Kevin Hart is a Hollywood heavy hitter. He's hilarious, a hugely successful businessman
and entertainer, a social media pioneer, and a philanthropist who gives back to the community.
However, there are controversies surrounding this Philadelphia-raised funny man that cannot
be ignored. This is the shady side of Kevin Hart.
Considering how much Kevin Hart gushes about his wife, Eniko Parrish, it was shocking when
he essentially admitted to cheating on her while she was pregnant with his child, after
he knew he'd been caught. He said in a 2017 Instagram video,
"I made a bad error in judgment. I put myself in an environment where only bad things can
happen, and they did. And in doing that, I know that I'm going to hurt the people closest
to me."
Hart didn't say exactly what mistakes he'd made, but TMZ reported that someone was shopping
around a video allegedly of Hart and another woman engaged in some suggestive behavior
in a club and in a bed. A rep for Hart told the site,
"Someone tried to set Kevin up in a failed extortion attempt. As law enforcement is involved,
we cannot comment further as it could affect the investigation."
TMZ obtained the video of Kevin Hart that reportedly fueled the extortion attempt. While
the site did not publish the full video, it described the footage as graphic, noting that
while one doesn't actually see the star's face in a particularly raunchy scene, you
do see a nude man who looks an awful lot like the comedian walking around afterward.
The video includes text cards alleging that Hart started his "Hurricane Harvey Challenge"
in an effort to preempt the release of the footage and get into the public's good graces.
The video’s text reads,
"The real reason Kevin Hart orchestrated the Texas Hurricane Relief Fund, this so-called
good deed was done to get ahead as he knew this damaging footage was one click away from
being exposed as the liar and cheater he is."
Whoever sent the video also noted that Hart partied and hooked up with multiple women
during the weekend, and they mentioned that the weekend the footage was taken was during
his pregnant wife's birthday. Yikes.
The woman in the previously mentioned extortion video spoke out in September 2017, clarifying
to press that her name was Montia Sabbag, and that although she was involved with Hart
the month prior, she was not an extortionist trying to get money from the tape, she’s
just an actress and a recording artist. She said,
"I have not broken any laws. I had nothing to do with these recordings...I am truly sorry
for any involvement I have had in this."
Sabbag's attorney, Lisa Bloom, did not address reports that Sabbag allegedly demanded $420,000
to take a lie detector test, though Bloom did note that lie detector tests aren't admissible
in court and often produce false results.
Bloom also said in a statement that it seems that someone snuck cameras into Hart's private
hotel suite to record the two of them, which, she pointed out, is a crime. She then called
for Hart to join her and Sabbag in bringing the perpetrator to justice.
The attorney added,
"Kevin Hart appears to be the victim of this criminal, just as Montia is...To the criminal
who did this, I say: You belong in prison, and we are going to find you."
Law enforcement sources told TMZ that the person attempting to extort Kevin Hart made
several demands for money, at one point asking for eight figures. Sources told the gossip
rag that the FBI has identified the woman interacting with Hart in the video, and believed
either she was the person who demanded the cash or else someone who had access to her
iPhone was behind the alleged extortion attempt.
Sources close to Hart reportedly would not confirm if he was the man in the video, but
did confirm that the woman in the video was familiar to them and had previously had a
sexual relationship with another celebrity who is currently a TV star. The insiders also
noted that the video was recorded on an iPhone propped up against an object in the room,
and that recording without consent is against the law.
According to TMZ, the plot thickened when someone who could be the extortionist contacted
Hart's team and offered to take a lie detector test related to the tape's contents, but only
if they were paid a cool $500,000 for the test. Hart's attorneys reportedly declined
the offer. According to CNN, a former friend of Hart's by the name of Jonathan Todd Jackson
was charged with one count each of felony attempted extortion and extortion by threatening
letter in May 2018.
Kevin Hart admitted in 2016 that a big reason he didn't cheat was because he didn't want
to get caught. He told The Breakfast Club he believed that in today's culture, it's
too risky for a guy like him to cheat. He said he believed there are some women out
there who are willing to give other women a bad name, and who use tools like social
media to do so.
"There is no safe return from it. Like, I wouldn't be a good cheater right now because
I don't feel like I can trust you to cheat."
Hart went on to add that risking it isn't worth it to him, as there wouldn't be much
that he would get out of cheating at the moment.
In August 2017, Eniko Parrish posted a photo captioned,
"8 years together..1 year married..Forever to go!"
Fans and followers were quick to point out that the Central Intelligence star and his
ex-wife, Torrei Hart, had only been divorced for six years at that point. Parrish responded
in a since-deleted comment:
"Their marriage was broken way before I came in the picture. They were separated living
in separate homes. I was never a secret."
In another deleted comment she claimed Torrei started a rumor that Parrish was Hart's mistress
years ago because she wanted to play the victim and not own up to her wrongdoings in their
marriage. Torrei replied in a since-deleted comment of her own warning Parrish to be careful
about addressing Torrei’s character in public, noting that only she, Parrish, and Hart knew
the truth about their relationship.
