Comedy Icon Kevin Hart on The Diary Of A CEO Podcast (Transcript)

Not a good student, kind of f*ing off school, the opportunities to come with school, the extracurricular activities that I didn’t want to do, that I was doing, that my mom made me do.

Hanging out was the thing. Hanging out was the luxury, it was the fun. And it wasn’t available. My mom was strict, so I didn’t have the luxury of doing all those things, which is why I wanted them more.

Nancy Hart: The Strict Mother

STEVEN BARTLETT: I found this photo of your mother.

KEVIN HART: Yeah, me and Nancy Hart. She was strict, very strict with me. My older brother, he had a little more leanness, freedom. He had curfew late at night. But my brother did all of the other stuff. My brother sold the drugs, did the smaller tiers of crime and stupid shit as a teenager.

My mom felt like she wasn’t going to let that happen with me. So she was much more protective because of the mistakes she saw that she made with my brother. So I got the short end of the stick. I didn’t have the curfew. I wasn’t able to go hang out. I wasn’t able to do all those things. And that’s why I wanted that so much. So I rebelled.

In the spaces where you have to do this, I was like, well, you don’t let me do this, so I don’t want to do this. So I kind of f*ed off a lot of those opportunities.

And your father hit me with a spoon. Spony G’s my guy, a f* up in the eyes of most. But my dad, he didn’t necessarily do the right things in life. Gang, crime, all of the shit. Jail, in jail, out of jail, drugs. I mean, that environment that we were raised in is not the best environment for anyone, but it’s an amazing environment for those that live in it because it’s all we know.

And the normalcy is the low. My mom strived for the higher side of it. My mom was education, degree, trying to get another degree, trying to get a master’s. My mom was always wanting to get better, always wanting to educate herself more because she felt that it was the biggest strength that nobody could control but her.

Growing Up Without a Father

STEVEN BARTLETT: And they separated.

KEVIN HART: Yeah, they were never married.

STEVEN BARTLETT: Never married.

KEVIN HART: Never married.

STEVEN BARTLETT: And did they physically separate at a certain point?

KEVIN HART: I mean, I think my dad only lived in the house with me in my really younger years, maybe from 5 to 7, maybe 8 if I can remember. I didn’t grow up with my dad home. So when my mom was like, “F* that, you’re out of here,” it was over.

My dad was a weekend dad or every other weekend dad or, during the week, stopped by. Then he was in and out of jail. Then he got on drugs. We didn’t see him at all.

STEVEN BARTLETT: How did you understand that as a kid? How does a kid understand the dad coming and going, being in jail?

KEVIN HART: Drugs. You are a product of your environment. And in that environment, that’s the norm. So when you say, how did you understand that? Well, nobody had a dad, right? All my friends, our dads, we see them when we see them, and we love them because that’s what we thought dads should be.

It’s not like I’m going over a volume of homes where I’m seeing the father sit with the family and the mom, and they’re doing dinner and they’re having conversations and it’s this happy household. I only had a couple of examples like that.

I remember when I went over one of my friends’ houses from the swim team, and I remember he had his own room. It was crazy. You get to close the door and this is your space. Here’s my room. I had a hallway. We didn’t have no room. We had a hallway. My bed’s in the hallway. You could always see me.

STEVEN BARTLETT: This is where…

KEVIN HART: This is where I am. Me and my brother right here in the hall on these bunk beds. My friend had grass. He had a backyard. This is crazy. We don’t have none of this where we live.

Because that is the norm, I never… it never affected me, right? I was never taken back by the obstacles of our household. My mom and dad just didn’t get along, and it didn’t work. All right. It is what it is.

The Absence of Role Models

STEVEN BARTLETT: Did you have male role models at the time?

KEVIN HART: I don’t think that I was in the space of knowing what a role model is or should be. I just had good people around me who acted as parenting aides to my mother to help her because of her schedule.

But I never remember at that age looking at other families like, “Oh, this is what I want, and this is what I’m striving to get or gain.” It was shoulder shrug, a lot of shoulder shrugs. It wasn’t until I got older that I think… I know the lessons that my mom was kind of laying down started to click in differently.

The Bible Lesson: A Mother’s Wisdom

STEVEN BARTLETT: I mean, one of those lessons that your mother was trying to lay down.

KEVIN HART: Can be seen in the Bible, a thousand percent with this. There’s a best story ever. Best story that I’m able to tell.

STEVEN BARTLETT: She put something in the Bible that’s hanging out there, as you can see.

KEVIN HART: Checks, man. I couldn’t pay my rent. I cannot pay my rent. I needed help. And she was like, “Well, I’m not helping you until you start reading the Bible.” And I was like, “Mom, I’m reading the Bible.” I was lying. Just lying. “I’m reading it. Come on, mom, this is real. Mom, they’re going to kick me out.”

“Are you reading your Bible?”

“Yes.”

“When you read your Bible, then talk to me.”

And she did this for a while. And one day I was like, “You know what, man?” I was literally by myself. And I was like, “What am I going to do?” I said, “Let me get this Bible, read the Bible.” And I open up the Bible and my checks, rent, multiple months of rent, checks had fell out. And I was like, “You know what? That’s pretty amazing. Pretty amazing.”

And then I had to actually open a Bible and start reading the Bible. But that was her way of, of course, knowing that I’m lying, first of all. And giving me one of the best lessons ever.

The Power of Finishing What You Start

Somewhere along the lines, the gems that she dropped started to click. And the idea of not starting things that I’m not going to finish, that’s what really resonated with me the most.

I started a lot of stuff that I didn’t complete in the younger years. That was me and my mom’s battle. “No, you’re going to finish it.” And she would make me finish it. “Now I want to quit.” “No, you’re going to finish it.” So I ended up doing a lot of things with an attitude, which is why I have to ask this.

And as I got older, you realize, well, why are you putting time into something in the beginning that you don’t want to see through? Why? Or just because you have a rough moment or a rough patch? Why is it so easy for you to quit? Why is the idea of quit so quick to you to come up with? And why are you so comfortable with the results of that?

I shouldn’t be. And that shouldn’t be my motto. So we don’t stop if we start something. We see the entire way through. At the end of it, even if you don’t like it to the highest level, you know that you put your time, energy, into something that you’re at least proud of. Proud that you did. Proud that you were able to put a period on that sentence.

And now you can start the next thing. But it’s not until you complete something that you can honestly sit with yourself and go, “That’s what life is. That’s called seeing things through the entire way.”

The Wake-Up Call: Senior Year Reality Check

STEVEN BARTLETT: What was it that changed in you? What happened that made you suddenly start to take opportunities more seriously?

KEVIN HART: When you saw the opportunity, you f*ed off. I remember my big dummy moment, and I’ve had a lot, so I don’t know how much time we have to go down, but I got a lot of dummy moments. But my biggest dummy moment, we hooky school to go and have our senior day. We go to Great Adventure theme park on the east coast.

And there was a moment where we’re done and we’re talking. We’re eating and hanging out. And all my friends were talking about the college that they were going to go to. I mean, it had already been accepted. They had already had letters and shit.

“When did y’all do this? When did everybody apply? When did everybody… when did you guys take the SAT?”

I just… I took mine, but I rushed it because I wanted to get here. I wanted to hooky. “Wait, how do you guys know where you’re going already?”

I had no knowledge, no idea. All my friends went on to the next stage. They let me be the dummy by myself. And that’s when it dawned on me that nobody cares about you more than you should care about yourself.

And nobody is giving you the roadmap to the wins. You have to go find that information. You’ve got to go discover it. You’ve got to want to get it. You’ve got to want to do it. And with the right help, the right world of knowledge, it can better help position you. But ultimately, you have to want to. You’ve got to want to do it.

And me just not wanting to do shit kind of put me in a really f*ed up position early on.

Finding the Thing That Changed Everything

STEVEN BARTLETT: Was it finding the thing, your thing, that put some wind in your sails and made you more of an apparently sort of motivated individual? Because at some point you go from being that Kevin to the Kevin that can’t stop working.

