Pastor Jamal Bryant is one of several public figures weighing in on the backlash surrounding The Roast of Kevin Hart — and he isn’t backing down. In a Threads post shared Tuesday, May 12, Bryant reposted a screenshot from a discussion about the Netflix special and wrote, “The Kevin Hart roast wasn’t comedy, it was disrespect dressed as jokes.” He added, “In this climate for it to go unchecked is to give consent.”
The roast has drawn widespread criticism for jokes that many viewers say crossed the line, including references to slavery, sex crimes, George Floyd and Hart’s personal life. One of the most-discussed moments involved comments aimed at Sheryl Underwood about her late husband’s suicide.
Comedians Michael Che and Lil Rel Howery have also spoken out. “It’s one thing to roast the people that’s there,” Howery said in a video he posted to his social media platforms. “But joking about someone who’s dead or not present…I just don’t understand. Tony Hinchcliffe’s joke about George Floyd didn’t make [expletive] sense to me. It was no reason to bring George Floyd into this. It was just disgusting.”
He also questioned why the audience booed Draymond Green throughout the night but stayed silent after certain offensive jokes.
“White guys and black people joke different,” SNL star Michael Che wrote in an Instagram post. “Black guys roast like, ‘look at this [n-word] shoes.’ White roasts are like, ‘slavery, math, slain teens, sex crimes, slurs, family secrets.’”