The Breakfast Club - INTERVIEW: Kevin Hart & Will Packer Talk Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist, Industry Relationships + More

Episode Date: September 6, 2024

The Breakfast Club sits down with Kevin Hart & Will Packer to discuss ‘Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist,’ and industry relationships. Listen for more!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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It's DJ Envy, Jess and V Jess hilarious Charlamagne the guy we are the breakfast club Jess is out today that's right she's on maternity leave so long the rules and we got some special guests in the building ladies and gentlemen we have will pack up right what's happening and we have Kevin Hart. Is that too loud for you? So Kevin was supposed to be here earlier. Can I tell you the irony of this, right? Kev's hungover right now.

But if you read the first chapter in Will Packer's book, he has a chapter called We Gonna Die Tonight. Right? This is true. And it's essentially this story. This is what you were worried about, Will. This is what you were concerned about. Listen, brother.

He almost ruined both our careers. this is not this is not the first time see the difference is that kevin is at a point now he can get away with the shit you know what i'm saying he's kevin hart right so you know people will just wait and bend over backwards and all that there's a time when it was the biggest movie of both of our careers. It was right along. It was absolutely right along with Ice Cube. And we had done Thing Like a Man. That was the one

that really kind of catapulted Kevin. Right. And everybody was like, okay, what's he going to do next? Like, what are they going to do next? So this was the one

that was the biggest budget of our careers, everything. And Kevin, did I lie to you? You remember what happened? Did I lie to you? You did lie. Did I lie to you?

You absolutely lied. Did we get what we were supposed to get? And did we get back to where we I lie to you? You remember what happened? Did I lie to you? You did lie. Did I lie to you? You absolutely lied. Did we get what we were supposed to get? And did we get back to where we were supposed to be? So, Envy, we were shooting. Did we get back to where we were supposed to be? We barely got back. Kevin, why you bitch all the time? You see this?

People want to know what a producer does, right? They ask me. This is what a producer does. You see this? You want to know what a producer does. They ask me. This is what a producer does. You see him smelling the coffee? You see him trying to get oxygen in his veins? Trying to come back to life? This is what it looks like. Y'all was supposed to be here three hours earlier.

Four hours earlier. What's your issue? Tell me why the people on radio need to know that. It's radio. You think they need a fucking breakdown of what four hours early they said kev can't make it because he's sick and we all said bullshit he was drunk because he went out last night i did not go out last night so let's let's that's actually true by the way i do not go out i'm 45 old. I don't go to fucking clubs. I don't go to parties. I was working

I did pro It's my weekend. I own the fucking weekend. I have to show face to be there We had artists, we had clubs. I got a show face. I'm the brand. So you do go to the club? No. Well, okay. Yes. No, in all seriousness. So last night, you know, we're doing promo and everything for Fight Night. We're rolling out all of the carpet of the carpets. So before the actual premiere, we announced it, but I had to leave because I had to do Seth Meyers.

And Seth Meyers has a segment called Drinking with Seth and you go to a bar and Seth makes these drinks or whatever and it's like you know for hour and a half to two hours you're drinking throughout the interview what could go wrong with that

you know I don't drink anything outside of my fucking tequila at this point in my life. So, you know, anything else, anything else I'm very unfamiliar with. And Seth said, let's close it out with your tequila, but let's start it with everything. So he threw it all at me. Like I'm talking, it's Jagermeister and Wild Turkey. I mean, we were brown, we were dark.

Kevin, you too old to be mixing stuff. No one's a complete sentence. You can, but you have to understand the beauty of good television. And it was a good conversation, great interview. And while we're drinking for good reason behind the answers,

and we finished it with tequila. We went through a lot. I just don't remember the back half of the time and that's why i didn't show up to the after party i missed that right and this morning at 6 a.m i would have been here bro why couldn't you miss the after party after the garden that night so y'all could have just got back to you know atlanta because we weren't drinking that's why i don't say why he's being a like we didn't get it it was our we weren We weren't fucked up like, oh, man, where's my jacket? We were just out at a show.

Biggest movie of our career, okay? Where's your tampon? And he leaves. Jesus Christ, Will. He books a show at Madison Square Garden. He tapes a comedy special in the middle of our movie. I tour while filming a movie faithfully. He does, which is not a good thing, boys and girls. of our movie I tour while filming a movie faithfully he does which there's

not a good thing boys and girls like you looking at how to be successful like don't overbook yourself that one thing about my friend nobody's gonna overwork it I'm a bad don't do what Kevin Hart did look at his career He's been doing it wrong this whole time. It's the stupidest shit I've ever heard. Oh, I'm sorry, kids. Kevin booked a fucking live show in Madison Square Garden, taped a special, and got to work on time for the biggest movie of his career at that moment. I was going to say, people that are listening know it's because you have people around you

who will save you. You have folks that will save you. And that's what happened. He booked it, right? And so he left the show in the middle of it, right? Biggest movie for Universal Studios, he leaves. But you know what he does? Because this is the evil genius of Kevin Hart.