KEVIN HART: Yeah, well, that was my light bulb moment.

STEVEN BARTLETT: Okay?

The Light Bulb Moment

KEVIN HART: My light bulb moment was, look at what not applying myself got me. I feel like the dummy that doesn’t know what he wants to do with his life. And now I’m at community college, I’m working as a lifeguard. I eventually went to go work for City Sports, which is a sneaker store.

And I remember I started working at the sneaker store. Talked about this for years too. I was like, oh, man, this is cool. This is what I want to do. I got the thing that I want to do. I was so excited that I went and got a job, found a job. I’ll do this forever. And I’m going to make it to the highest level so I can have a career.

So I become the manager. And after being the manager, I work for corporate. And this is something that I can build. Like, I was already inspiring because I was like, I got to figure out what I’m doing with the rest of my life. Where’s my life now? I’m panicking. What do I. And I was flourishing in the space of sneaker sales. Right. Education and college degree I don’t have. But in the space of personality and sale, I was able to maneuver.

This is it. This is my calling. That’s where the real beacon of light presented itself. Through ideas of my friends. “You should do stand up because you’re funny. You should try stand up.”

STEVEN BARTLETT: Do you remember where you were when they said that to you?

KEVIN HART: In my workplace, I’m working every day.

STEVEN BARTLETT: I’m on the floor and someone, a colleague of yours at work?

KEVIN HART: A colleague of mine that I work with.

STEVEN BARTLETT: What did your brain think when she said that? Was it just blowing on a fire that was kind of already there or was it lighting the fire?

KEVIN HART: No, I think the fire was lit. Like, I never thought about pursuing stand up comedy prior to, like, the idea came up. I was always funny, but I wasn’t like, man, I got to figure out how to become a comedian. That was never a thought.

I knew that was very funny. I knew that was entertaining. I knew that I could make people laugh. I love being the center of attention. I love the idea of a stage and a light. But that wasn’t the thing. I wasn’t like, I got it and this is what it’s going to do. It was presented and then I went and did the amateur night. And that’s when I fell in love.

The Power of the Stage

STEVEN BARTLETT: Why did you like the stage and the light and why did you like performing?

KEVIN HART: Laugh?

STEVEN BARTLETT: Why?

KEVIN HART: There’s nothing better than laugh. There’s nothing better than being on stage, having the bright light. And the only energy of good that you’re able to take away from what you’re doing is the laugh. Ha ha. Hearing people laugh, I was like, oh, shit, that feels different.

STEVEN BARTLETT: Why?

KEVIN HART: This is energizing. This is like…

STEVEN BARTLETT: How does it make you feel about you?

KEVIN HART: I feel like I’m doing a service of good. If I can make people feel better, if I can brighten up your day, the service of good, that means I’m like a shepherd of some sort. I am responsible for making people feel better.

Oh, my God. That means in success, I can bring people to one destination. Everybody can share a moment and a laugh and all relate that it came from me. Oh, my God. This can get global. This can get bigger. Well, this is starting to change now. Oh, wow. Wait. This has opened up doors for me to do this or that or this or that. It all started with the laugh. It all started with the stage.

The Golden Tape

STEVEN BARTLETT: So you went to that comedy show. I’ve got a… I was looking at some of those early clips of you performing. It’s funny because I think this is the early 2000s. Okay, but I mean, you probably…

KEVIN HART: Oh, my God. Caroline, Caroline. This right here, my best set in the beginning of my career. “Everything I say up here tonight is a joke, okay? It is nothing else. I don’t want nobody taking none of this stuff too serious. I don’t want nobody coming up to me after the show saying, who’s the funny one now?”

Yeah, yeah. This, this, that tape. So that was when, you know, the thing I needed was a tape. And the reason why I needed the tape was so that I could send it to the other comedy club so that they can have an example of me, my talent. And then dictator judge, if I can get a live audition in person.

STEVEN BARTLETT: And how old are you at that point?

KEVIN HART: Oh, my God, right there. I’m like, 18, 19. That’s crazy. 18, 19 years old.

STEVEN BARTLETT: Because you’re so… That clip is so funny. I watched it this morning and I was dying.

KEVIN HART: If you could understand the feeling of getting off that stage, having a good set, and then them putting the tape in my hand, it was gold. I got it. I got a good tape. I got to go make copies of my tape and I just got to send them to everybody. I just used them because it was value. It was value.

Started getting in comedy clubs, started getting auditions, started getting more. Oh, my God, Kevin’s up for an audition. Movie audition, casting directors, they all got that tape. Everybody got that tape from that period.

Family Support and Early Struggles

STEVEN BARTLETT: Onwards, from 18 to, let’s say, to early 20s, you were, at this point, a very motivated individual. You’re working hard, you’re focused, very. And what was your… When you speak to your mum and your dad at this point about comedy, do they think that’s a serious career?

KEVIN HART: My dad, not as much, because I didn’t really talk to my dad through this year. That’s… My dad was kind of dealing with his world of issues.

My mom, we had an agreement. I had a certain amount of time to make comedy make sense and figure out a way to support myself. If I didn’t do it, then I had to go with my mom’s idea, which was education and getting a job while getting my education.

My plan didn’t… It didn’t involve college. I’m out. I’m done. I’m done. No more community. This is what I want to do. I got it. I’ve never been more excited about my future. This is it for me.

“How you going to make your money, Kevin?” I’m going to figure it out. “How you going to figure it out?” Mm. I’m going to figure it out, though. I’m just going to go down to the comedy clubs, and I’ve been winning the amateur nights. I think the amateur nights helped me pay for my rent. Because I was winning the amateur nights. I won a bunch of them in a row.

In my mind, it wasn’t hard. It wasn’t going to be hard because there was no other option. All my eggs were in this basket, and I was very happy with that choice. I put every last egg in this thing. Nothing else matters but this. I promise you, I will figure it out.

The Career Graph: 28 Sets a Weekend

STEVEN BARTLETT: Can you draw me a picture? If your career was a graph. Okay, so I’m going to say here is 18 years old, and you’re 46 now. So you’re 46 now. This is the axis of this graph. And on this axis, we have, let’s say, success, and on this axis, we have age. Can you draw me a pitch, a line that shows how it works?

KEVIN HART: Success in age. Okay, so success for me, knowing what I want to do in life, comes here.

STEVEN BARTLETT: Yeah.

KEVIN HART: All right, now, figuring out how to get to, like, money, revenue. Just supporting yourself through telling a joke. Man. Let’s go. Let’s go here for a second. We flatlining. Okay. Like, I’m… I mean, I’m making people laugh. I’m getting in some comedy clubs, but you only get paid with food.

But then something weird happens where you start figuring out, oh, wait, here’s kind of where the spots come in. I can make money on the weekends, and I can get $20 to $25 a spot. So rather than doing one spot, I would do… Let’s just say, in a weekend, I got to the point where I was doing 25 to 28 sets a weekend.

STEVEN BARTLETT: Wow.

KEVIN HART: Well, I started making $500. $500 a week, $400 a week.

STEVEN BARTLETT: How many years in is this to that you’ve been making?

KEVIN HART: 18. Let’s say 22.

STEVEN BARTLETT: Yeah.

KEVIN HART: So I was driving from Philadelphia to New York every day. But because of that, now you got to get into a comedy festival. All right, so now let’s start to go here, because we did these spots for a while, but then I got on a comedy festival.

Oh, shit. I got in the comedy festival, but that’s when the industry saw me. “Who’s this new guy? Who’s this guy with all this energy? Who’s this f* guy? This guy here, he’s got something.”

All right, so I start meetings, general meetings, and now I get a holding deal. So let’s go up a little bit. I think it was ABC. They gave me like $250,000. So they’re holding you in hopes they get something. Nothing happens. So we’re flat on the hair. I’m just waiting for the phone to ring. That’s how this works.

“What if I want to create my own thing? Create a show?” Oh, my God. Show gets picked up, I create something else. They decide to do it. Oh, shit, there’s a pattern. I can do that as much as I want. I can treat that just how I was treating the spots and stuff in New York.

