Jeff Ross on Kevin Hart Roast and His Favorite Cut Joke

It wouldn’t be a roast without the Roastmaster General.

Jeff Ross came out guns blazing at Netflix’s live skewering of Kevin Hart, the second installment in a series of “GOAT” roasts that was hosted by Shane Gillis. Former roastee Tom Brady, Dwayne Johnson, Katt Williams and more stars came to cut Hart down to size.

Dressed in a replica of Eddie Murphy’s red leather getup from “Delirious,” Ross needled Hart about going to a Diddy party, his “pieces of shit” movies and his upbringing.

“Your dad was a street hustler and addicted to crack cocaine,” Ross said. “So I guess being dependent on the Rock runs in the family.”

An admittedly hungover Ross called up Variety to break down the edgiest moments of the three-hour broadcast, the joke that didn’t make it to air and who he wants to roast next.

Where did you acquire the Eddie Murphy suit, and how much did you pay for it?

I wish I could say I called Eddie Murphy and said, “Do you have two that we could sew together?” My stylist, Roger Forker, has designed all my costumes for countless amounts of roasts. I don’t want to admit how many cows were killed for this roast.

Does anything actually hurt your feelings? When somebody says, “You look like the inside of a clam,” do you think about that when you’re brushing your teeth at night?

If the joke is funny and well-crafted, it doesn’t hurt my feelings. It makes me proud. If the joke flops, then I’m insulted. Like, write a better joke for me, I’m the Roastmaster!

You were in the bathroom when Kevin was roasting you. Could you hear it from backstage?

I was panicking because the bathroom next to my dressing room was locked. I thought I had it timed where I could make it back for that part of his speech. Imagine literally peeing while I’m hearing the audience laughing at jokes about me. It was one of the most surreal roast moments of my career.

I thought he might move on and come back to you.

I really did him dirty, and I did apologize at the after party. I should have been in my seat. But by the time he and the Rock plugged their tequila brands for the second time, I whispered to Pete Davidson and said, “All right, I’m going to pee.”

What is the vibe of the after party? Was everybody there?

I think everybody was there. The vibe was over the moon. Kevin seemed like he was on cloud nine. His wife, Eniko, really loved being in on it, and she was a great sport as well. What a way to spend Mother’s Day.

Did you sense any real tension between anyone at the roast?

The only real tension I felt was when Katt Williams appeared out of nowhere and started going in on Kevin. Kevin definitely looked a little tense, like these guys may not have seen each other for a long time. But Kevin asked for the hatchet to be buried, and immediately the tension turned into celebration.

Whose idea was it to bring Katt Williams into the roast? 

Kevin is a great comic, but he’s also a really smart producer. He loves to follow the discomfort. If something is making him uncomfortable, it’s going to be great TV. I would say it was a group brainstorm of who would be a funny person to bring into this thing, and Katt Williams was game. He came out with a cape, like a villain, and he left like a friend.

So had Kevin and Katt talked before they squashed their feud on live TV?

I don’t believe they actually talked until he came out on television.

Can you tell me a joke of yours that didn’t make it onto the roast?

One that I was saying all week that I wound up dropping was: Kevin, your dad sold crack, and you literally sell everything except crack. From his comedy to his tequila to his chain of vegan fast food restaurants, Kevin is always looking for new ways to make people throw up.

What was the hardest you laughed at last night?

Remind me of some of the moments. I literally just woke up a little hungover from the after parties.

At least inside the room, Sheryl Underwood crushed.

I remember at some point flapping on the floor when she was on — that’s how hard I was falling out of my chair. She had one of the best sets of the night. She’s a pro. I’ve worked with Sheryl my entire career. She used to walk onstage with her purse in her hand. We worked such dumps together, she didn’t trust the staff or the other comics with her purse in the back. She is the real deal.

Where does this roast rank in terms of crossing the line?

There were definitely some lines crossed. The jokes were super edgy — when Tom Brady came out and started talking about Kevin’s personal life right out of the gate, I thought, “This truly is a revenge roast.” That’s actually how I first approached Tom about it. We were at a party in Las Vegas, and I said, “Tom, we’ve got another one percolating.” He said, “I’m never coming back. Why would I come?” I said, “Revenge.” He goes, “Who you got?” His head tilted like a puppy waiting for a treat. I whispered, “Kevin Hart.” And his next question was, “When?” He needed a reason to come back. Those jokes were super edgy, and I could feel the tension in the room. Even though it was funny, there was a realness to it.