He goes, hey, man, I got to do this show. It's next week. You know, he tells me a week before. He goes, hey, you know what you and Tim story didn't Got the jet That way you can make sure that we get back on time because I knew we had to shoot the next day So we're shooting one day. He's gonna go do the show that night and then we had to shoot the next morning on a location We could only get that day know what it's called like come with I'm a professional because the director and the producer are with me. So you can't think I'm an asshole.

They would be an asshole. Cut to Kevin has an amazing show at Madison Square Garden. All the celebs come out. Afterwards, we had an after party that he did not tell me about. I'm in there with Carmelo Anthony buying bottles going, oh, we dying tonight. We turning up tonight. Wars have power. Why are we going to die tonight? Well, we going to die tonight means we're having a good time.

If you're choosing to die over life life how good of a time is that huh last night i didn't say we're gonna die tonight i was like oh this is work when i was in that club and i saw my career flash before my eyes because i realized there was no way we're gonna be able to get back in time i had that moment because i'm sitting there looking at kev and i realized we're not gonna make it and kev looks at me he goes well we tried we tried that was it remember in Usual Suspects when he realized that Kaiser Soze was sitting in front of him the whole time I looked at Kevin Hart and I realized that he had convinced me the producer and director of the movie to get on a jet with him so that when Universal called and said why are y'all over budget and not able to finish the movie and they say, well, Kevin Hart, Will Packer, and Tim Story

were there, so the producer went with them, it would be on me. I was complicit. I realized that was his evil plan all along. You called him a diabolical rascal spawn of Satan. That's true. And he means that. That's exactly what he means. I love him, but

that's truer words never spoken, sir. I will ask you and your listeners, what is a life without a great story? It's something that can't be talked about. It's untold. A life without stories is nothing. You need fucking stories, the good and the bad. He's bitching about a great story. And by the way, that story did what?

Amplified our relationship. And look at where we are now. Fight night. We're talking about something else that we're yet in business That story did what? Amplified our relationship. And look at where we are now. Fight night. We're talking about something else that we're yet in business and we produced and developed together. Do we get here without that moment? No, we do not. So why did you still want to be his friend after that?

After you figured that out, you could have said, you know what? This relationship no longer happens. See what I'm saying? But you decided to jump back in. You need a little wrap up. Envy, I'm so afraid that if I leave Kevin Hart's life, he'll just implode. He'll just burn up on the spot.

I just don't know what he'd do without me. I'll be honest with you, it's close to being over. It's close. What is it about you two that works so well? Because even just here with you guys in person, I could listen to this back and forth all day long. real talk with each other's most frequent collaborators kev done a ton of movies i've done a ton of movies tv projects we haven't worked with anybody else more than we work with each other i'll give you i'll give will this on air and half of it is because i'm still drunk um and drunk by the way offer some of the best fucking tequila in the market. No, guys, tell me. Here it comes. This is Coramino.

This is not a commercial, but it's just a time to let people know when it comes to smooth taste and it comes to elegant product, well, you got to understand what and why. Grand Coramino is that and has been that, which is why I drink it at the level that I do. But it's not about that right now. It's not about the product. It's about the passion. And let's get to that. And we'll toast to that after with grand core amino but i will say this is about will i don't

say it enough but people don't understand it and i think they should uh i i don't get to where i got in career or business without the information and relationship of Will Packer. You know what I mean? Like when it came to producing and when it came to development or it came to packaging, Will Packer is the guy that was the definition of what that was. So from the early days of Think Like a Man, he was the producer that came to me and said,

hey, I got this thing, I want to do this thing, and I think you're the guy. And those are words. Words without action are just that. He put action behind the words. Everything he said he would do, he did. He got the people. He wrangled the directors, the actors, the actresses, the producer, partners, writers, et cetera.

He figured a way to formulate and activate. And I was like, God damn, man. How do you do that? And he taught me. Will taught me will taught me how to do it and as i progressed i never forgot who he was and what he was so our relationship today is based off of never forget like you don't you don't forget the real side of like success attached to just care he gave a fuck about me then. He gives more fuck about me now.

In return, I double down on my level of give a fuck about him. So I don't want to win if I can't figure out a way to win with my brother. So the commitment that we made was, hey, man, let's figure out a way to continue. Although, Kev, you're doing and you have, but how do we still do? And I love the fact that we still are. And we're committed to figuring out more ways to do more. And what you're seeing today is a definition of what we want people to follow through with.

