Kevin Hart: ‘I’ll beat you by succeeding.’ + See His Rolling Stone Cover [Photos]

Starting off in comedy, working smaller and challenging venues:

I’ve been to some of the damnedest places for comedy. I performed in a place in Atlantic City called Sweet Cheeks. It was a male strip night, and some nights a female strip night, and in the middle they would stop the stripper show and have intermission, where as comedians it was our job to go up and make the people laugh. I performed at family dinners, family functions, like where you get there and you’re the entertainment for a household. You name it: All shots to my pride have been taken.

Not being bothered that he has yet to star in a particularly well-reviewed film:

I don’t give three sh*ts about critical consensus! I don’t even read reviews. The people that count are the people who go out and buy the tickets. They poll people afterward, and I get A’s. The worst score I ever got was a B, B-minus. When I get an F, that’s when I’ll take criticism.

Racism and the Baltimore riots:

I won’t acknowledge what I won’t let beat me. Have I experienced racism? Of course. But will I make you feel superior by saying I’ve felt trumped at times? No. I’ll beat you by succeeding. I want to show my generation that a man of color, despite the roadblocks, can still make it. There’s moments when I took to social media and said things, but it’s always been on the positive side. I gave a message to Baltimore: At the end of the day, we’re only hurting ourselves by destroying what we have. We have to go back and live there. We’re torching, firebombing, looting our stuff. We need that CVS! Be smarter than this!

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