I’m out. I’m moving to LA. No playing on nothing. Flatline. I’m here. I just did it. I just came and moved out, man. This is weird. I don’t like this work. I’m not getting no work, man. This shit is real stagnant.

I’m going on the road. I want to work the road. I’m going to be a headliner. I’m going to do colleges. So I’m going to get college money and comedy club money, and I’m going to do it. I worked that for a very long time, right? Very, very long time. To the point where now I’m selling out comedy clubs, right? I started selling out comedy clubs.

My person at the time was like, “Yo, we can probably do theaters. You’re adding a lot of shows.”

STEVEN BARTLETT: Are you a millionaire at this point?

The Journey from Comedy Clubs to Arenas

KEVIN HART: No, no, I’m just an active, active comic. The next stage of success, right, was let’s go from comedy clubs to theaters. All right, boom. Let’s go here. Then let’s go up again. Theater starts selling out real quick. Oh, f*. Let’s go from theaters, right, to, like, arenas.

Oh, shit. Will Packer, he was like, I got this book that I want to make a movie. It’s called Think Like a Man. Steve Harvey wrote it. I think you’re funny as hell. I’ve been tracking you on tour. I want you to be the star. We film it. Think Like a Man comes out. Think Like a Man did 90 something million dollars in the box office and Will says, hey man, working with you is great. Let’s do something else. I got this one called Ride Along. You and Ice Cube would be great. Boom. Ride Along does 140.

Like the movies just started to ba ba ba ba ba ba pow, Get Hard, Central Intelligence, me and the Rock. I mean it just happened so fast. So now because the movies are working, I’m like, this is so cool. But while this is happening, I should figure out how to kind of create my own source of opportunity. Like people keep bringing opportunities to me. How do I create my own source of opportunity? I’m going to start a production company. I need to start developing.

But now I’m like, I created that. Let’s create something else. So then I say let’s go like Heartbeat Ventures and let’s do a VC. Oh man, I’m creating a bunch of stuff. Hey, these entities around me, it’s all happening because my likeness, my likeness allows me to get in these rooms and start relationships and put myself in a position to make deals and create long term revenue. How do I get more of that? Wow.

Building an Ecosystem of Ownership

Like NASCAR. People attach themselves to the car that they think is doing the best. I’m a car. I should have brand partnerships. Chase, DraftKings, Fabletics. I should have my own brands and businesses that I’m building where more opportunity for long term revenue can present itself. Gran Coramino Wine Spirits now. Oh wow.

I’ve grabbed this concept of business control, ownership and married it with Kevin’s drive in entertainment and visibility. Leverage that to get me into the rooms where I may not be as visible or as strong, but once I’m embedded into these environments, I can bring them value. I can help amplify or uplift their brand, their products.

So my case study of Fabletics, of DraftKings before I got there versus after I got there, Chase financial literacy, like C4, like these are things where I’m now, well, I’m not just a partner. I’m an owner, I’m an endorser, I’m an ambassador. Oh wow. This is where the real money is made. The ecosystem of life.

How do you put yourself in a position to be a part of everyday movement in life? You’re looking at things in a much granular scale. And now I go way back here to when I was, like, not really focusing, not thinking about life, not thinking about how things connect. I’m now able to tap into the lessons that my mom gave and I’m like, all good things that happen happen when they’re supposed to.

But now I’m poised and polished enough with a mindset that understands, well, I don’t want to start something that I’m not going to finish. So if I’m going to put myself in position to do these things, how do I make sure that my partners know I’m willing to give my all? How do I show that I’m not going to quit? Which back here, my mom’s biggest lesson was, you’re not quitting. If you start it, you’re going to finish it.

So how do I make my partners that I’m now saying, you should work with me. How do I make Netflix secure knowing that when you get me, you get 100% of me and I’m never going to quit, I’m going to finish it all? How do I make my other studio affiliates understand? And working with Heartbeat, it is in my best interest to bring you great product, great material so that you understand what we do, so that we can continue to drive a business that has the best interest for both of us. How do I sell you on that?

So now my business of sell mirrors and matches my business of grow. Nothing that I’m doing doesn’t go hand in hand and I should be able to embed the products or the partnerships that I now operationally attached to into the ecosystem of entertainment.

So if I have a C4 can, and I’m doing an activation and health and wellness, well, C4 is my partner. I should integrate you in this opportunity. Hey, my movie, we have an opportunity to basically wear product. I should be in Fabletics in this scene because this makes my partner feel valued and positioned. Oh, wow. This is what I do. I elevate. I basically navigate my space of ownership in a way only I can to elevate my partners so that my partners go and say, you’re different, this is different, and this is what we need more of. That’s my graph.

The Stagnant Years: When Nobody Believed

STEVEN BARTLETT: I’ve got some questions about the graph. So I guess the parts I’m curious about are this initial period when you’re 18 where like, nothing’s really happening.

KEVIN HART: Nothing.

STEVEN BARTLETT: Many of my listeners, probably most of them, are in some pursuit or sort of professional endeavor in their life. In this kind of stagnant moment, where maybe they enjoy it, but, like, it ain’t paying the bills.

KEVIN HART: Yeah.

STEVEN BARTLETT: No one believes in them. Maybe some of their friends are rolling their eyes when they tell them what they’re doing. When you look back on this season of life, like, what is that season? And how’d you get through it?

KEVIN HART: Nobody believed that I was funny when I said I was going to be a comedian. Like, they were like, you funny, but not comedian funny. Like my friends were. Yeah. What do you mean you going to get on stage? What do you mean? I’m going to get on stage. I’m going to be a comedian. People like how, like Eddie Murphy? Like, I’d be a comedian. Yeah, but you’re never going to be Eddie Murphy. Yeah, I know, but I’m saying, like, I’m going to do it. Like, I’m going to be. I’m be a star. No, I don’t know, man. I don’t know about the whole star thing. I think you’re tripping. I think, I don’t think that’s it.

Nobody has the confidence in the decisions that you’re making for yourself like you do. So if you’re waiting for that to connect in the beginning stages, it may or may not. If it doesn’t, it shouldn’t prevent you from following through on whatever the line of go is for you.

The money is never coming fast. We’re in a time today where this generation has found ways to make money in an entrepreneurial manner that we’ve never seen before, like the social media machine. And how this generation navigates that machine to find revenue and to own is unbelievable. That didn’t exist. We didn’t have that. Like, in my time, we didn’t have that. We just had the struggle. And the struggle left you with days of literally sitting in the living room going, what the f*, man?

STEVEN BARTLETT: So why didn’t you quit? Because no money, everyone’s doubting it. What were you believing in?

KEVIN HART: I was believing in the idea that I finally found the thing that I want to do.

STEVEN BARTLETT: So it was passion that was really anchored to it.

Finding Your Thing and Never Quitting

KEVIN HART: I found the thing that I want to do and I’m not going to quit it because I love it this much. And I strongly believe that the sun is at the end of this dark tunnel, but I got to be willing to get there. And I just don’t know how to get there yet. But I’m going to figure it out. That’s why I’m going to LA. I was in New York, but after New York, they say, go to LA. I’m gone. What you going to do when you get there? I figure it out.

I can always get on the plane and fly where I got to go for stand up if that’s the case. I can always go and make money doing stand up if I have to. But I’m not going to get to the star by just doing that. I got to, I got to go there. I got to get close to it. I got to smell it. I got to feel it. I got to find out where the people are that are trying to do it, too. I got to get acting classes. I got to get around the Hollywood. Like, what is Holly? I got to get there.

And what happens when you’re there, it fuels another appetite of hunger. Because I’m there, and in real time, I’m seeing people better. I remember I tell this Katt Williams story, and I don’t even think I told Katt this. There was a moment where I was opening for Katt Williams, and I remember being at the BET Comedy Awards and I’m in attendance, and this is like, you know, I’d had a couple of shots at some things where they just, you know, it wasn’t. The things weren’t sticking.

Like, the pilots that I thought were going to hit weren’t going to hit. The things that I thought were going to happen, they just weren’t. Just didn’t seem like it was adding up, right? Like the roles are little, small roles or little small cameos, but, like, it wasn’t. It wasn’t the thing.

