Kevin Hart stopped by TheBreakfast Club Tuesday morning to discuss his new book I Can't Make This Up: Life Lessons. During the 46-minute chat, Hart was also asked about Bill Maher's recent n-word controversy and the responsibility associated with a comedic platform.
"No," Hart said when asked if the comedian title gives people a "license" to say anything they want. "You know, I curb myself now simply because it's a different day and time. You can play the freedom of speech thing all you want, and we can play the 'we're comedians, it's a joke' thing all you want. Ultimately, we know what we're saying and you know the backlash that can come from it."
Hart criticized Maher for his "bad judgment" during the recent Real Time segment. "I've seen Bill Maher come to the defense of black people on several occasions," Hart said. "That’s a bad judgment. Granted, I don't think Bill Maher is a racist, but that's a bad judgment. It's inappropriate and it's not right. To say that and to say it the way you said it as comfortable as you said it in a joking form, you're wrong. Granted, you can issue all the apologies you want, [but] you know he says it around friends. It's not something that he's not going to say anymore. But for you to say it on your platform, that's tacky."
During a recent Real Timeinterview with Sen. Ben Sasse, Maher referred to himself as a "house n****" when jokingly invited to "work in the fields" of Nebraska. Maher later apologized for the comment. Following the controversy, Sen. Al Franken pulled out of a forthcoming Real Time episode. Ice Cube, however, is reportedly still scheduled to appear.
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