Like we are no egos. We are help your brother. So he can help you. We are that. And, and I think it's the best story in hollywood if people were more privy to how deep and like in depth it actually is facts right real time yeah real time the the fight night tv show right it shows these characters operating within a black

world where they all hold power so to your point kev how effective has that concept been for for you both in the world of Hollywood? I think it hasn't been effective enough. And I think, you know, when you look at the Ice Cube and Kevin Hart of it all, the middle common denominator, Packer and, all right, guys,

let's do this, but let's make it. And Cube come in and like, there's always a through line of connectivity. And that person has to be willing to go above and beyond. Fight Night is a definition of going above and beyond. right kev i got this idea the idea came after i was supposed to do uptown saturday night uptown saturday night was going to be me and chadwick bozeman uh rest in peace to the legend himself fuck oh my god i had no idea well i don't want

to do this anymore i can't do that without chadwick that project is dead to me will have the actual rights the original story the true story so will came to me i said will i can't do a comedy because of this can it be serious can we do it in a way to where it's like a lot deeper raw real he said kevin absolutely hey the podcast was points me to the podcast that he was a part of that understood etc all right shit this is like real information now real knowledge well i'ma fuck with it because it's you but let's make sure that we try to go above and beyond to package it correctly how do we do a premium a premium cultural like piece of IP that has the bandwidth to live forever? And you can't do that without big stars.

To get big stars, you need real relationships. So the leverage of understanding that we both shared and that we had at the top of get the studio's commitment, get the studio to back and support, then go get the talent. I got to be honest with you. My guy was a big part of all of that conversation. And I followed the lead of most and I think where we were collaborative was dope as fuck and the outcome was amazing talent configuration and now an example of what the business should follow through with which is collaboration

Collaboration you you you can win more together You win less as an individual how do you put yourself in a position to collaborate more so if we can be the example of hopefully most will follow through and hopefully we can do more and people will say oh that's great because they do dope shit and here's an example of it let's do some dope shit with them that's where i'm at in my career now i could care less about the individual star of Kevin Hart. I'm looking for the moments. I'm looking for the IP.

And I'm looking for the evergreen-like material. You can't do that. That part is true. I will tell you that. Like, Kevin's definitely reached a part in his career, a moment in his career where, you know, you've had success and it's like, how do you grow? How do you work with people that you respect? And how do you build a machine that then empowers others? It's interesting, Charlamagne, you talked about the world of Fight Night.

Fight Night is really about a group of hustlers, dreamers, entrepreneurs who are trying to take Atlanta and turn it into something. This is back in 1970, right? Martin Luther King had just been shot a couple years earlier. Atlanta was seen as a small country town that had a couple civil rights folks. People didn't know if it was going to be the next Charlotte or Birmingham. Nothing wrong with those cities, but it definitely wasn't looked at on the level of a global superpower or New York, Chicago, L.A. It was Atlanta, and it was not respected.

But you had a group of folks, which is not unlike how black Hollywood is right now, where you got a group of dreamers trying to figure out how do we work together? Now, of course, in Fight Night, you got, you know, a character who's Kevin's character. He's a hustler. He's going, yo, give me a shot. Give me a chance. I can just turn Atlanta into something great. Chicken Man. Chicken Man. Weirdly, Sam Jackson, who plays the big gangster, the black godfather, in the show, he actually has also got a dream

too, right? Even though he's a big gangster, he's running the black mafia, his dream is saying, you know what? The white man's been holding me down for a very long time. If y'all give me a shot and an opportunity, I can take over Atlanta. I can turn Atlanta into a black mecca. Oddly, even though Kevin Sam's characters are at odds for most of the series, the reality is that

they have the same kind of a dream. That's kind of how it is right now in terms of like folks like us in Hollywood, in real life, who are all trying to work together. Is it true that Samuel L. Jackson was really there in Atlanta during that time? Right there, dog. He was at Morehouse. Yeah, Sam old as fuck.

Sam was there. I wouldn't have said it like that Kevin Sam might hear this I remember like we were We were on a call with Sam At the start of it When Sam said like Yo he liked it

He would do it We were on a call We were going through the material Seeing what Sam said About the character And Sam was like Yeah man y'all gotta change A lot of this shit

Cause more happened then I was like well Sam You know I think we got the story you know because we you know the podcast and everything we got the real information he's very adamant about telling you yeah where he was what he knows so the story of fight night got better it got so much better as we went on oh my god she is the best by the way you and me i mean since the joke with the little mike we have never left that stage you're the best uh she has some more jokes she made

i'm gonna answer them all this right here this right here i need grease brother there's a chance right now I may not make it to the end of this interview I'm giving you everything I got to try to save you I'm impressed when you just answered that before I was impressed I'm like wow is that what he drinks in here cause that never sounded like you were rambling you always make sense no I ain't gonna fall off towards the end did you see did you see yo yo we did look at the irony look at the wall right there.

Look who's over you on that wall. Did you finish with Samuel Jackson? Look at this, man. I mean. And is that Chadwick? Yeah, that's Chadwick. Sam and Chadwick and Kev? Yes, yes.

Wow. How's the scale, Will, as far as Kev's size? Well, because he'd be smaller. But the point is that. Are you standing up in that photo? No, man. Look at that. That's crazy.

That's fucking insane. That's crazy. He just told that story. Wow. That story is 1, man. Look at that. That's fucking insane. He just told that story. That story is 1000% accurate. For the listeners, if you guys go watch Don't Fuck This Up, which is a documentary on Netflix

about when I went through some of my worst times in the business and the things that I was juggling during the duration of that time, you'll see me and Chadwick actively meeting about Uptown Saturday Night. Me and Chadwick, before us going to the final stages, we wanted to make sure that we were on the same page with the characters, the story, and the development.

