Standing his ground. Kevin Hart won’t waiver on his support for pal Ellen DeGeneres as her namesake talk show continues to face scandal.
In an interview with Deadline, the 41-year-old Jumanji: The Next Level actor addressed the importance of defending DeGeneres, 62, during her time of need. He also stood by his defense of Nick Cannon, who was fired by ViacomCBS — the owner of his Wild ’n Out series — after making anti-Semitic comments on his “Cannon’s Class” podcast in July.
“I don’t lose sight of the definition of friendship, and in our business, it’s one thing that people don’t really hold on to,” the comedian told the publication in an interview published on Tuesday, August 18. “There’s a lot of relationships that are fake, and there’s some that are real. 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 continued, “I know the people that both of them are and knowing the people, all I can say is my experiences with those people. That’s not to take away from what other people are saying that they have had, and that they have done. It’s just to highlight what I’m saying I know, and what I can speak on behalf of.”
DeGeneres came under fire in July for the alleged toxic environment on her longtime series, The Ellen DeGeneres Show. The issues surrounding DeGeneres resulted in WarnerMedia launching an internal investigation and terminating three executive producers who were accused of sexual misconduct.
The Kevin Hart: Don’t F**k This Up star noted how “dark” and “lonely” everything can get because “these are times when people just turn their back on you.” Therefore, Hart believes it’s important for loved ones to provide support “when it seems that there is none” at the time.
“That goes for anybody across the board that I consider a friend, and that’s not a big group of people,” he explained. “Everybody doesn’t get that conversation and that feeling from me, but the ones that do, I’m serious about it. I’m true to it, and it doesn’t mean that you have to speak on behalf of the problem. It doesn’t mean that you have to disregard the things that others are saying. It means that I can just speak on my relationship with my friends.”
Hart added, “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. Those are two of the most amazing people that I know.”
Both DeGeneres and Cannon, 39, have previously defended Hart in 2018 when he sparked outcry for past homophobic tweets. The scandal resulted in him bowing out as the host for the 2019 Oscars.
Earlier this month, Hart praised DeGeneres for being “one of the dopest people” who has “treated my family and my team” well. The pair were later spotted grabbing lunch on Saturday, August 15, in Santa Barbara, California.
