The comedian, who was personally in attendance at the roast, admitted to TMZ that she didn’t hear the George Floyd joke said by Tony Hinchcliffe, but had something to say for those online who took issue with any of the comedy from Sunday’s event.
Netflix’s “The Roast of Kevin Hart” has brought a certain kind of dark comedy back into the spotlight, with several comedians weighing in both in favor of the mean jokes and others who felt it leaned too heavily on “tired” race jokes and comments that weren’t funny.
As most comedy is subjective, so was the response from Tiffany Haddish. The newly minted Sports Illustrated swimsuit model and comedian was in the audience during the show on Sunday, and while she missed Tony Hinchcliffe’s usage of George Floyd for a joke that has drawn backlash from the likes of Lil Rel and the Floyd family, Haddish didn’t hold back on comedians who had issues with the show in general.
When stopped by TMZ on Tuesday, Haddish admitted she hadn’t heard the joke about Floyd because she was in the bathroom.
“It was so much fun,” Haddish said of the event. “I think it should have been shorter; the show was too long. I didn’t hear the George Floyd joke because I had to pee so bad. I was a glorified seat filler and I was tired.”
The interviewer then brought up Loni Love, who, along with Melissa Fredericks, ripped some of the jokes for being in bad taste and unfunny. Haddish paused for a moment before delivering a not-so-subtle jab.
“Is this all comedians saying it that wasn’t invited?” she asked, before walking off.
The politics of a comedy roast are all about landing the cruelst, most humiliating joke. When her late husband’s suicide was mentioned during the telecast, comedian Sheryl Underwood instead opted to fire back at the man who delivered the joke: Tony Hinchcliffe.
“Question for the day is, who has had more Black d—k in this town? Me or Chelsea Handler? The answer is Tony Hinchcliffe,” she said.
After the event, Underwood stopped by TMZ Live and, when asked about the jokes about her late husband and other moments that would typically make viewers tense up, she defended the jokes made at the Kia Forum.
“Sometimes political correctness does not fit in comedy,” she said. “Freedom of speech is alive and well, and it’s alive on Netflix.”
The event wasn’t all mean-spirited. Hart and longtime foe Katt Williams ended their feud on stage for the world to see.
