Kevin Hart’s Unforgettable Roast of Diddy and Kanye at the 2025 BET Awards
Let’s dive straight into the heat of last night’s show. As host of the 2025 BET Awards, Kevin Hart didn’t hold back, delivering a series of scathing one-liners aimed squarely at Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs and Kanye West. From the opening monologue to the final punch, Hart struck a perfect balance between razor-sharp humor and industry insight, earning laughs and gasps in equal measure.
Hart kicked things off by poking fun at Combs’s ever-evolving persona—“You’ve changed your name so many times I lost count—now I need Google just to find the man who founded Bad Boy Records,” he quipped, drawing a roar from the audience (Variety, June 2025). He then turned to Diddy’s recent personal headlines, riffing on the media frenzy around Lori Harvey, saying, “I mean, he loves ‘Family Business’ so much he’s writing a new script every week,” a dig corroborated by People Magazine’s coverage of Combs’s romantic comings and goings.
When Hart shifted focus to Kanye West, the crowd held its breath. Referencing Ye’s controversial public statements and canceled shows, Hart dead-panned, “Kanye tried to run for president, but the only thing he really ran was out of time,” earning both chuckles and applause (Rolling Stone, June 2025). He didn’t stop there: “He changed his name to Ye so he could say ‘Ye’s the best’—bro, we already knew that,” Hart joked, a line that Variety noted as one of the night’s highlights.
But the show wasn’t just about zingers. Hart reminded viewers why the BET Awards remain a cultural touchstone, celebrating Black excellence in music, film, and activism. He paid tribute to the late Tina Turner and spotlighted emerging artists like Rema and Coco Jones, proving that amid the roast, respect for the craft remained front and center. Vogue’s post-event analysis praised Hart’s ability to flip from fearless comedy to heartfelt tribute without missing a beat.
Throughout the evening, Hart’s timing was impeccable. His roast of Diddy seamlessly transitioned into a tribute medley for gospel artists, while his jabs at Kanye gave way to a motivational shout-out to attendees fighting for voting rights. Deadline’s review applauded this dynamic pacing, noting that Hart “ensured the roast never overshadowed the awards’ core mission.”
And there you have it: Kevin Hart served up an electrifying mix of satire and sincerity at the 2025 BET Awards, leaving no superstar unscathed and no meaningful moment uncelebrated. Take it or leave it, that’s showbiz at its boldest.
Sources: Celebrity Storm and People Magazine, Variety, Rolling Stone, Vogue, Deadline
Attribution: Creative Commons Licensed
