Kevin Hart sparks backlash after making comment about Timothee Chalamet's body
Topics: Kevin Hart, Timothee Chalamet
William Morgan
Featured Image Credit: Michael Kovac/Getty Images for AFI
Topics: Kevin Hart, Timothee Chalamet
Comedian Kevin Hart has landed himself in hot water after making a particularly brutal jab about Timothee Chalamet's body on a recent podcast appearance.
The 46-year-old stand-up comic was only doing what he does best, improvising a funny roast off the top of his head, when he made the comment about Oscar-nominated Chalamet on the Call Me Daddy podcast.
Host Alex Cooper set Hart up for failure when she asked him to 'do a quick, rapid-fire roast of some celebrities', in order to promote his upcoming Netflix special The Roast of Kevin Hart.
Cooper tried to keep it light, telling the comedian 'it could be one-liners—like this is all fun games, no one’s going to get their feelings hurt,' before setting him loose on his first improvise target, the 30-year-old Marty Supreme actor.
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"Timothee Chalamet..." Hart said on the podcast as he pondered his roast, before blurting out: "Uh, the body of a German woman."
This description made the comedian laugh, but oddly, Cooper kept a straight face at this body shaming of the Oscar-nominated heartthrob. Presumably she thought this insult was not 'all fun and games' as described.
Hart managed to recover from this awkward moment however, making the Call Me Daddy host crack up as he tore into Elon Musk, Nick Cannon, Patrick Mahomes, Bruno Mars and Robert Pattinson.
But the reactions from fans of the Call Me By Your Name actor showed that Hart had touched a nerve with some, with social media users branding his comments 'cringe' and his whole roast 'not funny'.
This is perhaps because of some of Chalamet's own comments in the past about body shaming he has experienced during his career.
In an interview with Rolling Stone in 2024, Chalamet shared his struggle, saying: “I would always get the same feedback, ‘Oh, you don’t have the right body.'
“I had an agent call me once and say, ‘I’m tired of getting the same feedback. We’re gonna stop submitting you for these bigger projects, because you’re not putting on weight.’ I was trying to put on weight. I couldn’t! I basically couldn’t. My metabolism or whatever the f--- couldn’t do it.”
His frustrations meant he could not land big roles, or as he put it, 'I was knocking on one door that wouldn’t open.' But when one door closes, another opens.
This inability to make it in the mainstream due to his skinny body type pushed Chalamet to seek out more unique roles in indie films. This move would make his whole career.
“So I went to what I thought was a more humble door, but actually ended up being explosive for me,” he told the publication, in reference to the runaway success of Call Me By Your Name.
Though, his weight has continued to be something of an issue. The star told NPR that he even had to put on mass to play famously lanky Bob Dylan, saying: "I put on 20 pounds because, believe it or not, I was thinner than the guy."
Hart and Chalamet's representatives have been approached for comment.