EXCLUSIVE: After executive producing and co-hosting The Greatest Roast of All Time: Tom Brady, Netflix‘s first-ever live roast, which broke out as one of the major cultural moments of its year, Kevin Hart is set to get roasted himself during a live, televised ceremony on Sunday, May 10 — the final night of Netflix Is a Joke Fest 2026.
Shane Gillis, another of today’s preeminent comics, is set to preside over the ceremony as host. Once again, it’ll take place live at The Kia Forum in Los Angeles, with Hart exec producing alongside Casey Patterson through Casey Patterson Entertainment, Jeff Ross, Amy Zvi, and Hart. This time around, Hart’s manager Dave Becky is also exec producing.
Hart hosted the 2024 roast of Brady alongside “Roastmaster General” Jeff Ross. Taking retired NFL star Tom Brady as its subject, the special established itself as one of Netflix’s most successful events to date in the live space with two million viewers tuning in on night one, alone. Within its first full week, the roast exploded to 1.67 billion minutes viewed, beating major series like Grey’s Anatomy and Bluey to top Nielsen’s overall streaming rankings.
Dominating the pop culture conversation for weeks in a way few comedy specials do, Netflix’s inaugural roast spent three weeks in the Global Top 10, reaching the Top 10 in 49 countries, and has gone on to bring in 26M views all time, ensuring the return of the format. The roast was so impactful that it helped boast Nikki Glaser into the A-list with her roast of Brady, with the likes of Kim Kardashian, Peyton Manning, and Ben Affleck also participating.
To be sure, Hart is a bit of a safe choice as a roastee, on the heels of Brady, who in the aftermath of his roast, went on podcast The Pivot and said he “wouldn’t do that again” out of concern for the impact on “the people that I care about the most,” including his children.
By contrast, Hart knows what to expect. As previously alluded to, he’s already in the fold of the Netflix roast as an EP and has plenty of experience with the format. He served as Roast Master for the Comedy Central Roast of Justin Bieber back in 2015, and more recently, was roasted ahead of receiving the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2024 — the same year the roast of Brady took place.
In any case, there will be plenty to say when it comes to the entertainment powerhouse who, over the course of his decades-long career, has gone from stand-up and movie star to media mogul.
The roast aside, Hart will be participating in Netflix Is a Joke Fest via his comedy competition series Funny AF, which begins streaming April 20, with taped episodes leading up to the live semi-finals and finale as part of the festival on May 4th & 5th. He is repped by WME, 3 Arts, and Schreck Rose Dapello.
Building up this year to his biggest show yet as a solo headliner — a one-night-only homecoming show at Lincoln Financial Field on July 17, in front of more than 60,000 fans — Gillis is also set to headline “Shane Gillis & Friends” for Netflix Is a Joke Fest at the Hollywood Bowl on May 4th. He is repped by CAA, Range Media Partners, and Yorn, Levine, Barnes.
The third iteration of Netflix Is a Joke Fest is set to take place across Los Angeles from May 4-10.
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