Wanda Sykes Reveals Why She Turned Down Kevin Hart’s Netflix Roast & What Bill Maher Had To Say About Her Golden Globes Joke
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- Wanda Sykes revealed on Vulture's Good One podcast that Kevin Hart personally called her to appear on Netflix's The Roast of Kevin Hart, but she declined, telling him 'it's not your thing.'
- Wanda Sykes criticized the three-hour Hart Roast as 'lazy writing' featuring 'recycled sexist, racist, gay jokes' and said she opted to attend a Los Angeles Sparks game instead.
- The Kevin Hart Roast was held last month at the Kia Forum, hosted by Shane Gillis, and featured Tony Hinchcliffe, whose jokes about lynching and slavery drew live pushback from Chelsea Handler, Sheryl Underwood, and Pete Davidson.
- Wanda Sykes recounted that Bill Maher confronted her after the 2026 Golden Globes about her joke — 'You give us so much. But I would love a little less. Just try less' — and she told him he was 'epitomizing the joke' by complaining.
- Sykes said Maher told her he was receiving texts calling the bit 'stupid,' and she fired back with her own texts from people who 'don't like you' and found the joke 'really funny.'
- Sykes closed the anecdote by drawing a political-media divide — 'You're watching Fox News, and I'm over here on MSNBC' — and revealed she turned down Maher's subsequent podcast invitation.
- The podcast appearance is tied to the release of Sykes' seventh Netflix standup special, Legacy.
Why it matters: Sykes' public rejection of the Hart Roast and her viral Golden Globes takedown of Maher position her as an established comic openly criticizing both the provocative direction of mainstream comedy roasts and late-night bombast, generating buzz for her new Netflix special 'Legacy' while underscoring a generational and ideological split in standup.
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