Minneapolis community leaders, activists, and civil rights attorneys held a press conference to condemn a joke about George Floyd’s murder that aired during a Netflix roast hosted by Kevin Hart.
Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe made the offensive remark, saying George Floyd is “looking up at us” and “can’t breathe,” sparking immediate backlash from the community still grieving nearly six years after his death.
Nikima Levy Armstrong, a civil rights attorney and founder of the Racial Justice Network, opened the press conference with a powerful statement about the impact of the joke on Minneapolis residents.
“An egregious, disgusting joke was made about George Floyd. Here we are about to memorialize George Floyd for year six after his brutal murder at the hands of the Minneapolis Police Department. Our community is still experiencing grief and trauma. We have young people in our community who were children at the time. They’re now teenagers still dealing with the impacts of the police killing of George Floyd. And instead of allowing our community to grieve in peace, to celebrate George Floyd in peace, we have Netflix comedians making light of the brutal killing of George Floyd. It is unacceptable and it is unconscionable,” Armstrong said.
The coalition of community organizations demanded multiple forms of accountability. They called for a direct public apology from Tony Hinchcliffe to George Floyd’s family and to the Minneapolis community.
They also demanded that Kevin Hart, who produced the special, speak out and take responsibility for allowing the joke to air. Netflix faced calls to remove the offensive content from the roast entirely.
Monnique Colors Dodie, co-founder of Black Lives Matter Minnesota, connected the joke to historical patterns of racism and white supremacy.
She drew parallels between the Netflix roast and minstrel shows, explaining how the format has been used for centuries to demean Black people.
“What we saw in this Netflix special honoring Kevin Hart was a white man, Tom, whoever came onto a black man’s platform to insult him. And Kevin Hart accepted it,” she said, questioning why Hart would invite someone with a documented history of making racist jokes to perform on his platform.
John Thompson, a former state legislator and friend of Philando Castile, brought the emotional weight of lived experience to the press conference.
“I’m standing here today as a resident, not only as a resident of the state of Minnesota, but also as someone who watched this city suffer from grief, suffer, and we grieved and we we we fought and we tried to heal post George Floyd after the murder of George Floyd,” Thompson said. “And what happened to George Floyd May 25th, I mean, it wasn’t a joke. It was a human being on the ground crying for mama in front of the entire world.”
The press conference also highlighted a double standard in how Netflix handles controversial content.
Speakers noted that jokes about Melania Trump were edited out of the roast, while jokes calling Black women derogatory names were allowed to air.
This inconsistency raised questions about Netflix’s priorities and values.
Community members called for a boycott of the Netflix special until the offensive content is removed.
The press conference represented a unified stand from Minneapolis organizations, including Black Lives Matter Minnesota, the Racial Justice Network, Communities United Against Police Brutality, and others.
Their message was clear: George Floyd’s memory deserves respect, and the community will not accept the commodification of Black death for entertainment and profit.