Joe Rogan is drawing a line in the sand over the ongoing fallout from The Roast of Kevin Hart, blasting comedians who have publicly criticized the event's most controversial jokes and accusing them of betraying the comedy profession.
During a recent episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, Rogan unloaded on fellow comics who have condemned material from Tony Hinchcliffe and Shane Gillis. “If you're a person and you're not accustomed to roasts and you don't get why those jokes are so mean, I get it,” Rogan said. “But comedians that are getting upset about these roast jokes, f*ck all the way off. You f*cking traitor. You know what this is. You know exactly what this is.”
Rogan's comments come as the debate over the Netflix roast continues weeks after it aired. What was intended as a celebration of Kevin Hart's career instead became a lightning rod for criticism over jokes involving race, suicide, and police violence.
The biggest flashpoint centered on Hinchcliffe's George Floyd joke, in which he said Floyd was “looking up at us all laughing so hard he can't breathe.” The line sparked immediate backlash from Floyd's family and civil rights advocates.
Among the loudest critics was Chelsea Handler, who later described some of the roast's material as “gross” and “disgusting.”
Wanda Sykes recently joined the conversation as well, arguing on The View that the issue wasn't whether the joke was offensive but whether it worked. “That George Floyd joke was not funny,” Sykes said. “It wasn't even a joke.”
Rogan rejected those arguments, insisting that critics are ignoring the purpose of a roast. “You could disagree with the content,” he said. “You could say, ‘I think they went too far with this.' But this pretending that these people are actual racists and Nazis just because they're telling these jokes that are in a roast? Like, f*ck all the way off.”
He also defended Hinchcliffe personally, describing him as “a great guy.”
The controversy has expanded well beyond the George Floyd joke. Hinchcliffe and Gillis were also criticized for jokes about Sheryl Underwood's late husband, who died by suicide in 1990.
Pastor Jamal Bryant took the opposite position, calling the roast “disrespect dressed as jokes.”
Rogan compared roast comedy to a combat sport, arguing that audiences understand the rules before anyone takes the stage.
“You have to understand the roast world,” he said. “You're going for blood.”
