Key Takeaways

• Kevin Hart offered "an olive branch" to Katt Williams during Netflix’s "The Roast of Kevin Hart," asking to move past their years-long feud.
• Williams appeared as a roaster, delivered jokes about Hart, then sealed the moment with a handshake and hug.
• Their reconciliation follows nearly a decade of public tension, including past interviews and accusations about industry favoritism.

Kevin Hart and Katt Williams may have finally closed the chapter on one of comedy’s longest-running feuds — and they did it in front of a packed crowd during Netflix’s “The Roast of Kevin Hart.”

The surprise moment happened Sunday night (May 10) at Los Angeles’ Kia Forum during Netflix Is a Joke Festival 2026, where Williams unexpectedly appeared as one of the evening’s roasters. While the veteran comic didn’t ease up on the jokes, the night ultimately turned into something bigger than another round of public jabs.

After the Ohio native wrapped up his set, Hart addressed the tension between them head-on. “Me and this man have been at odds for years on years,” Hart told the crowd. “You coming out here, quite the f**king surprise. But Katt, I can sit, I can watch you, I can laugh because I’m a f**king fan first. I’m a fan first. Katt, we have an opportunity in real time. This is live television to put our f**king beef behind us. I am offering you an olive branch of peace. I wanna be a brother. I wanna be a friend. Katt, I wanna move on. Can we move on, man? Can we move on?”

Williams responded by walking over to embrace Hart with a handshake and hug as the audience erupted in applause, creating one of the biggest moments of the roast.

Katt Williams still came with jokes at “The Roast of Kevin Hart”

Even with peace seemingly on the table, Williams didn’t hold back during his appearance. He joked about being invited despite their history and continued taking playful shots at Hart throughout his set. “I’m surprised they invited me,” the 54-year-old said, per Variety. “That’s how little star power you have. They had to start inviting your enemies. I said, ‘I hate him.’ They said, ‘Come anyway.’”

The comedian also revisited his past claims that Hart took movie roles he allegedly passed on, while Hart later used his closing set to respond directly to those accusations. “Katt said tonight that I took all his movies that he turned down. All right, let’s unpack it,” the Philly native joked. “Katt, you’re telling me you turned down Jumanji 1, 2, 3, Ride Along 1, 2, Central Intelligence, Think Like a Man 1, 2, The Upside, About Last Night, Me Time, Borderlands, The Man from Toronto? So you could do a cameo in Norbit? What the f**k are you telling me? Katt, you can’t be in my f**king movies. You think they want a f**king pimp in Jumanji?”

Even while firing back with jokes of his own, Hart made it clear he was ready to leave the tension in the past. “It’s not good for all these white people to see two Black people fighting. We’re too small to have the beef that we had,” he continued. “So Katt, it’s over. The beef is over between me and Katt. And on a serious note, I love the fact that that man showed up tonight. He showed out.”

Inside Kevin Hart and Katt Williams’ longtime feud

Hart and Williams have traded public shots for nearly a decade. Their issues date back to at least 2016, when Williams criticized Hart’s rise in comedy and referred to him as a “puppet.” Things escalated again in 2018 after Williams made comments about Tiffany Haddish, who starred alongside Hart in Night School.

The tension resurfaced in a major way in 2024 during Williams’ viral “Club Shay Shay” interview, where he accused the 46-year-old of being an industry plant and taking projects from him. Despite that, Hart later revealed on Carmelo Anthony’s “7PM in Brooklyn” podcast that the two had privately spoken and started moving toward a better place.

“The Roast of Kevin Hart,” hosted by Shane Gillis, featured appearances from stars including Regina Hall, Tiffany Haddish, Tom Brady, Chelsea Handler, Pete Davidson, Venus and Serena Williams, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Usher, Teyana Taylor, and Lizzo. The live special also marked Netflix’s latest major celebrity roast following 2024’s “The Greatest Roast of All Time: Tom Brady.”