The Oscars may have snubbed Kevin Hart over a past joke that offended LGBT people, but he gets the last laugh. According to Forbes, the “Jumanji” star is now the second-highest-paid comedian in the world behind none other than Jerry Seinfeld.
“Though Seinfeld is on top, Hart certainly gave him a run for his money,” reports Forbes. “The pint-sized powerhouse ranks second with $57 million, only $500,000 behind Seinfeld. The Kevin Hart Irresponsible Tour, which was the biggest comedy tour of 2018, topped 1 million tickets sold and banked Hart more than $30 million. He also starred in the wildly successful Jumanji remake, which grossed nearly $1 billion worldwide.”
Jerry Seinfeld, the indisputable King of Comedy, earned $57.5 million before taxes and fees in 2018, much of which stems from multimillion-dollar dividends from his 2017 Netflix deal and Hulu’s streaming rights of all nine seasons of his hit 90’s sitcom “Seinfeld.” He has held the top spot since 2006, with the exception of 2016 when the spot went to none other than Kevin Hart.
The number 3 spot goes to Dave Chapelle at $35 million, followed closely by Chris Rock at $30 million, and Ricky Gervais at $25 million. The full list:
10. Sebastian Maniscalco
Earnings: $15 million
9. Jeff Dunham
Earnings: $16.5 million
8. Jim Gaffigan
Earnings: $17.5 million
7. Terry Fator
Earnings: $18 million
6. Gabriel Iglesias
Earnings: $20.5 million
5. Ricky Gervais
Earnings: $25 million
4. Chris Rock
Earnings: $30 million
3. Dave Chappelle
Earnings: $35 million
2. Kevin Hart
Earnings: $57 million
1. Jerry Seinfeld
Earnings: $57.5 million
Two weeks ago, Kevin Hart stepped down from hosting the Oscars over old jokes that were offensive to the LGBT community, most of them revolving around his fear about his son becoming gay. As the backlash online mounted, the Academy demanded that Hart publicly apologize or face firing; hours later, he declined that apology and announced he would be stepping down.
“I chose to pass. I passed on the apology,” said Hart in an Instagram video. “The reason why I passed is because I’ve addressed this several times. This is not the first time this has come up. I’ve addressed it. I’ve spoken on it. I’ve said where the rights and wrongs were. I’ve said who I am now versus who I was then. I’ve done it. I’ve done it. I’m not going to continue to go back and tap into the days of old when I moved on. I’m in a completely different space in my life.”
The Academy has since been scrambling to find a solution following the Hart fiasco. Reports indicate that the Academy is considering forgoing an Oscars host entirely in 2019.
Hart is certainly no friend to political correctness and has even taken his own share of heat from social justice warriors for not living according to their preferred script. After hosting a “Cowboys and Indians”-themed birthday party for his son recently, SJWs denounced him as insensitive; Hart said the outrage showed “just how stupid our world is becoming.”
“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,” Hart said on SiriusXM. “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, and it’s based around the outfits that are given to these young kids.”