Kevin Hart has been on the brink of being canceled more than once in his career. That makes him particularly qualified to speak on the recent troubles of some of his very famous friends.
In a new interview with Deadline, Hart touched on the prevalence of cancel culture and explained why he's standing up for Nick Cannon and Ellen DeGeneres, both of whom have faced public scorn recently.
"When it comes to Nick, and it comes Ellen, I know who they are, and I know who they’ve been for the years that I’ve been around them, and I can only speak to that," Hart said. "Those are two of the most amazing people that I know."
Hart explained that he knows how much support means to people facing public backlashes, just as he did when old, homophobic tweets of his resurfaced in 2018.
"In times like this, I know also how dark it gets," he said. "I know how lonely it gets, because I know that these are times when people just turn their back on you. So for the ones that you love, that are close to your heart, you just want them to have some support, when it seems that there is none out there, and that’s just who I am as a person."
DeGeneres has been in the hot seat after various allegations about working conditions at her show were made public recently. Cannon meanwhile, was dropped by ViacomCBS for anti-semetic comments he made on his podcast.
"There’s a lot of relationships that are fake, and there’s some that are real,” Hart said. "In my case, the ones that are real are the ones that I’m always going to be adamant about speaking on behalf of."
Hart said he knows "the people that both of them are, and knowing the people, all I can say is my experiences with those people." He also made a point of saying he doesn't want to diminish any of the accusations made against them. "That’s not to take away from what other people are saying that they have had, and that they have done," he said. "It’s just to highlight what I’m saying I know, and what I can speak on behalf of."
Finally, Hart opined on the state of cancel culture, asking, "What happened to the days of making a mistake, learning from the mistake, not doing that, and educating others on what not to do because of your mistakes?"
