Joe Rogan blasted comedians who criticized Kevin Hart’s roast jokes, calling them “traitors” during his podcast. He called roasting a one-of-a-kind, “no-holds-barred” art form with meanness at its core. Rogan further insisted that it deserves protection as comedy, not judgment by the rules of everyday life.
Joe Rogan backs Kevin Hart amid backlash for roast jokes
Joe Rogan has stepped in to defend Kevin Hart as criticism grows over his cutting roast material. During a recent “Joe Rogan Experience” episode, Rogan went after fellow comics for condemning jokes by Tony Hinchcliffe and Shane Gillis. “If you’re a person and you’re not accustomed to roasts and you don’t get why those jokes are so mean, I get it,” he said. “But comedians that are getting upset about these roast jokes, f*ck all the way off. You f*cking traitor. You know what this is. You know exactly what this is.”
Rogan’s remarks came weeks after the Netflix roast aired, with debate still raging. The event, meant as a tribute to Kevin Hart’s career, ended up drawing fire for jokes on race, suicide, and police violence.
Hinchcliffe’s joke about George Floyd became a much-contested one. He said Floyd was “looking up at us all laughing so hard he can’t breathe.” The line didn’t sit well with Floyd’s family and civil rights leaders.
Some of the strongest pushback came from Chelsea Handler, who described certain roast bits as “gross” and “disgusting.” Wanda Sykes entered the debate too, telling The View that the real question wasn’t offensiveness but effectiveness. She even called out the George Floyd joke for lacking humor, saying it fell short of being an actual joke.
Rogan, however, pushed back on those arguments, saying critics were missing the whole point of a roast. He explained that people could disagree with the material or say it went too far. But calling the comedians racist or Nazi-like just because they told roast jokes was, in his view, completely off base. Rogan went on to defend Hinchcliffe directly, describing him as a good person.
Originally reported by Sibanee Gogoi on Mandatory.
