Kevin Hart the Olympian? Comic jokes he’ll start training after network’s photo flub
Comedian Kevin Hart says he’s ready to lace up and “race anybody in the world” after NBC News mistakenly ran his photo alongside a headline announcing Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt’s coronavirus diagnosis.
Hart offered a lighthearted response to the photo flop and said he planned to take full advantage of being named the “fastest man alive.”
“I must of gotten really fast & tall overnight,” the comedian wrote on Instagram. “I want to take advantage of this moment & race anybody in the world. We can bet whatever. [Expletive] just got real.”
Hart, who’s expecting his second child with wife Eniko Hart, joked that he was calling it quits on comedy “due to my Olympic training schedule.”
“P.S. this is Disrespectful on so many levels,” he added, referring to the mixup. “All you can do is laugh. Maybe the Covid 19 shrunk his legs & torso.”
On Tuesday, NBC News reported that Bolt had tested positive for COVID-19 after throwing a large birthday bash for himself where few guests were wearing masks. The Olympic sprinter, who holds the world record in the 100m and 200m run, quarantined at home as he awaited his test results Monday.
The outlet issued a correction about two hours after the initial article featuring Hart ran online.
“A previous version of this article included an incorrect photo on some platforms due to a technical problem,” the correction reads. “The photo depicted actor Kevin Hart. It has been replaced with a photo of Usain Bolt.”
While the comic was able to laugh off the photo flub, social media critics weren’t as forgiving.
“Is there nobody Black on the @NBCNews social staff?,” one Twitter user wrote. “That is not @usainbolt. It’s @KevinHart4real.”
“Apparently a symptom of COVID is turning into Kevin Hart,” another wrote.
This story was originally published August 25, 2020 at 12:02 PM with the headline "Kevin Hart the Olympian? Comic jokes he’ll start training after network’s photo flub."