And I remember Katt Williams’ set during the BET Comedy Awards. Him, like a leopard suit, destroyed. Destroyed the comedy awards, destroyed this moment. And audience goes crazy, stands up. I remember being in the audience and I was like, that’s it. I said, like, that’s the thing. That thing, that reaction, that roar, that moment. I got to be patient because my moment is going to come.

I witnessed his moment and he, after that moment, Friday After Next, you know, I mean, he went on and started to do crazy things in his career, right? But I witnessed the moment. And in that moment, my takeaway was that he was ready for the moment. His material, the jokes, everything, it all hit.

And I didn’t watch it in a manner of jealous or angry. I was like, that, that’s it. Like, he’s probably out of here after this. I mean, it’s the BET Comedy Awards at the time. I’m like, this is the biggest thing ever, right? This, the comedy awards, by the way, they never did the comedy awards again. I think this is like the last one they did.

But that moment, if the ball is dropped in that moment, then the moment goes. You don’t know when the moment is presenting itself. But I’m staying with the thing because I know that the moment is going to come. And when I’m in the moment, if I knock that f*ing moment out the park, all things will change. But you may not know it. You may not know when the moment comes.

The Moment That Changed Everything

STEVEN BARTLETT: When did your moment come?

KEVIN HART: Shaq’s All Star Comedy Jam. The reason why I equated with the story with Katt, I believe it was Tommy Davidson. It was D Ray, Set of the Entertainer was the host. I headlined it. I end up having one of the best sets that I’ve ever had. And at the end of the Shaq’s All Star Comedy Jam, I say goodnight and they do like a slow motion walk off. It’s a slow motion thing. And it’s like I’m walking. The crowd stands up and they’re going crazy, by the way.

I don’t know the slow motion walk off is going to happen in the edit of the special, but I remember in real time, crowds standing up, stars were there, everybody was there right in that moment. Show you how f*ing crazy the world is. This is why I hate that, like me and Katt went through our stuff and we’re much better now. I’m going to show you how the world aligns.

Katt was in the audience, the Shaq’s All Star Comedy Jam. And Katt was watching the show. He was just there as a fan. But at this time, everything big is happening. And I had a moment. And that was the moment that then took me and shot me out the cannon. And if I wasn’t prepared for the moment and I wouldn’t have known all the things to come. Okay, but that then set up, I was releasing my special.

My special Seriously Funny I was taping in two weeks. So Shaq’s All Star Comedy Jam goes. They rush to put it out. It crushes. I then tape my comedy special. Seriously Funny was my next special. Seriously Funny destroys, but it only destroyed because of Shaq’s All Star Comedy Jam and the audience that watched that. And I was like, oh my God, this guy showed up in droves for Seriously Funny. And then Seriously Funny was like, oh, shit, this big ass special. And then the arenas and everything, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.

The 13-Year Overnight Success

STEVEN BARTLETT: So about 12, 13 years from the moment you did your first sort of stand up event, you having your moment. And I find that fascinating because those 13 years, most people aren’t willing to do something for 13 years without their moment showing up. Like, when you hear, like, I don’t know, shit on Instagram or quotes or you watch motivational videos and stuff. If they told you that it would take 13 years for you to have your moment, almost nobody would take part.

KEVIN HART: Nobody.

STEVEN BARTLETT: No, but those 13 years of your.

The Power of Persistence and Focus

KEVIN HART: Training, I mean, so Scooter Braun told me one time, he was like, what makes him different is the work that he’s willing to do. He was like, you know, if they were giving out like a million dollars for somebody that can hit a fastball pitch, you know, from the best pitcher in baseball, right? And this thing would basically require everybody. Everybody’s going to go and try to hit this because everybody wants the million dollars.

So the first day of the announcement, the line to hit this pitch is going to be droves, right? Like, millions of people. Who knows how many people would be in this line? And people would go up and strike out. And after that, they would go, damn, it’s over. Like, I missed.

Not many people would, like, miss and then go stand back in line to go hit the ball again. He was like, I’m going to keep getting in line. What you’ll find is that the line will get smaller and smaller because of how many people are dropping out and optioning not to wait and do the hard thing again.

That comparison, that world of understanding is like something that equates to life very well, right? Not many people are going to wait through the 13 years of, like, hardship. Most people opt out at year two, maybe three. No money, whatever. I need to figure something else out. Year six. This man stupid. What am I doing? Why am I doing it? Right? I’m going to go find the quick avenue or the quick return.

Because money is the. That’s what it boils down to for most people. Where’s the money? Where am I making the money? When the money comes, it comes. What you find is that it’s not hard to make money. Once you start making money, you learn how to make money. Like you. It comes with education, it comes with understanding, and it comes with a better resource of mine that makes you go, no, I’m going to do this and I’m going to build this.

I’m going to go here, I’m going to meet. I’m a present. I have an idea. I’m going to pitch it like you. You’re now a much better machine because you understand money is no longer that you think it was when you get to it. But getting to it to get that understanding, you lose the pack.

You lose the pack because the pack is like, I want it here because it didn’t show up here. I got to go figure out a new thing to do that’s going to give it to me here. And they got to recycle. Like they lose focus. You’re never completing anything. You never finish nothing. So the thing that you think you’re focusing on, you keep quitting to start something else that you think is the idea. And it’s just a cycle. It’s a cycle.

The Problem with Doing Too Many Things

STEVEN BARTLETT: Don’t you notice that people come up to. I notice this a lot with young entrepreneurs, especially those that aren’t having success. They start one thing when they come and tell you what they do, they tell you 17 things.

KEVIN HART: 17.

STEVEN BARTLETT: None of them have ever worked, but they say 17 things and they think that more doing more things is increasing the probability of success 1000%.

KEVIN HART: 1000%. Where? It’s the opposite. It’s the opposite. It’s the thing that you actually thought of that you are going to put 100% of your mind and focus into to complete. And then after that you’re able to pick it apart and take the good, the bad, the whatever and either restart that thing again to improve it or make a decision to do something else. But you finished.

I made the choice that stand up comedy was what I was going to finish. I made a choice that becoming a good comic and a good headliner, if I focused and did it well, that would open up the doors for me to do everything else that I want to do. If I don’t have that, how do I expect to get in?

The T-Shaped Expertise Model

STEVEN BARTLETT: I was speaking to Evan at Snapchat and he was talking about T shaped people. So you have like a broad understanding of a lot of things, but then you’re like really deep on one particular thing. And that one particular thing is almost, I guess you could see it as like, screw. That gets you into the industries.

So for me, mine would have originally been marketing, but I was able to use that like deep expertise to then launch this media business because it’s still the same game of marketing that I did for 15 years. I was able to go into like the stock market because they really needed to understand marketing. And it was that deep expertise in one thing that was my leverage in all of these really interesting rooms. And it’s kind of what you were saying at the start, like you had this deep expertise, this deep IP experience value that allowed you to like break in as an investor and then to production and all these other areas.

KEVIN HART: I mean, the value. The value. For me, it was self, but the value of self and understanding of how to truly control and operate that and navigate that correctly. That’s a world of its own. So the bigger that the star gets, the brighter that the star shines. If you are paying attention, it’s only positioning you to go in places where people say, oh, my God, I know you, and where you can shake a hand.

But the interest of just knowing you because of the place from the star, it allows a moment for the conversation of, so what is it that you do? Oh, my God. Like, that’s. That’s so cool. I would love to learn more about that. And what you’ll find is that the resources of opportunity over there are endless.

Oh, my God. Are you serious? We would love to partner with you in something like this. I mean, in this space. Are you talking about mental health? Wellness? Listen, strong voices and confident voices or inspiring voices? There could be a lot for us in what we do here. Hey, maybe there’s a partnership that we can form.

Oh, my God, man. Back to school, kids. I love kids. I’m thinking about doing more. Like, here’s something where I think I can have a very, very good cadence and a very good energy towards getting kids hype about school education, because it’s not something that I took serious. How do I help?

