Kirk Franklin was wary of laughing too hard at Kevin Hart during the 2025 BET Awards.
Hart hosted the ceremony and interacted with the gospel icon several times throughout the show, even joking about Franklin’s viral “twerking” moment.
Franklin spoke about Hart’s BET Awards opening while visiting radio show The Breakfast Club on Thursday (June 19) and explained why he didn’t laugh too hard at Hart’s more inappropriate jokes.
“Those jokes—it was so good. He’s good,” Franklin admitted around the 4:30 mark of the video below. “But then I’ll also give you this side, and I won’t even cap, I think that the biggest thing is for me is that I always have to be careful.”
“Because I know that there’s a community of the super religious that if I enjoy something too much, then it comes across like, ‘Well, why he not praying for him? He need to walk out,'” Franklin continued.
The artist added that there’s a “dichotomy” that entertainers like him face in being spiritual although they’re “not Jesus.”
“I live in a world where things are going to be funny,” he said, adding, “I am not a perfect person.”
“So when something’s funny and it’s good and funny, I want to laugh,” Franklin continued, adding that viewers got to see an “imperfect Kirk.”
Franklin, who took home the Ultimate Icon Award during the show, was hilariously warned by Hart not to twerk onstage when receiving the trophy. Later, after Franklin ended his tribute performance, Hart ran onstage and compared heights with the artist.