Which topics were actually off limits? People made references to his kids being off limits, but was his affair considered off limits?

People always ask what’s off limits, what’s not off limits. Kevin never once said to me, “Please don’t do this, please don’t do that.” For me, there’s a sportsmanship to it — I want to scratch the skin, but I don’t want to break it. Nothing was off limits. I don’t think there was a single topic from Kevin’s life that didn’t get brought up. It’s really just a question of how overt you want to be. Do you want to be subtle, or do you want to smash them over the head with a dollhouse? I don’t know how anyone could look at the roast and call it watered down.

There are always some non-comedians on the dais who may not be as prepared to take the heat. Do you give people advice on how to handle it?

I always say, “If you’re having fun, everybody will have fun.” 

The show is very tightly produced. There are, of course, writers and rehearsals. How do you balance that with the element of surprise?

I have to give a lot of credit to my partner Casey Patterson, who is really good at not just convincing big stars like Teyana Taylor and Usher to do these roasts, but also keeping it from the guest of honor so that when they come out, it’s an authentic surprise. She’ll put fake names on dressing room signs, the scripts don’t circulate to the entire staff, the crew doesn’t read the comics’ material. I don’t know what Chelsea [Handler]’s speech is going to be, and she doesn’t know mine. Kevin doesn’t really know what’s coming from anybody. That keeps it real. You are genuinely messing with somebody live on television. There’s a lot that goes into that side of it, and I’m always surprised.

There were a lot of times where people would skip a joke they had on the teleprompter. What goes into the decision to edit yourself in real time?

I’m careful not to let that happen, because I hate going, “Skip it.” It looks so written. But sometimes in a live show it’s inevitable that people want to improvise. Or maybe the joke is too similar to a joke that was made earlier in the night and it doesn’t seem funny anymore. Or, sometimes the non-comics get cold feet on a certain joke.

Honestly, the most important job on that entire show is probably the teleprompter operators. That is a high-wire act. You’ve got all sorts of deliveries — some people are mumbling, some are rushing — and those operators stay right with us the whole time. It’s remarkable.

Why was Tiffany Haddish on the dais but not even referenced in the roast?

I invited Tiffany. She’s a good friend of mine. She’s co-starred with Kevin a couple of times. We just wanted to populate the dais with his friends and make him feel comfortable. I wanted him to feel like Frank Sinatra surrounded by the Rat Pack.

No one really went after Regina Hall. Was she a last-minute addition, or was she off limits?

No, nothing was off limits. She came in like the day before, so people weren’t thinking about roasting her leading up to it. She essentially got a free pass, I guess, which is a pretty strategic move. 

Do you think the political climate influences the type of comedy we see on screen? It was pretty edgy last night, and I wonder if we would have seen this type of roast with this lineup of comics a handful of years ago.

I think comedy is just bigger. Netflix takes it global in a way nobody could have predicted. There isn’t a country in the world where I can’t go without someone saying, “Hey, I saw you on the Tom Brady roast.” The art form has become truly international, and I think the roasts reflect that.

But they reflect more than just comedy — it’s the political climate and our sensibilities around what’s funny. Last night there were jokes about very provocative subjects, handled by professionals. It was a real testament to free speech, because people were saying whatever they wanted. That wasn’t just the conservative white guys — that was the liberals too. And sometimes you can’t even tell who’s who, and that’s when jokes have the most impact. 

Is it difficult to get somebody like Tom Brady in the hot seat again? Will you be able to get another “GOAT” in a couple of years?

I think so. Kevin doing it opens it up to almost anybody who is at the top of their game and wants to show the world they’re a good sport. It humanized even Kevin, whom we feel like we know everything about. It made him show some vulnerability by laughing at himself. A lot of celebrities could use that kind of injection of laughter into their career.

Who do you want to roast next?

A pop star or a rock star would be great. A rapper would be great. I could see Drake getting roasted and being a great one. One of my all-time favorite ideas is Stevie Wonder. I always say “The Roast of Stevie Wonder: You’ve got to hear it to believe it.”