Kevin Hart has revealed how his teenage daughter reacted to him cheating on her stepmom, his wife Eniko Parrish. The 41-year-old comedian shared Heaven’s candid response during a special Father’s Day, June 20 episode of Red Table Talk, which was hosted by his buddy Will Smith.
When the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air star asked him how he addressed his public mistakes with his kids, Kevin admitted that it was a humbling experience when his firstborn voiced her disapproval of him.
“I can say, having a little girl in my life, it’s tough. 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,” said Kevin who has four kids ranging in ages from 8 months to 16.
“Through my public debacles; I’ve got on some armor dude. It’s very hard to shoot through this… It’s very hard to bother me… But when your child shows disappointment, shows emotion, shows ‘I don’t understand why.’ And you gotta have those conversations, well now your head drops for the first time and now you realize a different emotional chord can be pulled on you that nobody else has the privilege of ever touching.
“And my daughter touched on that chord. When me and my wife went through what we went through and the whole cheating display, my talk with Heaven, goddamn… that was one like no other. Getting my daughter back, getting my daughter to understand that I was sorry that I made a mistake. That was real, to understand that I’m still Dad.”
“Every child has an internet,” he added. “There’s nothing that you’re going to come across that you’re going to read that isn’t going to have an impression. A child? Everything has a meaning. My daughter was tough on… until this day my daughter is tough on me. My daughter don’t play no games with her father, man.”
In 2017 Kevin publicly apologized to his family for cheating on Eniko when she was pregnant. The couple has since been able to move on from the scandal, raising their two children – a son, Kenzo, 3, and baby girl, Kaori – along with Heaven and Hendrix, 13, from his first marriage to his ex, Torrei.
Kevin told Will, 52, his infidelity wasn’t the only controversy that his daughter was concerned about. The teen also reacted to him being called homophobic after past hurtful tweets and comments resurfaced and led to him quitting the 2019 Oscars hosting gig.
“My daughter was so upset because she couldn’t process how people could think this about her father,” he said, after saying the backlash was a “misconception” of him. “It was so tough because this is when I started to realize how my fame has an impact on my household…”
Red Table Talk usually airs on Facebook Watch on Wednesdays at 12pm ET/9am PT. Will’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, daughter Willow and mother-in-law Adrienne Banfield-Norris are the regular hosts. You can see the full Father’s Day episode above.