What makes them great and what separates them from everyone else, however, is that they always get back up. So it’s no surprise that Kevin Hart has taken a few jabs at himself in the trailer for his upcoming Irresponsible tour.
If you didn’t know, a video appeared of Kevin Hart and Montia Sabbag getting really close in Vegas back in September. At the end of the video there was a message demanding money from the comedian.
Because it was extortion and because Kevin and his lawyers got ahead of it, the demands did not have to be followed and the video remained unleaked. The only true damage besides his reputation was Hart’s relationship with his pregnant wife Eniko, to whom he publicly apologized.
“Give me one example of me being irresponsible,” Kevin says in the promo, to five other versions of himself. “Boy, we talking about you in that car with that girl in Miami.” Where the lead Kevin responds, “I don’t even know who she is!” Another Kevin character pipes in with, “What about Las Vegas,” where Kevin then yells back, “Fuck you man!”
Lisa Bloom, who was hired by Montia to represent her, says this video is a clear slap in the face suggesting that Kevin was trying to make money off of the situation.
TMZ reports that both Montia and Lisa think that Kevin using the scandal for his tour teaser is “very distasteful.” Bloom said:
“This stuff takes a toll mentally and physically, and now with this tour it’s like this whole thing was a joke.”
Kevin Hart and his wife are still together as she is expecting his next child. He seems unscathed from the whole situation and winning, still. Props.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York has brought charges against four assistant coaches for NCAA basketball programs from Arizona, Auburn, Oklahoma State, and Southern California.
Specific charges detail the coaches taking “thousands of dollars in bribes to steer NBA-destined college stars toward certain sports agents and financial advisers,” according to ESPN.
The coaches named are Auburn’s Chuck Person, Arizona’s Emmanuel Richardson, USC’s Tony Bland, and Oklahoma State’s Lamont Evans.
Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Joon H. Kim, told reporters at a news conference on Tuesday that the investigation exposed the dark underbelly of high-profile college basketball recruiting. Kim said,
“The picture painted by the charges brought today is not a pretty one. Coaches at some of the nation’s top programs soliciting and accepting cash bribes. Managers and financial advisers circling blue-chip prospects like coyotes. And employees of one of the world’s largest sportswear companies secretly funneling cash to the families of high school recruits.”
Here’s a list of other people charged in the investigation, from ESPN:
– James Gatto, director of global sports marketing at Adidas.
– Merl Code, who recently left Nike for Adidas.
– Christian Dawkins, an NBA agent who was fired in May from ASM Sports for charging approximately $42,000 in Uber charges on a player’s credit card.
– Jonathan Brad Augustine, president of The League Initiative and program director of the Adidas-sponsored 1 Family AAU program.
– Munish Sood, a financial adviser.
– Rashan Michel, a former NBA official who founded Thompson Bespoke Clothing, a custom clothier for athletes.
Also named in the report is a “public research university located in Kentucky,” which was confirmed to be the University of Louisville.
The investigation outlines representatives of sportswear companies like Adidas and Nike paying players to go to certain schools or sign with certain agents after they leave school. And while these assistant coaches charged were the moneymen, it’s impossible to believe that higher-ups at these institutions were unaware of the activity.
The NCAA is a sham. The rules against paying ‘student-athletes’ for their labor will result in shady deals like we see in this investigation forever. This is the way it’s always been and will continue to be until the NCAA is toppled or their entire model is changed.
This is only the beginning as the investigation is said to be “ongoing.” One has to imagine there are more charges to come.
Just last year Forbes announced that, for the first time since keeping track, Jerry Seinfeld was dethroned as comedy cash king after Kevin Hart pulled in $87.5 million in 2016—over $30 million more than Seinfeld’s $43.5 million.
The feat was so notable it also earned Hart sixth place on the Celebrity 100, Forbes’ annual list of celebrity money-makers that year. A large part was due to Hart playing over 100 shows with an average gross of over $1 million at each stop, a feat no other comedian was doing.
But last year barely begins to speak to his success.
Since beginning comedy in his hometown of Philly, Kevin has managed to make himself into a television, movie, stand-up, and even part-time musical star. He has five stand-up specials, has been in a movie every year since 2002, and has even written a book.
Kev’s come-up story resonated with people for two reasons: firstly his dominance. Eddie Murphy is the most recent comedian that comes to mind in terms of an individual who occupied as many media spaces. Secondly, it’s because Kevin has a unique likability.
Kevin Hart’s self-deprecating humor that makes light of his height, raising his children, and family woes makes him feel like a relative, not to mention how relatable he is on live television.
On top of all of the good content he constantly puts out, he’s also made himself a beacon of inspiration.
His Snapchat displays his coined “hustle Hart” lifestyle, running from one shoot to another. His Instagram exudes examples of fatherhood, family, and servitude.
In every interview, he drops gems on helping others get to where they want to go in life.
And when you watch the video you’d see why. Whoever this individual is clearly is not playing games and they have some concrete dirt.
This time there weren’t pictures or videos, just words threatening to release sensitive information about the comedian unless money is paid.
Using past interviews audio as a backdrop — which cleverly included snippets of Kev blaming infidelities with his first wife on maturity and where he admitted that chasing physical attributes is an endless game — the video has a typed out message with demands.
TMZ reported the FBI is on the hunt for the extortionist and they have a suspect but it’s unclear if the suspect is the woman pictured with Kevin or someone else who may have captured the bedroom scene with an iPhone.
The extortionist’s latest demands are in the millions.
As you can imagine, Twitter is weighing in on the scandal.
So where do we go from here? No, we do not know the specifics of what happened or what exactly Kevin Hart is apologizing for, but Kevin Hart did not live up to the public’s expectations.
Besides, one of the pitfalls of fame is being publicly responsible to your constituents, even with private matters not concerning them.
The lesson here is that good is not good enough. It never is. Re: Bill Cosby, Nate Parker, Michael Jackson, Kodak Black, Chris Brown or whoever has done anything immoral and ethically wrong.
It’s not about justifying these men’s actions or what they did or did not do, it’s about the initial cloak of immortality that we love to place on their backs before disappointingly finding out that they, too, bleed.
We can only be outraged and ready to stop giving Kevin our money if he took vows to us and promised us his unwavering loyalty.
Anything else is an overreaction to an expectation we shouldn’t have had (also Hart’s transgressions do not compare to these other men’s alleged abuse towards women).
Just this past August when Hurricane Harvey hit Houston Kevin was one of the main celebrities of influence who took charge. Not only did he call out his peers but he donated $25,00 himself.
In an era where your grandma can slip and say something flagrantly offensive to someone somewhere, it makes sense why Kevin Hart would catch heat for cheating on his wife who literally just gave birth to his newest child.
However, what I won’t do is say Kevin Hart isn’t good. He’s not good enough, maybe no one ever will be, but he’s good enough in my book.
