Kevin Hart's Roast on Netflix Is the Center of Controversy Due to the Program's Writers

Comedian Kevin Hart is no stranger to controversy, although not all of the hate he's received has been deserved. Well, the Ride Along star has found himself at the point of debate once again.

This time, the ire isn't directed towards Kevin personally, but the producers of Netflix's The Roast of Kevin Hart, which aired live on May 10.

While viewers seemed to enjoy the roast itself, amusement turned to anger once the credits rolled. Fans couldn't help but notice something about the program's writers, and people are calling it out.

During the roast itself, people couldn't help but notice that a lot of the jokes centered around Kevin's race. Once the credits rolled, the conversation shifted.

As the writers' names popped up on the screen, viewers began to point out that many of them are white.

Podcaster Desus Pieces was one of the celebrities to call attention to the issue. He said, "You gotta wait 'til the end to see who the writers were, and then you go back and watch it, and it was like, 'Wow, not a lot of Black writers, but a lot of Black jokes.' Some of those weren't even jokes; they were just straight-up racist."

Comedian Michael Che voiced a similar sentiment. He took to Instagram to write a bit about what he imagined happened in pre-production.

"Let's do a roast celebrating the career of the most successful Black comic in the last 10 years." "I love that! Who should we get to write it?" He then posted a photo of the writers, followed by, "C'mon, that's not funny?"

Instagram added a Community note to Michael's post, stating, "The five writers shown were hired and wrote material for Shane Gillis... There were 17 credited writers total for the roast, several of whom are Black, including Harry Ratchford, Chris Spencer, and Joey Wells."

It's also worth noting that, per Variety, producers had originally planned for more Black talent to be involved, but several dropped out at the last minute for various reasons — including Michael himself.

As with previous controversies involving Kevin Hart, the public can't agree as to whether or not the drama is deserved. Desus's X post's comments section included support such as, "So much truth to this, Kevin has absolutely no backbone in that little stature." However, there was also disagreement, as evidenced by, "Oh man, always making it a cultural, racial spectacle. LMAO, life is not that serious. If it were all white jokes, you wouldn’t have a problem with it."

As for Michael's Instagram post, comments included, "They're mad at you because you're right." However, someone else wrote, "LMFAO we crying about funny roast writers now?"

While the internet continues to debate the issue, the man who was actually the subject of the jokes in question seemingly responded to the backlash. In an Instagram video showing Kevin lying in bed, the comedian said, "That, my friend, is what the f--k a roast is supposed to be. Hard-hitting, relentless jokes, with no consequence. That's the concept of a roast — you go hard, or you go home."