Recently, comedic actor Kevin Hart defended Paula Deen, showing sympathy for her in light of the backlash she has received for admitting to the use of racial slurs. In the interview about Hart’s upcoming film Let Me Explain on Thursday, he was asked his opinion about the situation.
According to Omg! Yahoo!, Hart said, “The hammer that was dropped down on Paula Deen was like the hammer of all hammers.” He believes the backlash has been too harsh, as he added, laughing, “I'm a black man. I was one of the people that was offended when I heard it. It's too much. I think that she should be punished but you’re killing her right now.”
Hart has a point. Deen has been in the news for weeks, and she does not seem to be receiving a break from anyone, despite her public apologies for her behavior. She was once the queen of southern cooking, but she appears to be losing everything now. More than just the Food Network has dropped her. Thus far, Sears, K-Mart, and Wal-Mart have dropped her products, and The Inquisitr reports that she has lost multiple cookbooks that were being written with her publisher RandomHouse.
In a statement to HipHollywood, Hart also admitted, ““I feel sorry for her. I definitely think there should be consequences for her actions, but I think the consequences that were given to her were very severe. I think it’s too much.” So what do you think? Is Hart being too easy on the southern chef or is he just the first to finally cut her some much-needed slack?