Na’im Lynn’s Real Talk: Kevin’s Not the Problem, Tony’s Bad Jokes Are

https://www.tmz.com/2026/05/28/naim-lynn-sticks-up-for-kevin-hart-after-roast/

Na’im Lynn is sticking up for Kevin Hart amid the fallout from Tony Hinchcliffe’s controversial roast jokes, saying people are coming after the wrong guy. And honestly? He’s got a point.

Let’s rewind to May 10, when Netflix’s Roast of Kevin Hart went live. The event crushed it—13.5 million viewers in its first week. But then Hinchcliffe faced major backlash from fellow comics and George Floyd’s family after making a joke about Floyd, along with cracks about lynching and the late husband of comedian Sheryl Underwood. The internet immediately turned on Hart for not shutting it down in real time.

Here’s where Na’im Lynn, one of three members of Kevin Hart’s comedy crew The Plastic Cup Boyz, cuts through the noise. He told critics upset that Kevin didn’t publicly reprimand Tony during the roast should be directing that energy at Tony himself, adding if you’re gonna make a racial joke, it better be funny—and Tony’s joke absolutely wasn’t. That’s the 16BARS summary right there: the material was weak. Period.

For context, Hinchcliffe is best known for his mean-spirited live comedy series Kill Tony and garnered controversy in 2024 after appearing at a Donald Trump rally, where he referred to Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage” and made jokes about ethnic stereotypes. So this isn’t his first rodeo offending people. But Na’im points out that Hart is a stand-up guy and there’s no reason for him to apologize for someone else’s material.

Kevin already explained he won’t be a live-roast bouncer—he was the host and producer, not the joke police. You can disagree with that call, but blaming a man for another man’s punchlines misses the point entirely.

The 16BARS take: Na’im’s right. If Tony’s joke was offensive AND unfunny, that’s on Tony. Expect better from the roasters, not from the guy keeping the machine running.