And Chadwick was an active producer in it. He had his partners there. You'll see it. And don't fuck this up. So the fact that y'all got a mural, right? With him, with Kevin Hart and Chadwick and then Sam Jackson, who he ended up making that same project with. That's insane. That's wild.

That's insane. You know what, man? And I don't do this often, but I'm going to drink a shot of Grand Cormino to that. Kevin, you do that very often. I think that's why. It's not a plug. It's a moment of understanding. It's a moment of understanding, and it's a moment of celebration, man.

That right there is celebratory. That's awesome. And I just want to take a shot to my brother Chad. Let's do it. We all do the shot. You in? You in the after? Come on. And you said that your feet didn't touch the ground. That was Charlamagne's idea, by the way. Well, no, he's sitting shot to my brother Chad. Let's do it. We all do a shot. Maybe you in. You in the Hamptons. Come on.

And you said that your feet didn't touch the ground. That was Charlamagne's idea, by the way. Well, no, he's sitting on a chair. I'm sitting on a chair. Oh, my bad. I'm sorry. I never said anything about my feet. I'm sorry.

I'm sorry. He said it wasn't to scale. It's not to scale. I said it's to stand down. You all skipped over it. No, no. I said. Yes.

HBCU. I do this any time. Will Packer come because he always stays famu. So I put Hampton University. You know what's crazy? A lot of old niggas that can't let college go do this.

A lot of old niggas that refuse to just accept it's over. Envy. When you were the cat that never went to any school at all, he didn't go to

a historically nothing. I'll tell you what, I didn't and this is why. Like you guys are the example of what you don't want to be. It's over.

You don't understand HBCU culture. When you went to HBCU, you don't let it go. Come on. Let it be known. Like, you guys are the example of what you don't want to be. Oh, man. It's over. You don't understand HBCU culture. When you went to HBCU, you don't let it go. Come on. Let it be known. Where did you go, sis? She didn't. Here's your spot.

She didn't go to HBCU. I thought I was trying to. Delaware State University. There you go. That is not HBCU. Let it be known. It is. What do you mean?

I know where Delaware State is. Is this a community college? Shut up. That's just a bunch of niggas on campus. We are part of the media. Shut up, Delaware State. Do notas on campus. Shout out Delaware State. Do not listen to them. That's niggas in Delaware. You know what I wanted to ask you?

Yes, sir. How do you manage all these big-ass personalities, bro? Kevin Hart, Taraji P. Henson, Samuel L. Jackson, Don Cheadle. How do you do it? Yes, yes. Cheers. First, let me just, you know. Did you drink the whole day what are you doing

I'm a Christian I can't be up here I'm with the family this is not wine this is not Jesus can't turn this into nothing You don't do it I did. Let me see. I never even poured him one. See, look at that. Yo, real talk. You don't know what he do to me. No. Every day on air.

I didn't pour him a shot, so he ain't take nothing. Right. Oh, really? I'm saying. Punishment? Give him a big shot he won't drink it my brother is working

stay focused Charlotte man alright I'm with you listen you talked about big personality that is the hardest part of the job as a producer you know what I mean and in real talk it's awesome when you got somebody like Kev who gets it who understands at the end of the day what the bigger picture is.

But a lot of times, I don't care if it's Hollywood, music, stock market, whatever it is. Tell the truth. You say, Kev, I'm not going to talk to them. Can you talk to them for me is what you say. How much do you argue with Kev, though? Because he seems like he's a lot. Oh, bruh.

Let me tell you something. I'm the least problem that you will ever have in any work environment. That's true. I am unproblematic. He's unproblematic. I mean, the challenge with Kevin is that he will overdo things, right? He will do things like have a show in Madison Square Garden at the same time that we have a big scene in our movie. Now, he's definitely, he's not a moderation guy.

You know what I mean? That's part of the challenge. That's why I'm here on the breakfast club. He eating this turkey sandwich trying to get some grease in his gut let it cool a little bit come on animal this is what I need yeah that what Hollywood just why I can't take it I can't take the phenomenal job is chicken man but I can't take him serious and drama because it just always seemed like I can't joking but can i tell you something real talk chicken man's his best work yet i'm telling you you look at what he's

doing with his eyes and you know a lot of people you know it's known that comedians they they pull from pain right and that's how they deflect and that's where a lot of the comedy comes from kevin no uh exception but the reality is that when he said we got to do this as a drama, that was a big risk because people say, all right, fight night, Kevin Hart's throwing it. Let's go. I'm ready to laugh. Like you said, Charlamagne. But the reality is that this is serious.

Now you have moments of levity, but the tone, make no mistake, is dramatic. Like it goes there. I don't want to sound like an asshole, but this may sound asshole-ish. Right? It may sound asshole-ish. You? It may sound asshole-ish. You gave it to him.

I did. Here's the thing. It's a big jump to the audience that watches of what a talent is doing if you're not used to it. A talent knows what's in their fucking bag. That's true. You know what you can wrangle. You know who you can call.