Torrei later clarified to TMZ that anyone could look at the timeline of her and Hart's
relationship and understand that Parrish’s affair with Hart was part of the reason why
their marriage broke up, regardless of how Hart was trying to frame it.
Kevin Hart proposed to Eniko Parrish in August 2014, capturing the sweet moment on video.
Coincidentally (or perhaps not), Hart's ex-wife, Torrei Hart, had a television show premiering
the same day. In the show, called Atlanta Exes, Torrei talks about Kevin allegedly cheating
on her.
While TMZ suspected the comedian's timing may have been fueled by spite, it's important
to note that Hart's proposal also coincided with Parrish's 30th birthday. Hours after
the proposal, Kevin and Parrish reportedly ran into Torrei at an Atlanta strip club,
where spies told TMZ the women did not make eye contact.
In July 2017, Radar Online obtained photos and a video of Kevin Hart interacting suspiciously
with a woman in a car outside a Miami hotel, though it's unclear if anything untoward happened.
The woman in question was singer Monique "Momo" Gonzalez, as reported by the Daily Mail. A
spy alleged to Radar Online,
"It's obvious they were up to no good...With his wife at home pregnant, Kevin's behavior
is way out of line...It's disgusting that Kevin is doing this to her."
In Kevin Hart's 2015 memoir, I Can't Make This Up: Life Lessons, he recalled having
affairs behind Torrei Hart's back before they even wed. He admitted that he was too young
and too unstable to be able to communicate in a healthy way or repair the damage from
his mistakes. He also wrote that they would sometimes mess around with other people outside
of their marriage just to get back at each other.
"When we inevitably got back together, the knowledge, or sometimes just the suspicion,
that one of us had been with someone else made the next fight that much worse."
He described one incident in which Torrei had temporarily moved back in with her parents,
only to return to their shared home and find him with another woman. She retaliated by
destroying the woman's car and smashing in her windows.
The stand-up comic admitted that the cheating intensified after they married. He wrote that
after shows, he'd justify hooking up with other women because he felt he deserved it
after his and Torrei’s intense arguments. In reality, he said, he was the one lying,
cheating, and leading a double life. This behavior continued until one of the women
he was seeing allegedly began stalking him and revealed his affairs to Torrei, prompting
their divorce.
Court documents obtained by Radar Online revealed that Kevin Hart was arrested for simple assault
in 2000 after an altercation with Torrei Hart. The charges were dismissed, but the actor
did address the domestic dispute in his memoir. He wrote that he was drunk at the time, and
he couldn't really remember what happened.
"As best I can tell, we got in a screaming match, and she decided to call the police
because she thought it would hurt more than physical violence...What soon followed was
one of the lowest points I ever hit, and it fills me with an amount of shame that's beyond
words.”
At one point, he wrote, Torrei spit on him, and he started cursing at her. She then lunged
toward him, and Hart fought back. He was left with scratches on his neck and head, and she
was left with a swelling mark on her face.
After Hurricane Harvey devastated Houston, Texas, and its surrounding areas in August
2017, Kevin Hart created a Hurricane Relief Challenge, in which he called out other celebrities
by name, including pals Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Jay-Z, Beyoncé, Justin Timberlake,
and Dave Chappelle to donate $25,000 each to recovery efforts, saying that he’s noticed
a lot of celebrities doing challenges that haven't done much help in the past. He said
in an Instagram video,
"At this point I'm going to start a real challenge. I'm challenging a lot of my celebrity friends
to follow my lead in donating $25,000 to Hurricane Harvey."
But his challenge didn’t exactly go as planned. Even pal Johnson wasn't too impressed, though
he did participate. He said that while he would donate and that he appreciated that
Hart donated as well, he wasn't going to challenge or call out his other famous friends.
A fan named Jason Collins sued Kevin Hart in August 2017 after he was allegedly insulted
and beaten by the comic's security team. According to TMZ, Collins claimed he was a VIP guest
at Hart's show in Philadelphia in 2015, when stadium security approached in what he described
as an aggressive manner.
The stadium security allegedly turned Collins over to the comedian's personal security team.
Collins alleged that Hart's team threatened to tase him, threw him to the ground, and
called him names. He sued for $50,000, claiming Hart should take responsibility since it was
the actor's hired muscle who did the alleged damage.
It's worth noting that Collins has not publicized what he did to attract the stadium security
team's attention in the first place, or why it took him two years to sue. So take this
incident with a great big grain of salt.
Kevin Hart has dozens of on-screen roles to his name, but the movie star famously said
no to a major part in the past for one particular reason. The one role he regrets turning down,
though, was the role of Alpa Chino in Tropic Thunder, which eventually went to Brandon
T. Jackson.
Hart pointed out that the role was more exaggerated in the script than the one seen on screen,
and he said he thought he wouldn't be able to do the part justice because it involved
tapping into a type of character that he still felt insecure about playing, one that was,
as one of the hosts put, gayer than other roles he'd done before.
