Comedian, Kevin Hart, normally always has the perfect thing to say. He’s usually well poised and easily one of America’s favorite comedians. However, according to some fans, he’s put his foot in his mouth with his response to the Starbucks arrest of two innocent Black men that went viral. This time, people didn’t think Kevin Hart was being funny.
No Laughing Matter, Hart Dragged For His Starbucks Comments:
Many people have expressed outrage and disappointment with Starbucks, after a video surfaced of two African-American men in handcuffs being led out of the Philadelphia coffee shop by police. The two men were simply waiting on a friend, when they were arrested on April 12th. The police were called when the men were waiting in the store, but had not made any purchases. While Starbucks declined to press charges, the damage was already done.
Because of the unjust arrest, many people called for a boycott of Starbucks and protests emerged with many people entering the store on Monday to call for the manager’s dismissal. On Twitter, the hashtag #BoycottStarbucks has been shared tens of thousands of times. Native Philadelphian Kevin Hart took to Twitter to share his thoughts on the matter as he disagreed with the Boycott:
“Let’s make one thing very clear….This is not a boycott
@Starbucks situation….This is horrible management. The manager on duty was wrong. It’s that simple…That’s who needs to take responsibility for this wrong doing.”
Let's make one thing very clear….This is not a boycott @Starbucks situation….This is horrible management. The manager on duty was wrong. It's that simple…That's who needs to take responsibility for this wrong doing.
— Kevin Hart (@KevinHart4real) April 15, 2018
In addition, Kevin Hart tweeted the Starbucks Philadelphia location and pleaded with them to make the situation “right”. If you’re a Kevin Hart fan, then you know he loves his city. Hart is always trying to bring attention to the positive things that occur within Philadelphia. Just recently, he went to visit Meek Mill in jail, who is also from Philadelphia. We all remember how good he felt when the Eagles won the super bowl. Kevin commented that Philly was “shining bright like a diamond” and it pained him to see his hometown in a negative light.
After Kevin Hart shared his thoughts, many of his followers gave him the side eye and even referred to him as an “Uncle Tom.” The comedian was also accused of giving Starbucks a pass because many people believed that he had a secret Starbucks endorsement deal, which has yet to be proven.
Fans React To Hart:
Really it’s always one- Uncle Tom in the bunch 👨🏽🌾
— idontplaygames (@ardeart1) April 15, 2018
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https://twitter.com/RevLeslye/status/985562701966577665
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https://twitter.com/MyArtemisArrows/status/985567342053617664
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Outrageous…they were detained until 2AM even after the DA refused to file charges! Starbucks “apology” was weak, especially since they actually train employees to NOT require a purchase for people at their establishment!! #BoycottStarbucks
— Susan Sanders (@wykedRN) April 16, 2018
Despite the harsh feedback that Kevin Hart received, he continued to tweet about Starbucks, expressing his disappointment with how the situation was handled. From the beginning, Kevin Hart shared that he believed that the person who made the error, in racial profiling African-American customers, should have been fired. However, when Starbucks CEO, Kevin Johnson, had a one-on-one with interview with Robin Roberts on “Good Morning America,” he didn’t mention that the employee should be fired (although it later surfaced that the Starbucks manager was, in fact, no longer employed by Starbucks). Johnson shared that the purpose of Starbucks is to create a warm, welcoming atmosphere for all and he also admitted that the Starbucks employee was wrong for calling the police. Although Johnson didn’t outright say that the employee’s actions were racist, he called her actions “reprehensible” and has apologized to to the 2 Black men and the public several times within five days, following the incident.
This really makes me sad… @Starbucks had a platform and a real opportunity @GMA to fix that situation correctly by calling it exactly what it was which was racial profiling/discrimination by the on duty manager. YOU FAILED …That person should have been FIRED. https://t.co/inweLlGu4q
— Kevin Hart (@KevinHart4real) April 16, 2018
As a result of the CEO’s lack of letting the public know at that time, that the manager was no longer employed with Starbucks though, Kevin Hart was then forced to justify some form of action. Expressing that he cares about people, Hart implored his fans to think about the number of minorities that are Starbucks employees. He also mentioned that a boycott could cause financial hardships for some families.
The last thing that I will say on this matter is..before we jump out the gate with anger sometimes it’s ok to think first…how many people of color are employed by that company? How many families are being taken care of because of the income that’s being provided by said company
— Kevin Hart (@KevinHart4real) April 16, 2018
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I was simply saying not to boycott before seeing what the company was going to do….after watching the interview that the CEO of @Starbucks did on @GMA I feel that they failed in doing what they should have done. Now actions can be taken…
— Kevin Hart (@KevinHart4real) April 16, 2018
Here’s How Starbucks Plans To Fix The Problem:
It s definitely getting hot in here as Starbucks is feeling the heat. To ensure that this problem never happens again, the company is closing its stores on the afternoon of Tuesday May 29, to conduct the massive ‘racial bias training’ at more than 8,000 Starbucks locations. The training will be geared toward preventing any form of racial discrimination in Starbucks locations. The CEO also met with the 2 Black men in private to apologize and ask them for any suggestions to help prevent this from happening in the future.
I gotta give it to Starbucks, in just five days, they’ve clearly put forth major effort to attempt to get this thing right. They immediately parted ways with that racist employee and devised a costly plan to ensure it doesn’t happen again. Many corporations (*cough H&M*) should take notes.
Let us know your thoughts on this one though ILOSM fam’: Y’all agree with Kevin Hart, or nah?
