Michael Che is now roasting Kevin Hart's roast
What's the story
Comedian and Saturday Night Live star Michael Che had pulled out of the live Netflix event Roast of Kevin Hart due to scheduling conflicts with SNL, reported Variety. The roast lineup had seen several last-minute changes, with multiple additions and dropouts. After not getting to participate in the Kevin Hart-centered show, Che is now expressing his dissatisfaction with the event's humor and how things went down.
Social media critique
'White guys and Black people joke different'
Che took to Instagram to share his thoughts on the event, writing, "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.'" He added that white comedians don't care about their shoes. His post, without mentioning the show explicitly, seemed to reference some controversial jokes made by roast host Shane Gillis and Tony Hinchcliffe, among others.
Racial disparity
More on the joke writers
In a separate post, Che questioned the decision to hire all-white joke writers for the roast. He wrote, "Let's 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 then shared a photo of five white writers hired by Gillis and asked, "C'monnnnnnnnn... that's not funny?"
Reaction
Response from writer and Netflix
The writers called out by Che are not the only ones who worked on the roast. The telecast has 17 credited writers, including several Black individuals. Many comedians hired their own joke-writing teams, like Hinchcliffe and Chelsea Handler. J.P. McDade, one of the white writers hired by Gillies, humorously responded to Che's criticism by resharing his post but only the photo, not Che's words. Netflix representatives have yet to comment.