The Best and Worst Moments from Netflix's Live Kevin Hart Roast

Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Netflix

Live Roast of Kevin Hart came out with a lot of bells and whistles. For a roast, the production value and showmanship in the first few minutes alone, mostly due to Usher’s roast track, set a tone for a BIG HOLLYWOOD NIGHT. That’s what followed, with some big names hitting the stage of the Los Angeles Forum to roast the comedian and movie star.

Host Shane Gillis took the stage to introduce the night and delivered exactly what you’d expect from the Tires co-creator. A few days prior to the roast, at a strange recording for Bill Simmons at Netflix Is a Joke, Gillis teased a few of his jokes. They were solid, but after a few misses with the crowd at the Forum, Gillis announced: “Oh, this is gonna be terrible.”

Following Usher’s performance, Tom Brady took the stage. One of the greatest athletes of all time, now turning into an exceptional NFL announcer, maybe wasn’t the best player to kick things off since he’s not a comic.

After Brady’s performance, Gillis introduced the roastees, including Draymond Green, Pete Davidson, Regina Hall, Roast Master General Jeff Ross, and Kill Tony host Tony Hinchcliffe, to name a few. A few of Gillis’ knocks scored some laughs, but it was probably funniest when the camera cut to blank expressions in the first few rows. Regina Hall – one of the most talented actors today, just ask I Support The Girls – was always a joy to see not laughing at the jokes falling flat.

That’s usually the problem with roasts. There are almost too many participants. With all the jokes, there are going to be more misses than hits. That was generally the case with Live Roast of Kevin Hart, but some laughs made the far too long, three-hour roast watchable.

A few PG-13 gems early on:

“I thought he’d be here stealing more money from Netflix,” Na’im Lynn says of Dave Chappelle. “I saw your last special. Jokes would’ve been nice. Hour-long speech? 20 million. He’s the reason the damn subscription goes up every six months.”

“Tony Hinchcliffe is here,” Chelsea Handler announced. “Tony is what happens when women don’t have safe access to abortion care.” There’s also a viral clip where she further takes aim at Hinchcliffe’s support of Trump and the ongoing war in Iran, which, as you can imagine, has comments riled up from both political aisles.

“Shane Gillis and I worked out together once,” said Dwayne Johnson.

“I’ve never seen Draymond Green in person,” Lizzo said. “I always thought he was six Kevin Harts in a trench coat.”

Lizzo had her own Netflix Is a Joke event cancelled, where she was expected to make her stand-up debut. It’s a shame she didn’t host her own night of music and comedy, because she brought a lightheartedness to the roast. She hit a nice and mean tone that raised the energy at the Forum. At a roast, a feel-good artist like Lizzo goes a long way.

Hall’s One Battle After Another co-star, Teyana Taylor, came out next. Coming off a Best Picture winner, Taylor had plenty to say about Hart’s filmography. Many jokes were made at the expense of the quality of Hart’s movies. Easy but fair targets.

Not long after Taylor, Hinchcliffe did what he does and Hall talked about Hart’s movies only playing in hell. The Scary Movie 6 star sounds so kind as she eviscerates. Her bit of communicating with Hart’s mother in heaven – a standout performance.

Hall ends her roast with a special guest for not only Hart but viewers: Katt Williams. The comic had the leanest, most impactful jokes. It’s hard to quote them for fear of butchering them. The A-level comic was the MVP of the night. No surprise there, since he’s, you know, Katt Williams.

Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Netflix

Audiences almost never get to see Johnson do mean-spirited comedy given his long-standing family friendly brand, so that was the biggest surprise of the show. The actor hasn’t done pure comedy in a while, either. He treated the comedy challenge like a WWE event.

All in all, Live Roast of Kevin Hart was more or less a long-winded, occasionally uneven night of comedy. Credit to the crew for keeping a live production running smoothly, though. Technical hiccups, although sometimes an issue with live events on Netflix, wasn’t one of the issues with Live Roast of Kevin Hart.

You can watch the complete roast (which clocks in at 2 hours and 51 minutes) here, or you’ll find clips on Netflix’s Netflix is a Joke pages on TikTok or Instagram. An official YouTube playlist has also been set up and will be added to throughout the day.