Lil Rel Calls Out Comedy's Double Standard After George Floyd Roast Joke

When a joke lands on stage at a roast, the room’s reaction speaks volumes. But sometimes what doesn’t happen in that room says even more.

Lil Rel, the stand-up comic and actor, took to Instagram on Tuesday morning to voice his disgust over a George Floyd reference made by Tony Hinchcliffe during The Roast of Kevin Hart, which aired on Netflix over the weekend. The moment in question: Hinchcliffe told Hart that“the Black community is so proud of you… right now George Floyd is looking up at us all laughing so hard he can’t breathe.”It’s a punchline built on one of America’s most tragic deaths—and one that went unchecked by an audience that had no problem booing other targets throughout the night.

What struck Lil Rel, and what he wanted everyone else to notice, was the stark hypocrisy. The crowd had readily booed NBA player Draymond Green multiple times during the roast. But when Hinchcliffe made his George Floyd joke—described as“needless”by Lil Rel—there was silence. No pushback. No objection. Just acceptance of a punchline about a man who died at the hands of police, a moment that sparked a national reckoning on race and justice less than six years ago.

This isn’t even Hinchcliffe’s first rodeo with Floyd material. At the Tom Brady roast, he joked that Rob Gronkowski“looked like the final boss in George Floyd the video game.”Two roasts. Two jokes. And apparently, no lesson learned.

The family and friends of George Floyd are understandably furious—not just at Hinchcliffe, but at Kevin Hart for not steering Tony away from the subject matter. There’s also the ripple effect that doesn’t make headlines: Gianna Floyd, George’s daughter, is now 12 years old. She was only 6 when her father died. According to a representative from The Gianna and George Floyd Foundation, she’s being bullied in school. The jokes aren’t just offensive; they have consequences in real life.

Lil Rel’s Instagram post wondered aloud what he would have done had he been in that room. He’s pretty sure he already knew the answer. The real question now is whether Tony Hinchcliffe will address the backlash, or whether this becomes another moment where the room goes silent.