Learning to Be a Sponge

STEVEN BARTLETT: Where did you learn? So when I look at this graph here, I see this sort of moment where things become. Go up and to the right very quickly where you start to get into entrepreneurship. But at this moment that comes before it, you didn’t know this stuff. So at some point you acquired information. So for the people that are listening now that are thinking, like, how did Kevin go from a kid that was in this rough area, dad wasn’t around much, his mum was raising him to a guy that knows all this stuff.

KEVIN HART: You get there now by being a sponge and not being afraid to ask questions. I’m very secure in myself and being the dummy in the room, I am extremely secure in saying, I don’t know what that means. Explain that.

STEVEN BARTLETT: Give me an example of a context where you.

KEVIN HART: I can give you several, like venture and investing. I was a firm believer that nobody’s stealing my money, giving you nothing. Yeah. You going to go and put it where? Yeah, no, my money going to stay right here under my bed. I’m not doing that. So give. You. You want me to give you money and you telling me you going to get. You going to take that money and then that money is going to turn into what?

Yeah, okay, go find you another idiot, because it ain’t happening over here. Buddy, get your scamming ass up out of here, okay? I come from the world of everything is a scam, okay? It’s a f*ing scam. I know a scam when I see one, right?

But when you go, you say, well, how does the stock market really work? Or how does investing really work? Or what do you mean you making money while you sleeping? What does that mean? What do you mean by that brand partnership s* really work? Like, you. You can’t be afraid to, like, verbalize your ignorance.

And the bigger problem, which I’m sure a lot of your viewers have, is like, insecurely, like, just being quiet about the s* that they don’t know, as if you’re going to figure it out. Because someday one day somebody’s going to go, hey, you look like you need to know. It’ll never happen that way. It’s never going to happen.

You’re never going to run into a person who’s randomly going to talk about the things that you wish you. You had more knowledge in. It will never happen. And what you’ll find is that information is not free, but it’s available. It’s not actually hard to obtain. It’s only hard to people that are very insecure about just verbalizing. I don’t know where to get it.

Information Is Available, Not Free

Look at how many how to’s help tos all of these things today. The success that we’re seeing in Entrepreneur and Influencer, Streamer and all of this stuff in entertainment is the same success that you’re seeing. And we can call them motivational speakers. How to experts, step one through five and what to do.

The idea of I’m here to service you and give you the information that you don’t know is available. So let me tell you how to get it. Here’s where I’m going to help you. Three easy steps to making sure that you can. And I don’t care if you want to go to the world of athletics or you want to go to corporate or you want to go to entertainment. Like, you can break it down.

Golf. Do you know how much money is being made in a game of golf? Because you got millions of people that are trying to give people information on how to better improve your golf swing. Because I don’t want to. I don’t want to say out loud in my swing ain’t s, but I don’t know, man. I keep coming down on top of the ball. Why the f am I coming down on top of the ball? I don’t know what’s happening.

And some people would rather go out in their backyard every day, hit the same ball and just ask somebody, hey, man, any way that you can tell me how to come? Like what? How you get that b in the air? So now people online go, well, we’re just going to put it out here. And that person is struggling quietly. Well, they’re going to discover me. And in silence, they’ll watch and they’ll look to improve because nobody knows. And they still get to be quiet. That’s the problem.

Unknown Unknowns: Seeing Behind the Curtain

STEVEN BARTLETT: There’s also unknown unknowns which you would have experienced. I remember you talking about you got to see behind curtains, and you didn’t even know people were behind that. And when I heard you say that, it was the perfect metaphor and analogy for exactly what I had experienced in my life.

Coming from a kid that came from a very normal background, was. Was born in Africa, moved to the UK, mother’s Nigerian, dad’s English, and didn’t know that all these, like, rich people were back here playing money games. I thought the way you make money is you, like, working McDonald’s. You, like, work really hard, you might become manager.

And then at, like, I’m going to say, 27, being sat in a billionaire’s kitchen and watching him on the phone, and he’s calling his boy and they’re doing 50 million just before the IPO happens, that they get a better price. And I’m thinking, f*ing hell.

The Power of Collective Investment

KEVIN HART: It’s all. The thing that I’ve realized, right, when you look at your biggest investors, right, you’ll find that they’re all together. None of them are investing in the new thing alone. They all like, well, it’s better with you, so do it with me. Well, what about Gary? Yeah, call Gary too. Let’s see if we can get him in here. What about Michelle? Yeah, hey, Michelle. What about Melissa? All right.

You’ll find that this group of 10 people, all who would easily do something on their own, do not believe in the struggles of self. When you can combine this machine of great mind to provide another great opportunity. And in success, well, this thing works, the company gets bigger. Well, let’s use our resources to go out and make sure that we align the person that they already have with more amazing individuals.

Create more jobs, more opportunities for new minds to become successful. And then in those minds building and that personnel, like elevating. Well, now this person that was at the bottom here, we then go and ask this person to run this thing. And now underneath this thing, we get another version of a downpour. New minds, new personnel, new things.

Okay? This whole business of venture, this whole business of company build, whether it’s tech, lifestyle, health, well, it doesn’t matter what it is. You will notice that the people that started from the bottom are now running the new companies of today. And now the source of personnel that’s underneath it will be the minds running the company of tomorrow. It’s not like rocket science.

Learning the Investment Game

Once you’re behind the curtain, once you go, oh, sh*t. I remember when I first started, like investing is, oh, my God, Kevin, like your money in this would add a crazy amount of value. Well, I ain’t putting in what y’all put in. No, but the fact that you’re involved in it at all is just big. That you believe in it. And we’re able to say that you believe in it with us is huge.

What do you mean by that? You trying to fing steal? What are you doing? What are you doing, man? You talking too fast. Say what you said again, slow down. So I understand it. Don’t talk fast to me because I’m so insecure. Because I don’t know what you saying, and it might be some sht in here, but it’s, no.

Well, we know that you’re doing well over here and your movies and all that stuff is cool, but this is different. This business, Kevin, could be different for you. It’s a business of multiple. So we played a game of multiples of X. So what your money is today, what we think in success, if this is a light bulb or a bottle rocket, you 30x, 20x.

What the f*? You’re telling me that if I put this money in here right now and if my voice is attached to the thing that I think it is, which is a crazy, crazy venture, a crazy opportunity? Well, yeah, Kevin, I mean, look, we all believe that, but with your voice, we may be able to say it a little louder.

Oh, my, oh my. Okay, well, I did it. Oh my. I won. I got a return. Oh my. Oh, oh. So now I figured it out now. Now you’re a part of the right conversations, you’re part of the right opportunities.

Sharing Knowledge and Creating Opportunities

But once again, the information is discovered because of the opportunity to be the flower on the wall, in the spaces that you never imagined yourself being in. But now look at what I’m able to do. I’m able to take this information, take all the sht that I know, come and have these fing organic conversations like I am now, and we’re sharing it.

And some people that are watching this are going to take that information and go, I knew it. And I’m doing the right thing. And it’s a matter of time before I get around them. And when I do, oh my God, the things that I have, the stuff that I have on the table, the things that I have created, the opportunities.

I’m going to be the next person to bring the thing that everybody else is involved in. I’m going to be the next person to be the f*ing energy source to tomorrow’s future, future within. People just need to hear how fast it happens, quick it happens and when it does, what you’re supposed to be ready for.

STEVEN BARTLETT: And you were able to invest in lots of great companies like Function Health, that’s valued at $2.5 billion now. 11 Labs, everybody knows in the tech space knows 11 Labs which were valued at $3 billion now. Moonpay, Young Yoga Labs, Sweatpals, Radiant, Neuror.

KEVIN HART: Organics, Pal Tone, tons of stuff, stuff that you would never expect me to be in.

The Importance of People in Business

STEVEN BARTLETT: How much of this game have you learned in hindsight is about people, about getting it? Because even when that person was saying to you, that analogy you gave of they’re telling you to put your money into this thing and you’re going, f* me, are they stealing? You’re going to have to lean on someone you trust, someone in your circle that you know.

