He recently made headlines after dropping his daughter off at college. A few days before that, he landed himself in a wheelchair after tearing muscles in his abdomen while racing a friend. He’s also in commercials for everything from tequila to casinos to credit cards. I met Hart when he was visiting his former high school in Philadelphia to talk about the importance of financial literacy.
JK: We are sitting in a classroom in your old school what does it mean to you to be back?
KH: You know what it’s beyond amazing. A lot of good things happened to me at this high school a lot of great relationships were made… It’s pretty dope.
JK: Go back to you being 18 years old in 1997, you’re getting ready to graduate from high school. Did you ever think you would be where you are now?
KH: Absolutely not. I would love to sit up here and tell you, ‘yes I had it all figured out. I knew it. I was destined to do and be.’ But, the opportunity was luck the success after the opportunity was not. Now when I look at where I am now, well I took advantage of the opportunity that came after because I really said, I’m going to give 100% to something for the first time in my life.
JK: You have certainly paid your dues.
KH: There are lessons in every mistake.
JK: Someone once threw a piece of chicken at you when you were doing stand-up! If you could go back and tell your younger self something in those days, what would it be?
KH: The first thing I would’ve said is “duck!!!” That’s the first thing, because I saw it coming. That’s a true story and I just let it connect. I don’t know why I didn’t move, I think it was a shock factor that they actually threw it! The point is that these bad things happen. The message to my younger self would have been, to do exactly what you did then, which is stay in it. As I grew in comedy I found opportunities that could become parallel to what I was doing. So that’s when the world of business started, producing, writing, directing, and investing.
JK: With cancel culture and sensitivity at an all-time high, how tough is it to be a comedian?
KH:As a comedian you adjust and you move on. It’s been something that I’ve stopped feeding into and paying attention to a long time ago.
What you don’t like, you don’t have to watch. Nobody forces you to watch or laugh.
JK: You have said that out of all of the accomplishments in your life, your daughter asking to learn the business from you was the biggest ever…
KH: The biggest thing ever. There’s nothing better. Nothing bigger. You know, just being interested in wanting to understand what her father does, not just in front of the camera but behind, there’s no better compliment. Definitely my proudest moment.
Instagram: @kevinhart4real