Kevin Hart praises Wanda Sykes for offering vital advice he couldn’t ignore about anti-LGBTQ+ jokes
Kevin Hart has said thanked Wanda Sykes for enabling him to understand the damage his past anti-LGBTQ+ jokes inflicted on others. (Gareth Cattermole/Tommaso Boddi/Variety/Getty Images)
Prominent comedian Kevin Hart, who has appeared in dozens of movies, has thanked gay legend Wanda Sykes for helping him understand the harm his past anti-LGBTQ+ jokes inflicted on others.
In an interview with Anderson Cooper, Hart, who has previously apologised for a series of homophobic posts he wrote between 2009 and 2012 – which cost him his hosting spot at the 2019 Oscars – opened up about learning from his mistakes.
The posts included one where Hart said if he ever found his son playing with a dollhouse, he would “break it over [the boy’s] head and say: ‘Stop, that’s gay’.”
In the interview on 60 Minutes, Hart said gay comedian Sykes, who came out as a lesbian one month after marrying French businesswoman Alex Niedbalski in 2008, gave him some valuable insight that changed him for the better.
“The understanding came from the best lightbulb ever,” he said.
“Wanda Sykes said: ‘There [are] people being hurt today because of comments like the ones you made then, and there were people saying it’s OK to make those comments today based off of what you did then’.
“It was presented to me in a way I couldn’t ignore. So, in those moments of despair, great understanding and education can come out of it, if you’re given the opportunity.”
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal last month, Hart said the criticism he received was a “a come-to-Jesus moment”.
In 2023, Sykes proved herself a true ally after proclaiming her “100 per cent support” for the trans community.
Kevin Hart most notable movies include acting alongside Ice Cube in Ride Along (2014), and alongside Dwayne Johnson in Central Intelligence (2016).
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