Netflix Wanted Paul McCartney as Its Roast Target Before Kevin Hart

The Netflix roast of Kevin Hart arrived with the expected pile-on, but a quieter detail reorients the whole affair. Before they landed on Hart, producers asked Paul McCartney to sit in the hot seat. “Roastmaster General” Jeff Ross told Variety the team made the attempt as part of this year’s Netflix Is A Joke Fest. He framed it as a fantasy booking, saying a McCartney roast would be “good for the world” precisely because the musician is so widely cherished.

It’s a strange collision of institutions. The roast format thrives on transgression, often brushing against real discomfort. McCartney’s presence would have demanded a different kind of comedic pressure—less shock, maybe, and more absurdist reverence. Ross didn’t elaborate on why the pitch failed, but the very idea suggests a restless search for new territory. He also floated other names: Drake, Stevie Wonder (with a tagline about “hearing it to believe it”), and, according to a 2025 Puck report, Will Smith, whose involvement could have doubled as image rehab after the Oscar slap.

The actual event took a sharper turn. Early clips show Tony Hinchcliffe referencing George Floyd, which drew immediate backlash. Later, Pete Davidson faced Hinchcliffe himself and landed a line that called both the comedian and Kanye West a “gay Nazi.” West was in the audience, watching. The moment lands less as a joke structure than a real-time provocation, and it makes the McCartney what-if feel even more remote—a roast built on genuine cultural goodwill, not the grinding machinery of offense.