You know what you can package and do. The operation attached to drama is project- you give me a great project and in the project i'm supposed to be serious and i'm supposed to have a cadence of and it is such a great piece of material that i choose to do i'll do it the best of my ability that's called the talent that's a talent's choice and a talent's decision it's what are you what are you fucking factoring in to you making the decision? I'm not doing it in an environment where it won't be cool,

collective, and fucking dope. If I can't work with great people, if I can't work with great directors, great producers, great writers, then I don't want to do it. I'm at a point in my life where it's about having a good time. This project is relationship based.

Every aspect of this project is formulated off of relationships. That's real. By the way, everybody said that too. Sorry, I was just going to say, because cast like a lot of people ask, oh, with that cast, you had to back up the truck. Right. And by the way, you do. Right. with that cast you had to back up the truck right and by the way you do right these folks deserve you know and i'm very proud of the fact that you know as a black producer in the business i

definitely take care of folks that look like us and make sure that i i pay them on par um with their counterparts and their peers but kevin is absolutely right you don't do a show like this unless you want to right sam jacks is not doing it for the check, right? And Don Cheadle's not doing it because he's available. They do it because they want to work with certain people because it's subject matter that speaks to them. And that is very, very important. And the other thing, you know, Charlamagne, you brought up a good point that I want to just hit on real quick.

In terms of like the egos and all of that, you got to make sure that everybody understands that the ultimate goal is everybody's goals. Because once people start thinking, okay, this is for me and I got to be focused on my own goal and not the greater good, then you will never win. You got to get people to work in as a team. That's why as a producer, you're like a coach. You're like a general manager. You got to get everybody to understand that their goals align with your goals.

By the way, that is true in any industry, not just Hollywood. But you also need, respectfully, you also need a collaborative figure at the top to say, I'm going to make sure that no matter what, I'm on a layer and level where everybody can understand that we're all the same. Like, I'm not coming into a project with my dick on the table, for lack of a better word. I'm not, yeah, y'all know. There was definitely a better word. I said, for lack of a better word. Well, there was a better word. I wish you would have found it.

I'm saying who I am, what I am, I don't do that. I'm saying I'm about the greater good for all. So I come in, hat in hand, and I bow down to all talent on the set because I'm so grateful that the talent is fucking choosing to do whatever the project set because I'm so grateful that the talent is fucking choosing to do whatever the project is that I'm a part of. So for Sam Jackson,

I bow down. You're a goddamn legend. You should get the respect that you deserve. Don Cheadle, I bow down. Taraji, I bow down. Was that awkward?

I mean, listen, I mean, listen. Taraji plays Kevin kevin hart's down we call it down woman right she is his right hand she is also his mistress and so there is a scene worded better well well you see she's a down woman He asked, was it awkward? What I'm saying is I have no problem with being equal. And I think, once again, I'm going to highlight this as much as I possibly can. That's the version of the example that I want to get out there. I want the collaborative side of our culture connecting.

I want us to understand we are so much better together. I want us to understand the premium factor of us doing things together is so much better than the individual trying to be one. Do you challenge yourself to do things

outside of just comedy? Say, I just don't want this comedic role. I want this serious role. Do you challenge yourself or do you just take roles that come? None of it is a challenge.

By the way, I'm developing the things that I do. Nothing by the way i'm i'm developing the things that i do nothing is coming to me i'm creating the things or i'm a part of the process of how it gets to the final stages i'm at that point but i have no desire for the star of kevin hart to get bigger i don't give a fuck that's that's so gone and done with I'm more about the success of others, the success of the entity, the success of the brand, and more importantly,

the success of what we represent and what we can look back and say we did. That's bigger now than a conversation of myself. I did it. I'm done. What else am I going to do at this point? Now, Kevin has to go in two minutes. Five, five actually.

We got to zoom. I want to ask both of them. I'm not going to do this. Was it hard to find someone to play Muhammad Ali? And did you ever consider Will Smith? You're going to afford Will Smith. Very, very challenging, right? And I think that you got to understand, you know,

obviously that's an icon. He's been portrayed before. For us, it was about finding a newcomer that wouldn't pull you out because these other characters you didn't know. Nobody knew Chicken Man, Kevin Hart's character, or Vivian Taraji's character, or Frank Moten, you know, Sam's character. But, you know, everybody knows Muhammad Ali. So I think to have somebody in that role who you had some familiarity with and who you associated with something else would have pulled you out. And we really wanted to immerse you. Even with these big stars, we really wanted to take

you to a time period, right, 50 years ago and really drop you in and be as authentic as possible. And we've paid a lot of attention to the detail and the nuances to try to get this thing right. Boy, oh boy, did we choose right. Yeah, come on, man. And by the way, not just the big names that you know. Like there's some cats.

Oh, Dexter Dard. Dexter Dard Dexter Dard you're gonna be hearing a lot from him there's some young gunners in this cast that you're gonna be hearing that I predict you're gonna look back

and go yo remember when so and so went toe to toe with Kevin Hart and Sam Jackson Dexter Dard yes Melvin Gray

Melvin Gray Miles Bullock Sinqua Walls Chloe Bailey does her thing yep Lori Harvey jumps in. I think you have the future of Hollywood.

Yeah, Lori. My wife said that, and I was like, I don't think that's Lori, because she looked so different. Yeah. Layla Hathaway. No, Lola Fulana. Lola Fulana.

I think that you're seeing an amazing example of baton passing. You're looking at people that are established, have been established for so long, and Sam, and Taraji, and Terrence, and Don, and then you also have the second tier

of talent that is a valuable piece of this puzzle, where they're toe-to-toe with the big names, and you don't blink an eye. You understand why everybody is there, and you respect the talent on screen and you still respect the story. You're never taken outside of the story.

I think that for that younger generation that we were able to onboard, it's a great example of what we want to do. We want to be the example for the next generation. The bridge. We want to be the example for global success for or the bridge. We want to be the example for global

success for or the new star that popped on. If we're part of those stories, how dope is that? That's the bigger side of the conversation of one. Teresa Celeste, Jalen Hall, these are names you're going to know. I know you got to go. By the way, we're fine.

You're a zoo. I was late here. I'll be late. You were late here. You can't be late everywhere. It's fine. You're a Zoom. You're a Zoom. I was late here. I'll be late. You were late here. You can't be late everywhere. It's fine. I can be late. See what I'm saying? This is what he would have did to you if you wasn't there, Will.

I'm telling you. He would have never made it right alone. This is why I'm in his life. This is what happened. Let's talk about the Ask Your Age Tour. You're going back on the road. I'm a big star. The Ask Your Age Tour.

Go ahead. Now, well, I don't know if you know. You know he kicked me out of one of his shows he kicked you out you had your phone he kicked me out they threw me out and as they're throwing me out

I'm yelling Cav it's me he goes I know it's you go ahead that's why we should've kicked you out that's the Hampton you got family and kids

so you know sometimes you gotta check your phone to make sure you're good you went to the show you knew come on I gotta side with Cav on this one, brother. Come on, man.

Coming to a comedy show is an attentive environment. And by the way, my act and my age tour, it's a very dope fucking thing going on right now. It's a premium ticket with a dope experience. And in that experience, for an hour and a half, check out. Check out and laugh. Did you see it was in me? Did you know it was him? Who gives a fuck about that?

What I'm saying to you is, people kill me when you act as if rules don't exist for a dope reason. Phones are a bad experience. Phones are taking over the intimate appeal of life and lifestyle. That's true. Like your phone has checked you out of every experience. You go to concerts, people watch the concert through their fucking phone.

You're looking at the concert like this. And for an artist that's trying to put out new content, right? And then everybody can just watch it on YouTube. It's horrible. It totally diminishes the experience. Lock him up. So I can respect that. Lock him up, buddy.

Do me up just like Jazzy Jeff. Lock him up. Like the cops lock him up or lock the phones up? No, put your phones up. You lock him up in that moment. If you knew. Come on, brother. You leave and you're like, yo, that was such a dope show.

I didn't even want to throw me out, though. Yeah, well, you got to get the fuck out of here. So you had that privilege. You had that light-skinned privilege, see? You thought, you was like, I'm Envy. You did that. By the way, I don't even know a couple of light-skinned niggas. Yeah.

He's the lightest. Envy is the lightest. Light bright. Lightest. High lightest high yellow of expectation Envy is one of the lightest operators of the pack

sometimes you're like hey nigga you're not white yeah you get confused Envy's the guy that shit happens he's like

can you believe they doing this and he's the one that called him he called him. You got to get on the Zoom, yo. I'm fine. I'm trying to ask you.

Go ahead, Lauren. Monique and Lee Daniels just did the deliverance. Yes. Are we ever going to see a reconciliation with you and her? Because she. I don't have a problem. I know that there's no problem. There's nothing to reconcile.

No, but she has said that like I know when she was on Club Shea Shea and they talked about it and she was talking about the phone call that happened from your team or whatever, right? Is there ever going to be a conversation that we hear you talk about where y'all two have another conversation about that and move forward? I'll challenge your question with a better question. Go ahead. You've been doing this for a long time.

Do you ever hear me talk about anyone? Do you ever hear anything bad come from me? No. So information can't be one-sided a perception can never be one-sided it's always a duality it's it's your side versus another and if there's not a common ground that mean that means one hasn't been attempted to like be met so there's no problem between me and monique there never will So there's no problem between me and Monique. There never will be. There's no problem between me and anybody else. There's nothing to reconcile.

There's no, there's no problem. So all these problems that have been attached to Kevin Hart, they're one sided. I don't have a problem with anybody. I agree with that. It takes two people, right.

To have a conflict because that's the reality. I can tell you that. Like there's a perception that like, if somebody comes out and says something that me and Kev is behind the scenes. You believe they said that? What are we thinking? We're not doing that. That's what it has to be. It's not a thing.

Social media has fucked us up to the point of what you hear is what you're forced to believe. Got you. You do not understand the common ground for truth is always a conversation. And if there ever is a conversation that you're not forward facing in a public statement ever. Like I didn't say anything about what I did or what I did for Monique or my gestures. You never would have heard it. That's a it's a one sided version or reason for. And by the way, I have no rebuttal to it

i stand on the side of i'm unproblematic and if me and mo want to do or could do or would do we will but that's a me and mo thing like the this new thing that people are like let me tell you something world yeah that's a very like i want to be honest i'm 45 years old i'm 45 years old by the way team or not it's not hard to fucking find me like i you know what my schedule is online so she hasn't hit you since all of that stuff me and monique have had conversations and those are me and monique's conversations there you go and after. That's called adulting. I don't unadult. So all of these new ways of conversation and finger pointing, it's very easy.

You know what? Court me knows me because I'm going to say some dope shit. All right. Everybody points to the fucking moon because nobody knows what it's like to be at the moon and for the moon to look down. Everybody sees it this way, but nobody sees it the other there's only a couple people that have been down here and looked at the moon and said i'm going and went and looked down from so if you don't stand the

version of eyesight from both sides but then you're near side you got you got one vision i don't have tunnel vision i have an equal vision of understanding but if you can't understand the moon side how do you speak as if you do that's not that's not life that's not adulting so to be a drunk shit but you I was gone. I was gone. I was gone. I was gone. I was gone. I was gone. I was gone. I was gone. I was gone.

I was gone. I was gone. I was gone. I was gone. I was gone. I was gone. I was gone. I was gone.

I was gone. I was gone. I was gone. I was gone. I was gone. I was gone. I was gone. I was gone.

I was gone. I was gone. I was gone. I was gone. I was gone. I was gone. I was gone. I was gone.

I was gone. I was gone. I was gone. I was gone. I was gone. I was gone. I was gone. I was gone.

I was gone. I was gone. I was gone. I was gone. I was gone. I was gone. I was gone. I was gone.

I was gone. I was gone. I was gone. I was gone. I was gone. I was gone. I was gone. I was gone.

I was gone. I was gone. I was gone. I was gone. I was gone. I was gone. I was gone. I was gone.

I was gone. I was gone. I was gone. I was gone. I was gone. I was gone. I was gone. I was gone.

I was gone. That's right. Everybody talks like they know what's up there. You don't know what's up there. You never walked up there. You don't know what it's like to be up there and look down and see what earth is like from there. So it's only a couple people that do. When you are on a different side of life and you speak to those that are on that side, is if you know what they're doing or why they did it, you're one-sided. You can't speak on my fucking reasons as if you know what my reasons are for. You can't speak on my business choices, professional choices, more importantly, lifestyle choices, if you don't know what the fuck my life is. But you know what?

That's what I like about the movie Fight Night, right? Because it seems like they show each character in the movie as a hero in their own story, but a villain in somebody else's. Yes. It's a duality. It's a super a villain in somebody else's. Yes. It's a super complicated narrative, which are my favorite kind because your protagonists, right? Your quote unquote heroes are very gray

and are very flawed, like in real life. And your antagonists are people that you root for. Those are my favorite kinds of narratives. I love that because we all know the world is not black and white, right? And so you're absolutely right. It's about complex people at a complex time. And that's really what the show was.

I'm going to ask, what makes things successful now? And before you do that, I just want the world to get to a better place of understanding. Like, stop taking the bait. It's bait. Bait is unnecessary. Like, if people really have problems they talk amongst themselves there are no conversations amongst themselves then it's not real problems yeah it's that simple no kevin's right i mean and kevin's big and a lot of us are on real interactions you know what i

mean and you got a lot of people out there right now they're trying to win the internet you know i just want to win the internet i got the most clicks i got the most likes and you know let's win real life let's focus on real things and so whatever conversation he may have i may have somebody else may have and it doesn't have to be for the internet what's the biggest thing you told me a while ago he said envy shut the fuck up well i'll tell you a lot Yo. In reality, like, I don't. I told you that because, and he's like, you're explaining yourself to who? Like, who's listening? By the way, I had conversations with this shit.

I was like, who you talking to? Like when you, there's nothing that annoys me more when people do this shit right here. here everybody been asking so let me go I'm saying the order you get you start to realize man like the other thing though box that matters and we obsess on the negative I hate to say that but you will be you'll post something and get a hundred positive comments man you walking

now you look good but it be three people that'll say something sideways and nobody's the one those will be the ones that you respond to that you obsess over that you focus on right not the other 100 there's not a bigger supporter for the movement of people doing good shit. And Monique, Lee Daniels, reconciling that relationship, however it happened, great.

Dope for them. Did a movie together after. Great story. Dope for them. I want to see more. Keep doing great shit. The conversation of anything else negative attached to a person's and their reservations and feelings to me.

I want to see nothing but good for all. Like, I would love to see us all win. I would love to see us all at a table where we all can do. If it happens, great. If it doesn't, I guess it wasn't meant to be. But you can't have a fucking stance of negativity and like also like a real fucking initiative to move forward and like motivate, inspire, create or do whatever. You can't be both. So it's either like you're one or the other.