And I’m wondering, because people don’t talk about it enough, how important it is to collect the right people. And can you think of moments where you met a person and that was game changing and you understanding a whole new world and what was behind the curtain?

KEVIN HART: All of my people could see this. I’m just going to be extremely transparent. Before you get to the right people, you run through wrong people. And with wrong people, you can go, they’re wrong, they don’t work. I got to get somebody else. Or you can grow with people.

I’m a believer of the growing right. I think it’s dope when we can all say we started a certain way, but we’re ending up in a completely different space. Along that journey of growth, some people won’t make it. You can be patient and you can want the best for some, but they might not want the same for themselves. So because of that, the fall off presents itself to be a little more consistent than what it should be.

But in business, what you’ll find is that the emotions can be your worst asset. Having emotions in business attached to business can be everything but beneficial to the business. So the more that I was able to detach my emotions from the world of want and understand that the things that I’m doing are to better position the business and the people that have worked so hard to help this business get to where it is today, I have a service to them as well.

Letting Go and Trusting Talent

How do I bring in the right valuable assets to put us in a bigger position to win? Sometimes you got to let go of things that you thought would be the thing. But you can climax, you can get to a place where it’s a ceiling. You’re not getting past the ceiling unless we go get the right people, unless we go get the correct personnel.

So I’m a firm believer in talent. I’m a firm believer in rewarding those that do a job and that can do a job at a high level. But the only way that you realize that is to get out of the way. I had to learn to stop trying to control everything, stop trying to do everything, stop trying to be with my, the one with my hands in everything and put people in a position to do the thing that they’ve been hired to do and do it well.

But the patience that you have to have in learning people and dealing with people is a talent within itself. I want to say, at this stage, I’m more, I’m more of a hard drive of other people’s issues or problems than I am a person. I am a hard drive of, can I talk to you? I want to tell you what’s going on, I have an issue with, hey, man, look, I’m trying to do this. I don’t know what they trying to do. Here’s what I’m trying to do.

And you have to be a positive source of solution all day, every day. Because if you’re talking and you’re talking to do anything but solve, then you shouldn’t be in the chair of control. So I am solution driven every single day because I am faced with a new problem attached to the ecosystem and the community that I built underneath me.

The Daily Reality of Leadership

How to navigate or how to better navigate in the world. Because everybody’s trying to do something to prove that they’re worthy of the seat or seats that they have or that they want. So every day you’re dealing with a board of shuffle and a new board of opportunity and drama. And every day you’re telling people, not now, in time, slow up. I hear you. We’ll deal with it. Let’s all talk together. Communication is key. Let’s table this and make sure everybody’s on the same page.

You’re saying things five and six times because you have to make sure that you’re the best example of what you’re speaking. So every day the thing that you never thought would come into play is communication and the ability to f*ing give great dialogue in the hopes of getting the return of effort and work.

So now you’re going back to ground zero. When you were with your mom and you were with your friends in the early days of life, what was the thing that I told you I did very well? I connected with everybody in lunchroom. I was at everybody’s table. Didn’t matter who you were, what you were, what race, didn’t matter.

In this space of now, business and corporation, if everybody doesn’t feel like they can trust or believe or follow my direction, my vision, something about what I’m doing is wrong.

Building Trust in Business

STEVEN BARTLETT: How does one build an empire that relies on people when they naturally don’t come from a place of that information? So they might have trust issues like you were referring to these kind of trust issues like, wait a minute, you’re trying to steal my money. How does, you’ve got this big empire of lots of different verticals within Heartbeat and your companies and your personal IP. You’re going to have to be trusting a lot of other people with your wealth, with your business and with your children’s inheritance. And I hear so many of these stories of, I trusted a guy and I lost everything. Especially honestly, especially in the black community.

KEVIN HART: It’s a major fact. But we’re also a community that gets taken advantage of because of the lack of knowledge. Right? We get f*ed over more than we don’t because, all right, well, it says here that you’re a lawyer and that you have my best interest. All right, it says that you’re my manager and you have my best interest. All right, well you read the paperwork, all right, you read the contract and it’s good. And I’m just signing, right?

My ignorance doesn’t mean that I’m lazy. My ignorance means that I believe you and I don’t know to second guess or second check or to hire or onboard people, to second guess, to second check, to show me fine print, fine line because it’s impossible. I can’t get f*ed because you said, well, yeah, I can’t, but you said.

Removing Emotions from Business

Go back to the emotions and why I say emotions had to be removed. I’m going to have somebody look at this just so I know that it is what it is. I wouldn’t lie to you. I know, but it’s in the best nature of business just for me to make sure that my eyes that I have lay eyes on it and they can just say what you just said, but just make sure I understand it correctly.

Yeah, but you don’t have to do that. There’s nothing against you. It’s just a practice that I have within the way that I now approach business. And anything that you do, it’s never personal. I don’t take offense to anything that you want to check or background check on me. You should. It’s business.

I think that we don’t get a fair level of understanding for our f ups, for our mishaps, of how the road presented itself for somebody to take from me. So when I’m recovering from the take, well, you got to start at a safe space. My space was never safe because they’re sharks. So they focus on the fing prey.

The young talent in the music business is prey. So the sharks see the young talent. Whichever one gets there first has an opportunity to f*ing give me the presentation of the world and make it bells, whistles and candy. Well, if I get there right and the prey doesn’t have the right people around them, I’m going with the shark every time.

Taking Responsibility

STEVEN BARTLETT: I guess there is an element of responsibility here which people don’t, I don’t like to acknowledge that you got to take responsibility. I signed bad contracts in my career and I was, I look back at 20 years ago, I lost a lot there, but that was on me. And if I don’t take responsibility, then it’s going to happen again. But there’s also, you’ll know a lot of people that become victims.

The Business of Independence

KEVIN HART: I don’t think it’s the worst thing, right? Like, it’s when it happens early on. Like, I got a lot of friends that are in the music business, a lot of artists. They’re now independent artists that control and own their labels and are doing much better at this position than they were when they were signed underneath the big thing and they were getting taken.

But after finding out how it was and why it was, they said, “I’m going to go create my own.” Like, you know, when you look at the biggest labels that are independent and you look at the artists that fall underneath these independent labels, well, you’ll look at a blueprint of people following the person that was in front of them and what they said. But it’s only because they learned the business of the business, right?

Like, so being a part of a business that’s just succeeding and you being embedded into it and just being the work for hire that just follows the suit of what they say, well, that’s not smart if you have an opportunity to mirror what they’re doing and create your own.

So what I do, like, within a culture is a lot of the artists that are independent or that are now able to say I have my own version. Whether it’s studio, production, company, label, independent label, whether it’s own line of product that they share ownership with. Like, people are now learning to follow and repeat what the conglomerates are doing.

I can use a conglomerate and I can take your machine and create a small version of a machine underneath yours and partner with you and give you a piece of my machine. But it allows me to own. I can leverage the bank of opportunity and consumer that you have here under this brand.

The Cost of Success

STEVEN BARTLETT: What’s the cost, though? Because, you know, you’re incredibly successful. You’ve got all this empire of companies and businesses and ventures you started. They say that you can’t have everything in life, especially not at the same time. So what is the cost of this pursuit? Because time, time is your ambition. Like, insatiable. Yes. It just won’t. You couldn’t switch it off if you wanted to. And does that not make you feel like you’re being dragged versus being driven?

KEVIN HART: You for sure have your days. I’m absolutely stressed out. I’m stressed the f* out on a daily, but I operate within stress.

STEVEN BARTLETT: Are you happy?

KEVIN HART: I’m 1,000% happy, but I’m stressed out with the concept of I have to do.

STEVEN BARTLETT: If your life ended now, God forbid, do you think if you found out today that it was ending, you would reflect on it and say, “Do you know, I think I might have had things in the wrong order?” Would there be any misprioritization in hindsight if today was the day?

Living Without Regrets

KEVIN HART: If life ended today, I could cross my legs comfortably and be okay that it’s time. I did it correctly. I made sure that I applied myself to the best of my ability. I tried my best to put those that I loved in a better position so that they could see more and do more.

