Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Netflix
George Floyd’s family is tying the Minnesota GOP’s recent decision to honor murderer Derek Chauvin to Netflix’s The Roast of Kevin Hart. The Kevin Hart roast featured a joke about Floyd being in hell from controversial comedian Tony Hinchcliffe.
On May 31, delegates at the Minnesota GOP’s state convention held a moment of silence for Derek Chauvin — the former Minneapolis police officer convicted of murdering George Floyd in 2020. The tribute drew widespread backlash and has led to the Floyd family partially pinning the blame on Kevin Hart.
“The Black community is so proud of you… right now George Floyd is looking up at us all laughing so hard he can’t breathe,” Hinchcliffe said during the roast.
Tony Hinchcliffe made a WILD George Floyd joke while roasting Kevin Hart 💀
“The Black community is so proud of you… right now George Floyd is looking up at us all laughing so hard he can’t breathe.” pic.twitter.com/33T2anzhja
— Killa 🌺 (@KillaKreww) May 11, 2026
George Floyd’s family partially blames Tony Hinchcliffe’s joke at Kevin Hart’s roast for the recent Minnesota GOP tribute to murderer Derek Chauvin
Travis Cains, spokesman for The Gianna and George Floyd Foundation, told TMZ the family views the Chauvin tribute as a consequence of the normalization of jokes about Floyd’s death, such as the one told at Kevin Hart’s roast.
“To put a guy on the pedestal and hold a moment of silence for him is insane. The whole world knows that the public lynching of George Floyd was tragic,” Cains said, adding that the family believe the joke “opened up doors for more racism.”
In the wake of the backlash, Hart has denied any responsibility for Hinchcliffe’s joke, while also defending the comedian’s set.
Derek Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer, was convicted of second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter in April 2021 for the death of George Floyd on May 25, 2020. Floyd died after Chauvin knelt on his neck for over nine minutes during an arrest outside a Minneapolis convenience store. He was sentenced to 22.5 years in prison and is currently serving his sentence.