And if you are part of creativity, inspiration, collaboration, motivation, connectivity, then that has to be it. And whatever you gather along the way and whoever you align yourself with along the way, well, y'all all a part of the same story. If things fall apart through the duration of, it wasn't meant to be on that train. Some people miss a train. It's just life. Some people don't make it in time to catch the train. And the train that's going to go is going

to go. Why do you think trains can't stop fast? They're moving. So either you're on the train or you're not. And if you didn't, catch the next train. That's life. I feel like we went back to the moon because it was, let me tell you something about my guy. My guy. You want to talk about

some impressive word salad. My guy Kevin, want to talk about some impressive word salad? My guy, Kevin, you're going to put some words on him. I'm going to put some words on him. 50% of them are going to make sense. What makes it successful? Because, you know, Hollywood didn't change. Before it was blockbuster movies. But now, I mean, there's so many other platforms

to put your movie on. So what is success for you now? But, you know, there's still quantitative metrics that they use to determine. Quantitative? I learned that at HBCU, brother. Just letting you know. He ain't never been.

I'm just, well, why is it? Because the reality is that you still have ways that you can determine how, you know, how many people watched it, if the audience was into it, if they were engaged. And that stuff is important. And so that is definitely a part of what we do. Honestly, though though right now it's about i just want people to feel stuff you know what i mean i want to feel like we're touching the culture you know i want to feel like whatever it is that we do we don't have people feeling like

we wasted their time that's that's the point that we have yeah we gotta get it we gotta get it do you have colors you like to use well i asked lee daniels as a producer. When I say colors, I mean like artists. Are there certain artists you like to use because they're like your muse? They help you paint the picture you want. That you would use within a piece? Kevin, why you sit back like that? This is a TV show or a film. Why you sit back like that?

What does that mean? What does that mean? Lee obviously is a director. I'm a producer. We're wrapping up now. Absolutely. I think that setting the talking about the people setting the mood and the theme thematically is very important to have first of all everybody be on the same page

about what the vision is going to be right and also to make sure that the ultimate vision fits the execution and so okay you know like for instance in fight night we wanted it to look a certain way, right? They coming to drag your ass out. Yeah, it's all good. Because you were late. You gotta do it. All right, come on. We're done. Okay. No, we're good. We're good. And real talk, we appreciate y'all.

Like, real talk, we appreciate you. The malleability, that's another word right there. Malleability. What does that mean? It means that they were flexible, that they worked with us. They weren't rigid with us. If you went to HBCU, you know what that means. Well, I'll tell you what. The HBCUs that you both went to are better without you.

Or three of us. I'll also say this. In conclusion, in conclusion, the big takeaways for audience are very simple, man. The first one, of course, is Fight Night. Now streaming on Peacock. Do yourself a service and us a favor. Go watch it. A very good fucking show.

An amazing story that I think should have been told a long time ago. But for the city of Atlanta that we all know and love, it's a great highlight of how Atlanta got to be what it is now. Understanding the early stages of it. Understanding the origin. For us all, especially people of color, culture, we need to know. It's a great story. Eight parts.

Eight part limit series. Three parts out right now. Dropping one per week. If you're like a lot of us, you're looking for what's that next series I can really get into and really get into the characters and follow it. It's really good. We're challenging you. Let this be your next series.

I would say that's thing one. Thing two, you know, guys, collaboration, egos, et cetera. Ask yourself, what version are you? What side are you on? Are you on the side of that or are you on the side of this? Pick one. Pick one and be that. Or identify what you are and make a change, right?

The other side, hey, man, this internet shit is getting out of control. It's over. It's fucking, like, is getting out of control. It's over. It's fucking like it's out of control just from an understanding of real versus not real reality and like false reality. Ask yourself, which version are you on? Are you clickbait? Are you fucking real? And for real relationships, there's real communication. Without that, nothing else matters. Nothing else matters. I didn't fucking not tell them to contact or not do. Hey, man, I'm going to push you back.

I'm fucked up. The false communication would be, I can't, man. Just do whatever. You figure out what it is and what. And then the relationship kind of falls apart based off of an idea that you are giving yourself a moment to create. Stop it. Let's get back to a place of understanding relationships. Relationship.

It's my fucking brother. And I love the fact that me and my brother are great examples of what dope relationships should be. We will continue to do what we do and we'll do it at a high level. And I can't wait for the world to see not only this but what the things in the future will be bam that's what i want you to do lastly i want everybody to vote that's the last thing i was saying i'll tell you to vote for but we will be remiss if we didn't get on this platform and say that is real it's real and these are challenging times make your voice heard one way or another it matters you can tell you it affects you

kamala harris i'm voting for kamala no question I appreciate that black man because we need more of us saying that's right but that's my choice that's what I choose to do He brought up the vote and he started cleaning up. He was like, all right, time to go. But you would agree to the point of vote, right, Kev? He would agree with that? I was like, man, that's the time I go. They're pulling me out of here. Thank you, family. We appreciate y'all. It's the Breakfast Club.

Good work, y'all. Wake that ass up in the morning. The Breakfast Club.