"It was a lot of stuff, and I was like, 'I can't, I can’t, I can’t do this.'"
When asked if he could play a gay role, in general, Hart said no, citing that it wasn’t
ill will or disrespect that was behind his reasoning, but because he didn't think he
could completely immerse himself in the role without being hyperaware of what the audience
would think of him.
In his memoir, Kevin Hart wrote,
"When I'm drunk, I think everything is a toilet."
According to TMZ, Hart was busted for a DUI in April 2013, after going nearly 90 miles
per hour and nearly crashing into a truck. His blood-alcohol level was reportedly nearly
twice the legal limit. The comedian was sentenced to three years of probation and three months
of alcohol education classes.
Montia Sabbag once complained that Kevin Hart was using their extortion situation in his
stand-up act for laughs and publicity while she was stuck being shamed.
Hart joked about the Miami and Las Vegas incidents and blasted himself for behaving like a degenerate
in a promotional video for his then-upcoming Irresponsible tour. Sabbag's attorney later
told TMZ that Hart's jokes were incredibly distasteful, adding,
"This stuff takes a toll mentally and physically, and now with this tour it's like this whole
thing was a joke."
In November 2018, Kevin Hart's wife, Eniko Parrish, took to Instagram to document a cowboys
and Indians-themed birthday party they threw for their son, Kenzo. However, TMZ reports
that the couple faced a ton of criticism for the festivities' theme, which many felt was
insensitive and racist toward Native Americans. But Hart wasn't having it and quickly went
on the defensive.
The comedian slammed the backlash as dumb on his Straight From The Hart radio show,
noting that the same day, the Dallas Cowboys had played against the Washington Redskins.
Hart said,
"To throw racial judgment into the development of a one-year-old's birthday party where the
theme is cowboys and Indians, and it's based around the outfits that are given to these
young kids."
Hart went on to liken playing cowboys and Indians as a kid to playing cops and robbers,
and said he believed the theme was much different from blackface. He claimed,
"This isn't a racial slur."
Before becoming a household name, Kevin Hart was simply a working comedian with a few stand-up
specials. As such, not all of his pre-fame material holds up. Hart has old tweets and
stand-up material from 2009 through 2011 in which he uses language, scenarios, and premises
that many interpret as homophobic.
In an interview with Rolling Stone in 2015, the comic revealed he wouldn't continue telling
one particularly controversial joke from a past special about how he'd react if his son
were gay, but not necessarily due to sensitivity or compassion for the LGBTQ+ community, but
because he has to be more careful about his image today. Hart explained,
"I think we love to make big deals out of things that aren't necessarily big deals,
because we can. These things become public spectacles. So why set yourself up for failure?"
Kevin Hart was named host of the 2019 Oscars in December 2018, but almost immediately afterward,
the old, allegedly homophobic, tweets and stand-up material resurfaced. Many opponents
to the comedian's hosting gig pointed out that he never actually apologized for the
prior offensive material. Hart's response? A shirtless Instagram video taken from bed,
in which he griped,
"If you want to hold people in a position where they always have to justify or explain
their past, then do you."
He then doubled down. In a follow-up Instagram clip, a seemingly exasperated Hart revealed
that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences asked him to apologize or else they'd
have to find a new host.
"I passed on the apology. Reason why I passed is because I've addressed this several times.
This is not the first time it's come up. I've addressed it."
Within days of speaking out on the backlash against him, Kevin Hart tweeted that he was
stepping down from hosting the Academy Awards. However, this time, he actually did apologize
to the LGBTQ+ community for his past remarks. He wrote,
"This is because I do not want to be a distraction on a night that should be celebrated by so
many amazing talented artists. I sincerely apologize to the LGBTQ community for my insensitive
words from my past."
In a follow-up tweet, the comedian apologized again, adding,
"I am evolving and want to continue to do so. My goal is to bring people together not
tear us apart. Much love & appreciation to the Academy. I hope we can meet again."
During a January 2019 appearance on Good Morning America, Kevin Hart made it clear that he
was tired of discussing the Oscars controversy, saying,
"I'm done with it. It gets no more energy from me. That's why I said, 'For the last
time, I'm addressing this.'"
When co-anchor Michael Strahan asked how he'd evolved since his initial homophobic jokes,
Hart snapped, saying that he felt like he had explained his evolution and that’s why
he’s done addressing it.
Hart then pointed out all of his previous tweets, Instagram posts, statements, and TV
and radio quotes about the Oscars situation and refused to discuss it any further. Saying
the backlash and apology cycle was endless, the comic added that he wanted to talk about
things that he was doing now and not what he’s done in the past.
When Strahan asked Hart about the possibility of having a gay son, in reference to an old
joke, Hart replied that if anyone wanted to believe he was that much of a monster, then
he couldn't be bothered by it.
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