Wanda Sikes She never bites her tongue, and now she’s staying honest about opting out of the Kevin Hart roasted amid his litany of “racist, sexist” jokes.
Source: Unique Nicole/Michael Simon
Despite having his own special on the streamer, the comedy legend decidedly overlooked the roast even when Hart directly asked him to participate. In retrospect, she credits her intuition and principles for saving her from the fallout of the much-maligned special.
“Kevin called me before it was announced and I said, ‘No!'” Sykes explained during an interview with Vulture‘s The good ones podcast. “He said, ‘Come on, Wanda. Come on, it’ll be good. It’ll be good for your special. You’ve got a special coming out.’ I was like, ‘Kevin, you know I love you, man.’ He’s like, ‘I know. I know it’s not your thing. I know it’s not your thing.’ He tells me, ‘You’ll come in, do your thing, and get out of there.'”
Although she had no idea how things would end, upon watching “enough” of the special, Sykes said she was grateful to have gone through it.
“I consumed enough to say, ‘Thank God,’” he said. “I went to the Sparks game instead.”
Although he disagreed with many of the things that the general public criticized, from a comedic point of view, Sykes felt that the real mishap was that of the writers that night.
“Just lazy writing,” he said when asked what he felt made the special a failure. “I felt the same way about (Tom) Brady’s roast too. It just seems like roasts are recycled sexist, racist, gay jokes. Like, come on.”
With his comments, Sykes joins a long list of other comedians who have criticized the special for being monotonous and attacking vulnerable communities, something the comedy world often frowns upon. Hart, however, has remained steadfast in his defense of the special, highlighting its success on the streamer and praising the comedians who participated. Only time will tell if his views will ever change.
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