Kevin Hart has certainly grown over the years, and his response to the viral “gay son or thot daughter” debate proves it.
During a recent interview with comedian and TV personality Ziwe, the 46-year-old actor handled a line of questioning about various topics concerning the LGBTQIA+ community with noticeably more intention than he has in the past.
When Ziwe bluntly asked whether he’d prefer to have a gay son or a “thot— as in promiscuous—daughter, Hart didn’t hesitate: “I would rather have two healthy kids. Like, it doesn’t matter to me.”
The father of four added, “The fact that you have to put them in those categories says a lot about who you are.”
“I’m just telling you I think the real problem is in the thinker, not the answerer. The thinker,” Hart continued. “Maybe you should just ponder on that for a second.”
Elsewhere in the conversation, Ziwe asked Hart what his favorite letter in the LGBTQIA+ alphabet is. After playfully stalling, he replied that “the definition of it” is what he appreciates most.
“And what is the definition?” Ziwe pressed.
“The fact that you would want me to answer that says a lot about you,” Hart teased, adding that Ziwe was “the problem.”
“I’m the problem?” Ziwe asked in her signature quasi-sarcastic tone.
“Well, I’m not going to say you’re the solution. Game on,” Hart said.
This marks a far cry from the backlash he faced more than a decade ago, when resurfaced homophobic tweets and jokes — particularly a 2011 tweet about how he’d react if his son were gay — sparked widespread criticism and ultimately led him to step down from hosting the 2019 Oscars after refusing to issue an apology at the time. (With the help of Wanda Sykes and others, he later apologized.)
Throughout the rest of the interview, Ziwe pushed Hart on other queer-related topics, asking whether he’d ever play a gay role and if he’d apologize again to the LGBTQ community for past comments.
“Well, you don’t have to constantly do something if you’re accountable and you are strong enough to stand in whatever the line of fire is to say things,” Hart said. “So, whether it’s been the family or friends or gay people in the past, accountability is key. And I think to all of those people that were mentioned in that particular question, I have definitely been aware and accountable.”
He also used the sit-down to promote his brand-new Netflix special, “Acting My Age,” a lively one-hour set about everything he’s experienced while getting older — from health concerns and ridiculous injuries to run-ins with gorillas in the wild and his entire family’s evolving views on the gay community. He even opens the special with a joke about a relative recently coming out, noting how the bold revelation barely made a ripple among them.
“Acting My Age” is streaming now on Netflix.