My last name and my family name is much stronger today than it was yesterday. The idea of the world is something that I was able to see and understand better because I was blessed and fortunate enough to travel and meet so many people.

We’re here to embrace. We’re here to love. We’re here to share. I was an energy source of good, to bring people closer together through all things that I’ve done. So it all connects. And I’m okay. I’m okay with if it stopped, it stopped.

What I’m not okay with is while I have the bandwidth of good health, fing great mind, strong fing mind concept. And I can go, I can do it, I can get there. I’m not okay with wasting that time. I’m not okay with wasting my time of good. And I can do. And I’m strong enough to connect at a very high level.

My star is bright, which allows me to go and get into these spaces. If I wait for this to dim out and I try to get into these spaces, what if I can’t?

STEVEN BARTLETT: Is there always a fear because of where you came from that these stars…

Nothing Lasts Forever

KEVIN HART: Absolutely, absolutely. You can’t be unrealistic. Nothing is going to last forever. Nothing. I don’t give a f* who you are. I don’t. It’s not true. You can recreate and you can figure out ways to find success again and again. But the one thing that you are winning in, you’re not going to win in it forever, right?

Like, I love talking about my guy, man. HOV and Rubin, Michael Rubin, like two great friends, but two good examples of recreation, amplification and step repeat, right? Successful rapper albums. Some albums HOV will never make again, some will. You don’t look at them all like they are all the best. Some you think are better than others.

But the fight to be the thing that you were when it was at your highest is a driving factor to get you. But then as a talent, you let go of that because you become comfortable with knowing that I’m never going to create that again. That was my lightning in the bottle moment. I’m never going to create this again. But I can have fun doing what I’m doing. And I can create a variation of versions of this that still display my talent and that I’m doing it at a high level.

Man, you know what? This right here, it could cap out, but boy oh boy did I find f*ing momentum. And now the movies, or in Hov’s case is the example I was using. He then found momentum and well, this thing, the Rockefeller thing, him and Dame created this thing and then the artist underneath the thing and the progression of the artist underneath that brand and started to go pow, pow, pow.

Kanye, pow. State Property. Beanie Siegel. Pow, pow, pow. Rihanna, all these people, pow. Now this thing was so dope that we were able to create other people. That’s more energy. So now I don’t need the fing, I don’t need the rap. I’m looking at the product of a valuable asset that we created that’s premium enough to display that the talent that comes from underneath us, strong fing talent. And we do amazing things.

Now my business, because of this business, well, this business becomes great too. Ace of Spades and D’usse and all. Oh s. The value, the exit, the return. He keeps finding more energy in these other things. Oh s. 40/40 Club. More assets, more brand likeness, partnership, ownership. But the backdrop to it all is the artists.

Acting My Age

STEVEN BARTLETT: Your show is called, well, it’s not new necessarily. I actually saw it in London. Me and my girlfriend were near the front row when you came and did “Acting My Age” in London. The show was absolutely hilarious and we were dying of laughter. And it’s coming to Netflix Monday, November 24th. So if you’re listening now, you’ve got to go and watch it. But the title of the show, “Acting My Age,” what does it, what do you mean acting my age and why now?

KEVIN HART: You got to grow up. I think it’s one of the toughest things in life is just realizing what grow up actually means, right? Like you can be an adult but still not embrace what being an adult actually is. And when it’s time to grow up, you start sacrificing the younger version of you with less responsibilities that thrived and flourished off of.

And you realize that a lot of that gets thrown on the back burner and is no longer important because you’re getting older. And some just isn’t the same, right? Like I just made a decision to let go of a certain version of life and embrace my age and all the fun that comes with it.

The Masculinity Crisis

STEVEN BARTLETT: What about being a man? It’s confusing. I think it’s more confusing than ever for many to be a man. And we often talk about this masculinity crisis where men have less male friends than ever before. The stats are pretty shocking on this. Suicide ideation is 300 to 400% higher in men. There’s a college degree gap. For every two men who earn a bachelor’s degree in the U.S., three women do.

There’s a workforce dropout rate which is pretty terrifying. Millions of prime age men between the age of 24 and 50 are no longer in the labor force, representing an almost 10% drop. Being a man is tough these days for a bunch of different reasons.

KEVIN HART: You got a plethora.

STEVEN BARTLETT: A plethora. Yeah. It’s not straightforward.

KEVIN HART: Polluted waters is what I call it, extremely polluted waters.

STEVEN BARTLETT: What advice have you got for young men in terms of what it takes to be a good man?

The Definition of a Good Man

KEVIN HART: You know, I think the definition of a good man is so foggy today. And I’m a firm believer that change comes within time. So I’ll start by saying that, and I understand that, you know, nothing should stay the same. Everything should evolve. When it’s evolving, the conversation of a man and what makes a man a man is weird. It’s not evolving.

And you know, I was raised on a foundation of a leader or leadership. And I think, you know, recipes to my dad, f*ed up of a road that my dad had. My dad’s later years were driven from accountability. I’m aware of what I didn’t do. I’m aware of the mistakes that I made and I’m aware of when I should have did much better. I can’t change those things, but I would love to try to be the best grandfather or grandparent that I can be.

Kevin, I love you and I love your brother, but I can’t go back. I can only say I’m sorry and I wish I could. You don’t have to. The grandkids are your focus and if you can be the dopest example of a grandpop to them, then that’s the win for me at this point.

But his accountability in that moment is what I remember the most about my father and love the most. Because leadership or lack thereof put me in a position to say, I don’t want to do that, I want to do this. And not because my dad is the worst, but f*, man, if he didn’t do these things wrong, back to tying shit in, I wouldn’t know how to do them right.

Parenting and Leadership

So now I got two boys. I want to make sure that my example of man to my sons is leadership, responsibility. It’s accountability, emotions. You know, I’m not against emotions, but I am also a student of everybody has problems. There’s not a shortage of problems. So the weight of the world that you feel is the heaviest for you may not come close to what the weight of the world is for you.

And I think in sharing your emotions and having an opportunity to voice or offload them, extremely important. But you also are in a world where you know weakness can at some point in time be taken advantage of. You are in the world of prey and sharks, as I presented earlier. And it doesn’t mean that your emotions don’t matter, because they do. It means that you also have to be smart and aware. And what are you ultimately trying your best to become? And what are you ultimately trying to be the best example for yourself first and then others for?

I don’t mind being weak, but I talk to my kids. I talk to them and I voice. Your dad deals with struggles that you’ll never know about because I don’t want you to have to feel the burden of them. It’s my job to try my best to make life easier for you so that you can go on and do way more than I ever have. It’s my job to give you the opportunities to learn shit that I never knew that I could learn at this stage.

But I’m going to make sure that I communicate with you differently than I was communicated with. I’m not going to let you f* off or take advantage of the things that you have as resources at your fingertips. I’m not going to let you tell me the things that you think you should do because you feel when I know right now, at this stage in your life what’s best for you.

That’s my format of parenting. And it doesn’t mean it’s the same for others, but for the man that I am, I know the type of man that I want my kids to be based off of what my outcome was and is. And I think that if I correctly position them to simply understand in your older age, you make whatever decisions you want. I’m your father. I’m going to love you regardless. Has no care worry to me.

I want to know that I did my job for what I was supposed to control. And I want to know that our conversations and our dialogue was always straight up and straightforward enough to where you were comfortable to talk to me and you were comfortable and feeling like your father has your best interest. That’s for me. That’s my makeup.

And in the time today, my makeup doesn’t have to fit yours, and I’m okay with that. And I’m okay with yours being whatever it is for you. But I think we’re in a time today where society wants to fight with one another about, it’s just too much of well, if you don’t see it my way, then you’re dumb.

STEVEN BARTLETT: Yeah.

KEVIN HART: And I think that’s why the conversation has gotten so inconsistent and polluted. That’s my personal opinion and my side of information attached to it. So hopefully, you know, your viewers can hear that and understand that and know it’s okay with not being okay with my choice. That’s okay.

