Kevin Hart The 60 Minutes Interview

There have been plenty of successful stand-up comedians, but few who’ve managed to do what Kevin Hart has. In addition to becoming a bankable movie star, he’s also built an entertainment and business empire, and last month, at 44, he was awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, as close to a lifetime achievement award as you can get. Hart’s comedy isn’t particularly controversial. It’s conversational, with a lot of cursing thrown in. He tells revealing stories about his wife and four kids, his embarrassing insecurities, and his many shortcomings. On stage Kevin Hart is an open book, but when we sat down with him, on one topic at least, he was a bit hard to pin down.

The story will continue in a moment.

GQ said you’re 5’5″, the LA Times says you’re 5’4″, and some other place said you were 5’2″.

Well, that place is bull(censored). GQ finally got it right.

5’5″.

5’5″. Five foot five, like with a shoe on, like a sneaker. Now, if I put a boot on, I can get to 5’5″ and a half.

Kevin Hart has been telling tall tales about him himself on stage for more than two decades.

43 years old. I’ve been 5’5″ my whole life. 5’2″ and a half my whole life. It’s talking about the things that you aren’t afraid to laugh at about yourself. I’m really confident that the laugh that I’m getting, you’re not laughing necessarily at me as if I’m a joke, you’re laughing at the experience. I’m giving you an experience through a story that is relatable, and more importantly, I’m saying things that other people just don’t have the heart to say.

I mean, you told a story about your wife watching tall people porn.

Yeah, he was taller than me.

That was your main issue.

Yeah. Why is he so tall? Is that what you want? We had a real conversation off of that. Is that what you’re looking for? If your search starts with tall-

You can’t fix that.

Yeah, no, I can’t fix that. We got a problem. One of the sites wasn’t even porn. One of the sites was a bunch of tall men being active. They were changing light bulbs, putting (censored) on shelves, hanging paintings. What kind of sick (censored) is this? What the (censored) is this? She was like, “What? You can’t do none of that stuff. I like that stuff.”

Hart is the highest-grossing comedian today. He sells out arenas around the world and the occasional football stadium.

We sold a football stadium out tonight, so I need to hear that. The world is full of great comedians.

When we first met him in January at his offices in Los Angeles, he was working on new material for an upcoming comedy tour. To do an hour comedy special, how long does it take? How many-

For me to really work on a set, eight to nine months.

Are you sitting in a room with your team?

No, I’m going back to ground zero.

Just small comedy clubs, trying out-

Small comedy clubs. Rooms. I got two guys, Harry Ratchford, Joey Wells. They act as my writers. And what they do is they grab my material as I say it. But you can’t write it down for me. I don’t like the long joke or the long sentences, so it has to be in bullet points. Travel. Bad. Bad travel. Why Bad travel makes me drive. Driving. Good versus bad. Everything has a good and a bad. My rule is when I get on stage, I would much rather have the dismantled picture in my head of kind of what I think it is and it not be good, and then figure it out in real time and walk off stage and go, “It was something there.”

A few hours later, 3,000 people showed up in Pasadena to hear Hart figure out his new jokes on stage. Everyone had to hand over their phones. Before he began, Hart explained why.

Like 90% of what I’m going to do tonight I feel like is really good. The reason why I took your phones is because of the other 10%. Just in case. Just in case some of it is not, you don’t have no proof.

We agreed not to record any of his routine either, but backstage we found his collaborators, Harry Ratchford and Joey Wells taking a lot of notes.

I appreciate y’all. I’m Kevin Hart. I love you. Good night.

How was this audience?

This audience was great. Great. You could feel the laughter never stop. That’s the beauty of a theater. The theater lets you really feel the highs and lows of a set.

There’s so much that he wants to do-

Joey Wells and Harry Ratchford, along with comedians Will “Spank” Horton and Na’im Lynn are among Hart’s closest friends. They’re also known professionally as the Plastic Cup Boys. What are you actually looking for when he’s on a stage and telling a joke? What notes do you have?

Harry’s always structured. We should put the joke here and move it around. And for me, I’m always just like, “How can it be just a little funnier?” He might get a standing ovation, I go, “That was great. That was great. But What if you tried this?”

Spank and Na’im have known Hart since he was a teenager growing up in a rough neighborhood in North Philadelphia. Was Kevin always as confident as he is today?

Yes. I mean, it was perplexing in the beginning. Why does this little ugly dude have this much confidence? I didn’t get it.

North Philly. North Philly.

I don’t know what he thinks he’s doing. He swears he can dance.

Home movies his mom made show Hart was always the family entertainer. He lived in a one-bedroom apartment with his brother Robert and his mom Nancy Hart. She kept a close eye on Kevin. She planned every moment of your day-

Every moment. I had no free time. After finishing my homework, I had to get to swim practice, me and my mom would walk home from practice. The homework that I was supposed to do beforehand, she would go over and check and end up making me redo it because 9 times out of 10 I rushed through it just to get it done. She would then make me read and I would skip pages not expecting the quiz of the book to come, on the back half, which she would give me when I said I was done, and then she would make me read it again.

Do you credit her with the drive you have?

Absolutely. Absolutely.

His mom also kept Kevin’s dad, Henry Witherspoon at a distance. He was in and out of prison and addicted to drugs, which Hart talked about in a 2011 stand-up special called Laugh at My Pain.

