Kevin Hart was the guest on Monday's episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, where he took part in a real long back-and-forth (as is Rogan's thing) that hit on his car accident, meeting Jeff Bezos, and most relevantly for this write-up, his admiration for Dave Chappelle.
FYI, the comments pertaining to that last subject starts around the 1:44:19 mark in the video above. Do what you will with that info.
After host and guest swapped anecdotes and discussed how unorthodox it was for Chappelle to walk away from his self-titled show on Comedy Central, Hart made it very clear just how deep his reverence for Chappelle is by declaring his belief that he's the "GOAT" comic.
Specifically, Hart noted how much he enjoyed Dave's most recent Netflix special (2019's Sticks & Stones), and also that (during that special) he took a decidedly open approach completely unconcerned with the those seeking to "cancel" people who say things they don't like.
"I'm envious and I'm jealous of Dave's ability to go and be free as a comic in the times where we desperately need to be, and Dave can be," Hart began.
That's when he dished out a very, very big compliment.
"Dave, in my opinion, you're the GOAT. In my opinion your last special has allowed you to surpass the Richard Pryor," Hart continued. "In my opinion, Dave Chappelle, I got to witness do groundbreaking, controversial, movement as a comedian in the times where comedy was being frowned upon. Comedians were being held accountable for doing things that we thought we would never be ridiculed for.
"The one person that stood on the pedestal, that got the attention that no others can get, outside of myself, a [Chris] Rock, a Seinfeld, he said in the time the fucking fire is the hottest [that] 'I'm going to do what nobody else will.' You got to fucking applaud that."
It's not the first time Hart has praised Chappelle. Back in 2013, Hart, while being interviewed for VladTV, was asked if he thought Chappelle was "the greatest living stand-up comedian of our time," to which Hart responded by saying he was. "I would agree. I would definitely agree." Hart continued, "Dave Chappelle is a different type of animal, man, his comedic talent and timing is like no other."
You can watch the Joe Rogan Experience interview above or a snippet of it where he talks about Chappelle below.
