Age might be nothing but a number, but we have a feeling Kevin Hart will be less inclined to share his feelings about that number in the future.
On a recent episode of his new Peacock talk show Hart to Heart, the 42-year-old comedian welcomed Don Cheadle, and a clip from their chat went viral on Thursday, Aug. 12. In the footage, the interview appeared to go wildly off the rails for a moment after Don didn't appreciate the host's reaction to his age.
At one point, Don discussed the passage of time and said candidly, "And me, you know, I'm 56 years old..." This led Kevin to interrupt him by enthusiastically saying, "Damn!"
Immediately, the Hotel Rwanda performer went silent and appeared disgusted as he looked in Kevin's direction, leading to a moment where neither star was saying a word. Finally, Kevin spoke up by somberly offering, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry because it was a thought..."
Don looked at the ground before waving Kevin off with, "I don't care." But the Jumanji star continued his mea culpa, explaining, "It was a thought, and I blurted it out. I did not mean it that way."
Although Don assured him, "I'm fine," Kevin continued, "OK, but just understand I didn't mean it the way it came out."
However, at this, Don had to disagree. "We'll take a poll on how you meant it with people here later after the show's over's, but...," Don said sternly before trailing off.
As Don spoke, Kevin looked around the set as if trying to get someone on his crew to back him up. Kevin then shared, "I can sit up here and honestly say, buddy, that that was from a place of love."
Again, Don wasn't buying the explanation and seemed particularly irked when Kevin said "damn" again, which Don perceived to be said in a different way than the first time. "If we could play it back right now, these are two different 'damns,'" Don fired back. Yes, this is a real conversation that happened.
After a fan tweeted a snippet of the heated exchange, Kevin replied on Aug. 12 with, "Y'all gotta check out this interview in full," adding a number of laughing-with-tears emojis.
For his part, Don appeared to suggest on social media that it was all old news—or, uh, let's just call it water under the bridge. After a fan asked what "went through your mind" in the moment, the Space Jam: A New Legacy actor replied, "that @KevinHart4real and i need to do a movie together asap! i think this is my favorite interview ever. 'damn!'" Don also added a number of laughing-with-tears emojis.
New episodes of Hart to Heart launch Thursdays on Peacock.
(E! and Peacock are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)