Michael Che has criticised Netflix's The Roast of Kevin Hart special, questioning why a roast celebrating 'the most successful Black comic in the last 10 years' relied heavily on White joke writers. The live show, hosted by Shane Gillis, aired on Sunday from the Kia Forum in Los Angeles as part of the streaming service's 2026 Netflix Is a Joke Fest. Kevin Hart was 'in the hot seat', with a celebrity line-up including Pete Davidson, Chelsea Handler, Regina Hall, Tony Hinchcliffe, Sheryl Underwood, and Draymond Green taking turns roasting the comedian. Surprise appearances included Usher, Lizzo, Dwayne Johnson, Katt Williams, Serena Williams, and Venus Williams.
Che's Social Media Criticism
On Tuesday, Che, the Saturday Night Live 'Weekend Update' co-anchor, made a series of Instagram posts about the event. He wrote: 'White guys and Black people joke different. Black guy roast like, “look at this n**** shoes!” White roasts are like, “Slavery, math, slain teens, sex crimes, slurs, family secrets.” White guys don’t give a f*** about they shoes.' His posts appeared to allude to some of the roast’s most controversial material. Gillis joked about Hart’s height by comparing him to 'a slave' and referencing lynching, while Tony Hinchcliffe drew backlash online for a routine about George Floyd that included references to Floyd 'looking up at us all' and 'laughing so hard he can’t breathe'.
Writing Team Under Fire
In another post, Che took aim at the roast’s writing team. 'Lets 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 wrote. An image in his post showed five writers hired by Gillis for the special – Nick Mullen, JP McDade, Mike Lawrence, Dan St Germain, and Zac Amico – all of whom are White. Che’s final slide read: 'Cmonnnnnnnn…that’s not funny?' McDade reposted the image of the writers on his Instagram with the caption 'Don’t swipe'.
Background and Response
According to Variety, two sources involved with production said Che had originally been scheduled to appear at the event but withdrew because of scheduling conflicts with SNL. It added that several performers had been added or dropped from the line-up shortly before the show. The roast listed 17 credited writers, according to IMDb, several of whom were Black, including Harry Ratchford, Chris Spencer, and Joey Wells. Handler also posted a photo of her own writing team, which included Yamaneika Saunders and Yassir Lester. The Independent has reached out to representatives for Che and Netflix for comment.
Tom Brady's Surprise Appearance
At the roast, Hart was interrupted by the subject of the streamer’s 2024 roast, former NFL star Tom Brady, who mocked the comedian over his past infidelity scandal. Brady joked that he had 'a few words' for Hart before returning to his 'affairs in Las Vegas', alluding both to Brady’s ownership stakes in the Las Vegas Raiders NFL team and WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces, and to Hart’s 2017 cheating scandal involving model Montia Sabbag. Hart later publicly apologised to his wife Eniko Hart, who was present in the audience on Sunday night, and called the incident a 'bad error in judgment'.
