Comedian Kevin Hart isn’t shy about sharing about personal experience and lessons learned, and some of those lessons have included learning after loss. In a resurfaced article from an interview Hart did with CNBC’s “Make It,” he shared that he was embarrassed to say what he spent his first big check on: sports memorabilia jerseys.
Hart, who in 2019, was the highest-paid stand-up comedian, making $59 million, according to Forbes, said in the 2018 “Make It” interview that he bought “any and every vintage jersey that was a representation of a great athlete.”
Some of the jerseys bought by Hart, whose net worth today is estimated to be $200 million, were worn by Julius Erving, Reggie White, Randall Cunningham, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.
Before he was a box-office-breaking comedian, Hart took on his first big gig in the film “Soul Plane.” When he received his salary from the film, Hart’s fascination for watches and jerseys got the best of him, Bravo reported. The actor had no idea where his money was going prior to reviewing his shopping spree expenditures.
“It felt great until I looked at that bank account and realized that I didn’t have money, and said to myself, ‘Where did my money go?’ ” Hart said. “And looked at a closet full of jerseys and said, ‘Uh-oh. That’s not good.’ ”
Hart did not say how much he spent on his jerseys, but he described his decisions as being “stupid plus stupid.”
“If I had to put a number on it, I would say it was stupid plus stupid, which equals stupid, okay? I don’t even feel comfortable talking about it,” Hart said.
Hart admitted his knowledge of money management was nonexistent.
“In my defense, so many people don’t understand the value of money until they have it, and then no longer have it,” Hart shared. “So when you have it and lose it, you understand the value of it and its importance.”
Hart said understanding money management was a learning proceed. “And that’s something I’ve realized as I got older,” Hart added. “To these younger generations, people just need to talk to them about money, so they don’t make those stupid mistakes and they can prepare for the future.”
