Kevin Hart Calls Son's "Cowboys and Indians" Party Backlash "Dumb"

"It shows just how stupid our world is becoming with opinions," the actor fires back

By Zach Johnson Nov 28, 2018 5:30 PMTags

Recently, multiple social media users blasted Kevin Hart and his wife, Eniko Hart, over the theme of their son Kenzo Hart's birthday party: cowboys and Indians. Photos showed guests posing with teepees and blankets with traditional Native American prints, prompting critics to argue the theme was insensitive for its portrayal of American settlers' colonization of the West.

Kevin dismissed the backlash Wednesday on his SiriusXM show, Straight From the Hart. "She posts this picture, and the next day there's a lot of flak. You know, I don't go on this s--t; I don't read none of that, so she tells me [about it]," he said. "She's like, 'Yo, come look at this dumb s--t on TMZ. People are complaining about the cowboys and Indians party, saying it's insensitive."

Since he felt unfairly singled out, Kevin attempted to point out the hypocrisy in his critics' arguments. "Keep in mind, the same day the Cowboys played the Redskins on TV. It's a very known fact!" the Night School actor noted. "The Redskins and Cowboys played the same day!"

"The reason why I'm even bringing this dumb s--t up is because it shows just how stupid our world is becoming with opinions," Kevin complained. "People are at a point of an all-time high. To throw racial judgment into the development of a 1-year-old's birthday party where the theme is cowboys and Indians? It's based around the outfits that are given to the young kids!"

One of Kevin's Plastic Cup Boyz co-hosts took things to another level, telling the 39-year-old actor, "Somebody said, 'What if next year somebody throw a slave owner and a slave party?'"

"If you don't think there's neighborhoods where they play that game in certain white neighborhoods, then you're a f--king idiot," Kevin said. "You don't think they had dumbass games like that? As a kid, do we play cops and robbers? As a kid, did you play cowboys and Indians? When you were a child, if you go to stores, you go to look at paraphernalia. To be a cowboy, you're buying boots, you're buying a gun, you're buying a hat. Some even had a lasso."

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After one of Kevin's co-hosts reminded him the outrage was less about the cowboys and more about the Indians, the actor doubled down and said the kids at the party were merely recreating what they'd seen in movies, just as he once did. "As a kid, when you played these games, it was based off of the premise from a hypothetical place that was put into perception for movies," he said. "What I'm saying is this isn't something that just started. This isn't a racial slur that people are doing or being malicious with. This is a game that's been played for years."

"I'm about to be 40 years old. I remember at the age of 6, 7, playing these dumbass games," he added, seemingly getting more riled up in the moment. "I remember playing cops and robbers!"

Eniko, for her part, has not commented on the controversy. Before the backlash began, however, she bragged the party was "nothing but amazing" in one of her Instagram captions.