Michael Che is roasting the “Roast of Kevin Hart.”
The comedian and “Saturday Night Live” star was originally slated to perform at the live Netflix event on Sunday, two sources involved in the production tell Variety, but he ended up pulling out due to scheduling difficulties with “SNL.” (Che was not alone — sources say the roast lineup had undergone quite a bit of shuffling, with several last-minute additions and dropouts.)
Now, Che is taking to social media to air some grievances about the event, writing on Instagram, “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 fuck about they shoes.”
Che’s post appears to reference some of the edgier jokes made by roast host Shane Gillis, Tony Hinchcliffe and others. Gillis made jokes mocking Hart’s height that referenced slavery and lynching — the latter quip he admitted required “three weeks of deliberation.” And Hinchcliffe indulged in his fair share of racial humor as well, with one particularly shocking joke about George Floyd that drew backlash online.
Other comics, like Jeff Ross and Katt Williams, joked about Hart once attending a Diddy party. Pete Davidson and Hinchcliffe both had jokes referencing (but not saying) the N-word. And Dwayne Johnson, Gillis, Ross and more made fun of Hart’s late father’s addiction to crack cocaine. (“Nothing was off limits,” Ross told Variety in an interview the day after the live telecast.)
While Che did not name any of the comedians on the dais, he did troll some of the behind-the-scenes writers of the roast.
“Let’s do a roast celebrating the career of the most successful Black comic in the last 10 years,” Che wrote in a separate post. “I love that! Who should we get to write it?” On the next slide, Che included a photo of five joke writers hired by Gillis — Nick Mullen, J.P. McDade, Mike Lawrence, Dan St. Germain and Zac Amico — all of whom are white.
“C’monnnnnnnnn… that’s not funny?” Che added.
Representatives for Netflix had no comment. Che’s managers did not immediately respond to Variety‘s requests for comment.
Those called out by Che are not the only scribes who worked on the roast. It’s worth noting that the telecast has 17 credited writers, several of whom are Black. Many of the comedians hired their own teams of joke writers, including Hinchcliffe and Chelsea Handler, who posted a photo with some of her writers and tagged them in the caption. There were other writers hired to churn out punchlines for various talent, too, like comedian Madison Sinclair, who slipped some of her favorite unused roast jokes to Variety.
McDade, for one, cheekily acknowledged Che’s diss by resharing his post — but only the photo, not Che’s words. “Don’t swipe,” McDade wrote.