron James, citing the basketball superstar’s cultural relevance. But when Kimmel proposed Oprah, Hart immediately shot down the idea.
“What about Oprah? Would that be unacceptable?” Kimmel asked.
“That’d be like spray painting the Sistine Chapel,” Hart replied. “If I found out that Oprah said she wanted to do it, I’m driving 100 miles per hour to Oprah’s house. You cannot do this. No shot.”
Hart’s comments came less than a month after he survived a three-hour roast of his own as part of the Netflix Is a Joke Festival.
The “Ride Along” star was the target of jokes from comedians and celebrity friends, including Chelsea Handler, Pete Davidson and Katt Williams.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Tom Brady also made surprise appearances during the special.
When Kimmel asked whether any joke had actually hurt, Hart said Johnson was the only person who managed to catch him off guard when he showed photos of both of their fathers as part of a joke.
“Dwayne had the picture of my father and he had a mug shot of my dad and he goes, ‘Look at my dad. Kev, we both love our dads,’” Hart said.
Johnson then showed a photo of his own father, the late wrestler Rocky Johnson, looking as though he had just left the gym.
“He had a picture of his dad in shape, you know, coming from the gym,” Hart said.
By comparison, the image selected for Hart’s late father, Henry Robert Witherspoon, left much to be desired.
“He goes, ‘Look at Kevin’s dad.’ And it was the worst picture of my father I’ve ever seen,” Hart joked.
Hart also recently defended Tony Hinchcliffe’s roast material after Chelsea Handler criticized it as “racist.”
During the Netflix special, Hinchcliffe, who is white, delivered a joke to Hart referencing George Floyd, saying, “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.”
The comment drew backlash online, but Hart pushed back on the reaction in an interview on “The Breakfast Club.”
“The George Floyd joke wasn’t a tasteful joke to our culture, to our audience, but our audience that’s watching the roast, if you’re watching the roast, you get why they’re doing it,” he said. “You get why the racial humor is on the table. I wasn’t shocked. That’s what they do.”
