In a special Red Table Talk episode that aired today, Kevin Hart and Will Smith came together for a candid conversation about their relationships with their fathers, blending families, and growing as parents over the years.
After exchanging jokes and reminiscing on their own upbringings, the Philly natives eventually segue into a conversation about Hart’s relationship with his oldest daughter, Heaven. “Having a little girl in my life is tough,” the star of the upcoming Netflix film Fatherhood shares as Smith nods in agreement. “You don’t realize the impact that your mistakes can truly have. When the kids get involved, it’s a different feeling, it’s a different opinion, it’s a different emotion.”
Hart doesn’t shy away from discussing his public fallouts with Smith or the burden of having to address them with his children. As someone who claims to not be easily bothered, the comedian admits, “When your child shows disappointment, shows emotion, shows I don’t understand why, and now you gotta have those conversations, well now the head drops for the first time. Now you realize that there’s a different emotional chord that can be pulled on you that nobody else has the privilege of ever touching – and my daughter touched on that chord,” Hart explains.
The father of four described the conversation with his oldest daughter as “one like no other” when news of him cheating on wife Eniko went public. “Getting my daughter back, getting my daughter to understand that I was sorry, that I made a mistake – that was real.” Hart says that to this day his daughter is “tough on me” and “don’t play no games with her father.”
After having conversations with Heaven about his delivery, hurtful jokes and controversial commentary, Hart says that his relationships have “improved” because he is “now aware of the sh-t that I could’ve done to bring havoc or bring problems.”