The Best Advice from Chris Rock

STEVEN BARTLETT: Kevin, we have a closing tradition where the last guest leaves a question for the next, not knowing who they’re leaving it for. The question left for you is, what is the advice you got as an adult that had the most significant impact on your life?

KEVIN HART: I’m going to go to best. The best piece of advice came from Chris Rock, where Chris Rock told me early in my comedy career, he says his exact word is, “You don’t just want to make niggas laugh. The world is so much bigger than your block or your neighborhood.” He said, “Get out the country. Get out the country and figure out a way to make the world laugh, and comedy will be so much better at that point.”

I was very specific in my material. You know, we got these, this drugstore is crazy. You ever had a guy in the drugstore in your block, and it’s like, well, everybody doesn’t relate or can’t relate. How do you broaden it? How do you open it up so that you’re never changing your material or who you are? Everywhere you go in the world, people can laugh, and you never have to adjust. Get out the country. Get bigger in the way you’re thinking about your craft.

STEVEN BARTLETT: I mean, you’ve done that across the board and across industries. Now you’ve been willing to be the person, the outsider in lots of rooms. That seems to be really central to your success. And what Chris Rock said to you there was, get out into the unfamiliar. Go put yourself in an unfamiliar place. When I look at your career and the empire that you’ve been able to build across business and investing, it’s exactly that. You are willing to be in unfamiliar territories for some reason.

Men Opening Up About Mental Health

KEVIN HART: Yeah, yeah. You know what you just made me think about, too? And I want to backtrack before we leave. One thing that’s kind of crazy, just when you were talking about the conversation of men, it’s a weird thing that’s happening where you do have men that are opening up more and talking more about the struggles of a man, but then those things are being used against them in the conversation of man.

When you get to talking about the things that you’re dealing with and the emotion and stuff of the mental health, the mental health and the weight, it seems that in this time today, more men are being forward and wanting to express and talk. But the fear of being judged after.

STEVEN BARTLETT: Do you have that fear?

KEVIN HART: No, I don’t. I don’t give a shit. I don’t really, I don’t care too much what people think.

STEVEN BARTLETT: Have you struggled with your mental health?

KEVIN HART: No.

STEVEN BARTLETT: No.

KEVIN HART: I think I told you. My shit is more, more stress, but it’s not a struggle.

STEVEN BARTLETT: Is that anxiety or is it?

KEVIN HART: No, just I know I do too much. Yeah, I know. I know. I know for a fact that was.

STEVEN BARTLETT: A symptom of that. How do you feel?

KEVIN HART: You have to shut down. So what I’m getting better at is in a day, there’s time. I just don’t, I’m off the phone. I got it. I know. I told him I would do calls. Just tell them I’ll start that tomorrow or the day after. But there’s a time where I get to a point in the day where I’m like, okay, that, oh, that’s it for me.

STEVEN BARTLETT: You’re done.

KEVIN HART: That’s my, yeah. And I’m literally, I’m done. I don’t want to, I don’t want to talk about anything else. I don’t want to, I don’t want to hear.

STEVEN BARTLETT: So you’re pushing yourself right up to the edge over and over and over and over again.

Learning to Set Boundaries

KEVIN HART: I get to a point in a day, in that timeline of when I’m shutting off has gotten earlier and earlier, whereas before it was, you know, wee hours of the night and I’m still on the phone figuring it out. And all day you’ve just been racing and racing and racing. So I think the older that I’ve gotten, I realized more and more that’s not healthy. The healthy side comes with silence for a second. You need, you need some, you need some silence. And riding a car by yourself, no music.

STEVEN BARTLETT: Sounds a bit like a disease.

KEVIN HART: You need silence.

STEVEN BARTLETT: Do you know what I mean by it sounds a bit like a disease? Because this is something that’s taking you to a point where it’s kind of hurting you a little bit. And I can relate. So it’s not like I’m passing judgment because you just described my entire life. You’re not going to be as present with your loved ones. You’re not going to be as present in your relationship. I know you’re married, you’ve got four kids. How are you ever going to be truly present when your brain is?

KEVIN HART: Yes, but also how do you become comfortable with being okay with people not understanding? That’s the trick. I hate to say it bluntly.

STEVEN BARTLETT: Yeah.

KEVIN HART: I used to have such a high level of give a f* attached to how you felt about my decisions that were best for me. Oh God. I don’t want to say it. Cause then I’m going to feel like I’m not doing it. It’s going to be crazy. I don’t know. I’ll just do it. Because I’m thinking more about you than I’m thinking about me. I’m putting everybody before me. I’m putting everybody’s needs, everybody’s wants, everybody’s reasons all before me.

Nobody is thinking about the volume of dialogue that I’m delivering on a day to day basis and how much of that happens over and over again. Nobody’s thinking about it. So the day that I became comfortable with going, I don’t really give a f* if they understand or not. I’m done. I know, but they feel it’s really important. You got to do it today. I’ll talk to them tomorrow. Nothing’s going to happen, nothing’s going to change from this time to that time.

You have to get to a point to where you actually get that and are okay with that. Because if not, you’re constantly putting all of the shit from outside there on your table and your plates always full, you’re never finishing your f*ing plate because you’re just constantly, people just keep coming and dumping more shit on it.

So imagine that. Imagine if people just keep telling you keep eating, you just keep getting full. Eventually you can’t f*ing breathe and you bust. It’s no different from your mind and more today than ever, you’re seeing more people pop from mental overload, man.

People aren’t crazy. I hate the, this whole crazy, you crazy motherfucker, you crazy. It’s like motherfuckers are just popping. It’s too much when they fing, when they snap, they snap at the end. That’s not what I’m saying. Fers. I’m sick of shit. God damn, man, you crazy. No, you’re not. Motherfuckers just popped.

STEVEN BARTLETT: But you could, you got the money to go chill in Bali.

KEVIN HART: I’m going. I.

STEVEN BARTLETT: But you don’t.

KEVIN HART: I have the money to not go chilling Bali. I have the money to say I’m not talking anymore today. That’s the difference. It’s not about the vacation, it’s not about the trip. It’s not about, I’m not talking anymore today. So the people and the resources I put around me to help me do.

The Vision for the Future

STEVEN BARTLETT: Your job, what happens next for you? We sit here in 10 years time, it all went well. What happened?

KEVIN HART: I think in 10 years time, if I’m able to sit on a stool at a comedy club with 30 people and do material and enjoy my craft and it’s little small hole in the wall comedy clubs, wherever I’m living at the time, I do it maybe twice a week and I golf and I spend time with my kids and hopefully their kids. I’m a grandpop and we’re able to look through photo albums of remember when and mailbox money is attached to things that I’ve built that are operating and functioning on its own. That’s my version of success.

STEVEN BARTLETT: Kevin, thank you.

KEVIN HART: Thank you, man.

A Message of Gratitude and Impact

STEVEN BARTLETT: Thank you so much for all the… You talked about how you’ve made people’s lives happier and made people more connected, and that’s exactly the impact you’ve had on me. I remember the first time I watched one of your comedy specials and watched you on stage was when I was going through a very tough part of my life.

I was lonely. I was in this room in Manchester. I’m probably 18 years old at the time, and I’m trying to figure out my career, my future. Things are hard. And I think pirating your comedy specials was that little moment of escapism. It was that little moment of joy in my day.

And so you’re that for so many, many millions of people that you’ll never get to meet. You brought so much joy to families. You brought families together. You brought me and my girlfriend out to come and see you in Royal Albert Hall. And also I’ve seen you in New York City when you did, I think it was Madison Square Garden here as well, on that square stage.

You’re a source of joy and connectivity. And if the world ever needed that energy right now, it needs it now more than ever.

KEVIN HART: I humbly appreciate you and thank you. This is amazing, man. And I think you’re doing a service of good and what you’re providing for the masses is necessary. So don’t stop. Keep going, man.

STEVEN BARTLETT: Thank you so much.

KEVIN HART: All right.

STEVEN BARTLETT: Thank you so much. Appreciate it, brother.

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