I was in a weird spelling bees debate. Now here’s the thing, my dad would show up in my events and treat them as if they were athletic events. First of all, you can’t cheer for no kid at a spelling bee. It’s a spelling bee. It’s quiet. I’m focused. I’m in the middle of spelling a very difficult word, my dad shows up late, busts through the back door, high as hell, making cocaine noises. Once again, I cannot make this up. This is all I heard. I’m in the middle of spelling something. Out of nowhere, all I heard was, “All right, all right, all right. Yeah.”

The actual details of stuff he did are really heartbreaking. And yet you tell it in a way that’s funny. Is it heartbreaking to you?

No, because-

It must’ve been at the time

I see it for what it was, and as a kid, that’s dad. By the way, in my environment, that’s the norm. It’s normal to see a parent drunk or whatever.

Your dad, even in the depths of his drug use, he wanted to see you and your brother.

Absolutely. There was a period where he disappeared, I didn’t see him in a long time, and I saw him on the subway and he was in bad shape, and I was like, “Dad.” He turned around and saw me and the doors opened, my dad walked off and ran. Later told me, “I ran because it just hurt me for you to see me like that,” and that was one of his key factors into going and getting help.

Hart was eventually able to help his dad get clean before he died in 2022.

My dad is crazy.

Kevin said his father loved to hear the stories he told about him in front of thousands of people.

So we talk about my dad, we celebrate my dad.

But when Hart started doing stand-up at 18, he struggled to find places to perform. And you would take gigs wherever you could get them.

You’re talking bowling alleys, you’re talking cabarets, strip clubs. I did strip clubs.

Is there a lot of comedy and strip clubs?

No, [inaudible 00:08:44]. No, I don’t know who thought that comedy and strippers mix, but I remember one of the most heartbreaking moments for me on stage is in the middle of my set-

This was at a strip club.

And I remember hearing this lady going, “Oh baby.”

After you told the joke.

“Oh baby.” Basically. So disgusted and heartbroken that this is what I chose to do with my life.

Hart thought he was about to make it big. When he shot a sitcom for ABC called the Big House in 2003.

My god, it’s Kevin Hart.

The network flew him out to the upfronts to present the show to advertisers and the media.

I’m next to walk on stage so they can announce The Big House. You’re the guy with the microphone that’s backstage managing the… This is what I see. “He’s right here. I’m with him. All right, I’ll tell him right now. Kevin, hold up one second. They just said they’re not going to go through or pick it up. Somebody should be back here to talk to you shortly.” What does that mean?

The guy with the microphone is telling you that your series is not being picked up by the network?

Not the network exec.

Not the CEO of Disney coming out saying, “Hey.”

No, no, no. A guy named Barry in the back holding the curtain.

It was only because of that rejection-

I don’t want to feel that. I don’t like that you got to hire me when you are ready. You’re saying that my career is basically determined off of the needs of people that I don’t know and that I don’t talk to? I might be sitting here all day if I don’t go grab it and I don’t go make what I feel should be mine.

And that is what he did. He started a small production company now called HartBeat and began making his own hour-long stand-up specials. He also marketed himself relentlessly through social media. Hollywood Studios took notice.

Get on my back.

What? I would rather die.

Jump on my back.

Nope, I’m going to die.

Kevin, what’s up?

When he was picked in 2018 to host the Oscars, it seemed like a high point in his career.

I have nothing against gay people. Be happy-

But then comments he made about gay people years earlier on stage and on Twitter cause controversy.

But me being a heterosexual male, if I can prevent my son from being gay, I will.

Heart stepped down as the Oscars host. Initially, you didn’t apologize. Later on, you did.

Well, later on the understanding came from the best light bulb ever. Wanda Sykes said, “There’s people that are being hurt today because of comments like the ones that you made then, and there’s people that will think it’s okay to make those comments today based off of what you did then.” It was presented to me in a way where I couldn’t ignore that. So in those moments of despair, great understanding and education can’t come out of it if you’re giving the opportunity.

These days it’s hard to keep track of all the businesses Hart has a hand in. The weekend we spent with him, he was in constant motion and promotion, starting with his daily pre-dawn workout.

60 Minutes, is this what you want? Huh? This what you want? I’m going to give you what you want. So the good thing is that we make it out of here-

Then he was off to Walmart to publicize a nutrition supplement company he owns.

… to reach people.

Finally. You’re a real person.

I am.

He’s also got a fast food chain, a tequila brand, and a hundred million dollars venture capital fund.

Cheers.

And HartBeat, that little production company he started is now worth more than $650 million.

I’m no longer just a comedian. I’m an investment, I’m a studio. I’m a partner looking for partnerships. Work for hire is not in my best interest if it’s a one and done situation.

That means the endless stream of movies, shows, podcasts, and commercials Kevin Hart pops up in, chances are Hartbeat is making money off them too.

Even my stunt double has a stunt double.

Are you a billionaire yet?

None of your business. You trying to get me robbed? You trying to get me knocked [inaudible 00:13:00]-

But you will be a billionaire.

I mean, hopefully. And even if I don’t or if I’m not, I think the better side of what I’ve done is create what can become the new norm for other people in the business of funny, for other people in the business of entertainment. Not just being a part of the business, but learning and understanding how to be the business.

Kevin Hart’s daughter on the jokes he tells about her.

Why is he blowing my business out there?

At 60minutesovertime.com.