June 08, 2017
Actor and comedian Kevin Hart's not holding back.
Hart, who hails from Philadelphia, appeared on ABC's "The View" on Wednesday and covered quite the range of topics – from embarrassing his kids and his son on the way with wife Eniko Parrish to his mom's unfettered support while he was trying to get his career started.
He said that those in the limelight need to exercise "better judgment" when asked about recent controversies involving comedians Bill Maher and Kathy Griffin and then switched gears, roping in comedian Dave Chappelle.
Chappelle returned to the stage in a Netflix comedy special back in March, where he took the time to rag on Hart and his success. Chappelle suggested that he felt a little jealous when his 12-year-old was in total awe after seeing one of Hart's shows.
Hart briefly addressed the set on Twitter but elaborated on "The View," where he was promoting his new book, "I Can't Make This Up: Life Lessons."
"Dave is a great guy," Hart said. "I mean I'm a student of comedy and I'm very much in a position I am because of all of the great comedians before me that have paved the way for me to go through the doors that I'm going through, so I take my hat off to him for even coming and showing me love at the show and putting me in the set. It was the biggest compliment you could ever receive, so I love him to death for that."
Hart talked about his own kids as well, emphasizing the need to be present with them but also how much he enjoys making his two kids, daughter Heaven and son Hendrix, blush from embarrassment.
His own childhood was a bit different. Hart opened up about growing up in North Philadelphia, where he recalled his father's drug addiction – a topic he's been public about in the past.
He says:
"I came from hard times. Philadelphia, North Philadelphia. Dad was on any and every drug that you can name, in and out of jail. I think the hardest thing ... I think the toughest thing was just seeing my dad when drugs really had that effect on his life. Like, when you visibily see the change in a person and you're at an age to go, 'Oh, wait, this is something else,' you know? And you're young enough but you're old enough to go, 'Something isn't right,' and nobody wants to talk to you or tell you because of your age. They're trying to protect you so you end up putting the pieces to the puzzle together yourself and you know, where I lived, people that dealt drugs were dealing drugs to my dad, so ultimately I became the butt of a joke without knowing that the joke was my dad. It was like, 'Oh your dad coming back? We've been giving your dad stuff.' Not my dad, no way. Ya'll been giving my dad stuff? And then eventually I see and I'm like, 'Oh my God' ... so when you're a child and you see it, it's like, damn, that's the biggest punch that you can take."
Watch the full clip from "The View" below:
