Kevin Hart made headlines this week for doing what he does best — being naturally funny.
The comedian was spotted Wednesday at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing, New York, to watch tennis players Frances Tiafoe and Grigor Dimitrov face off in a US Open 2024 quarterfinal match. However, it wasn’t just Hart’s attendance at the event that got people talking. It was his priceless reaction.
Earlier this week, the US Open shared a 15-second clip on their X account of former Swiss professional tennis player Roger Federer and Hart watching a match with expressions that were so vastly different that it made for a funny moment.
The video begins with Federer, wearing a monochromatic navy blue suit and shirt, standing tall and looking focused on the game. The 43-year-old initially stood with his arms crossed before reacting to a play with a clap and a slightly impressed facial expression.
The video then cuts to the “Think Like a Man” star looking quite jouncy compared to the composed Federer. Unlike Federer, Hart chose to sit as he looked outward to the court, jolting side to side in his seat. The video doesn’t show the two players on the court, but the video shows Hart jumping left and right while watching each player hitt the ball across the net to the other.
The US Open X account captioned the video, “Roger Federer watching tennis and Kevin Hart watching tennis. A play in two acts,” and received over 9,300 likes.
Many made jokes about the 5-foot-4 actor’s height, writing comments like, “You just know Kevin Hart was on his tippy toes watching this!” Another joked, “Someone bring Kevin a booster seat.”
But dozens noticed “Kevin is locked in” as he watched the game. This caused some to claim the 45-year-old may have been under the influence.
Roger Federer watching tennis and Kevin Hart watching tennis.
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 4, 2024
A play in two acts. pic.twitter.com/AyGZUq2AMw
One person jokingly wrote, “Kevin hart was high af watching tennis,” while another said, “Ain’t no Half-Baked, he fully rotisseried.” Someone else said, “Kevin is fried.”
Stepping in to defend the “Lift” actor, one person said the video looks like, “Kevin being Kevin.”
The “Soul Plane” actor cleared up all of that speculation on Thursday during an appearance on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.” After rewatching the clip, Fallon asked Hart if he knew he was reacting like that to which he responded, “Absolutely not no.”
To further explain, Hart said, “I gotta be honest right? I gotta be just 1000% honest…I couldn’t see! He claimed that it was a “boy’s head” in front of him blocking his view that he kept yelling, “move man move your head so I can see.” The clip ended with Hart jokingly saying, “I don’t know why he sat there. That was so selfish.”
Still some didn’t believe Hart, including one that wrote, “Couldn’t see, yeah right, dude was BLITZED!!!” While another said, “Oh he was high up there for sure he couldn’t see.”
A third said, “He was high and following the ball. Y’all believe anything they tell you.”
Hart has expressed that he doesn’t partake in drugs. But the “Ride Along” star has claimed that he gave into the pressure of doing molly in 2017, during a wild night of cheating on his then-pregnant wife, Eniko Hart. During a deposition for a lawsuit against the comedian, he explained how an unnamed friend offered him the drug while in Las Vegas.
The comedian said he initially turned down the offer, saying, “No, I don’t really f–k with drugs like that,” but after some persistence from the friend, he said, “F—k it, I said, and I put it in my drink. I had some water there. It was watered down. Because it’s in my drink, I’m fine. I’m fine with drinking. The night is good.”
But a turn of events occurred when Hart allowed two women to come to his hotel that night. Only one stayed and spent the night, and she and the father-of-four ended up sleeping together the next morning. A sex tape was later leaked of Hart cheating on his wife, who was pregnant with their first child at the time.
This information was revealed in a lawsuit filed by Hart’s former friend of 15 years, Jonathan “JT” Jackson, who claims Hart has failed to abide by the terms of their settlement where Hart was required to clear his name. Initially, after the cheating scandal, Jackson was arrested and faced two felony counts of extortion in connection with the sex tape being leaked.
In 2021, those charges were dropped.
