Chris Rock did have one moment, though.
The Mark Twain Award this year.
If Trump wins, next year will be the Mark Fuhrman award, Rock said.
Kevin Hart receives The Kennedy Center’s Mark Twain Prize for American humorRoberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images
He also was among the comics who did a bit of roasting of Hart.
Look at that smile, Rock said.
You got that second wife happiness.
Kevin Hart with family at this year’s Mark Twain Prize ceremony at The Kennedy Center.Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP) (Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images
Hart, surrounded by his wife and kids, laughed.
They are not your peers.
You are better than all of them.
But you’re gonna wanna get out of their circle, and develop your own voice.
I swear to God, within 800 days, Kevin Hart was a bigger star than me.
He was taking parts from me.
He was in a movie with The Rock.
My last names Rock!
Adam Blackstone was the musical director.
Chelsea Handler riffed on Harts penchant for coming to her aid, telling her, I got you.
And then you’re able to count on never hearing from him again, she joked.
Like always, he delivered, she said.
I think its really positive.
One gig Hart did not do: The Oscars.
Sometimes its OK to take a step back and to be educated I got a crash course.
It was one that was necessary and needed.
Rutter said that in selecting Hart, We take it into consideration to say, Are we OK?
And certainly in the world of comedy there are always going to be time when people say things.
But that is what comedy is also about.
It makes us all laugh.
Sometimes it makes us feel a little itchy as well.
Rutter said that they had not gotten any pushback on the choice.
Not a single person, she said.
We try and understand all sides of a circumstance, and what individuals say, she said.
During the ceremony, there was no mention of the Oscars controversy.
Chappelle noted Harts rise from poverty and a difficult childhood.
And you remind me personally, every time I see, why I love comedy so much.
He gave a heartfelt tribute to Hart, before quipping, I am honored to know somebody like you.
I really wish you would have come when I won this award.
You did earn this, Chappelle said.
What you have done for this genre is unmistakeable.
For the first time in my life, I played arenas.
… And I would never play an arena before I saw you do it.
You made me dream bigger, and you are younger than me.
He also talked of how he fell in love with comedy.
I committed to comedy, he continued.
I committed to saying, Its either this or nothing else.
All my eggs are in this basket.
Whether it works or not, I am happy with my choice.
