Kevin Hart was named the second highest-paid comedian in the world in 2018, trailing just half a million dollars behind Jerry Seinfeld.
The recently embattled comedian, 39, received the honor on Forbes’ World’s Highest-Paid Comedians of 2018 list, with a total earnings of $57million.
Hart trailed just $500,000 behind Jerry Seinfeld.
The current king of comedy has dominated the list since it first began in 2006. He only lost once to Hart in 2016.
Recently the Get Hard star stepped down as Oscar host after past homophobic tweets he’d posted re-emerged, and said he didn’t want to be a ‘distraction’.
He tweeted: ‘I have made the choice to step down from hosting this year’s Oscar’s….this is because I do not want to be a distraction on a night that should be celebrated by so many amazing talented artists.
‘I sincerely apologize to the LGBTQ community for my insensitive words from my past. ‘I’m sorry that I hurt people…
Seinfeld, 64, came to his pal’s defense over the Oscar snafu, stating that it would be difficult to find a host like Hart.
Seinfeld made the comment while being interviewed by Willie Geist for his hour of the weekend Today Show, which will air in full on Sunday.
Geist asked him about the current culture where people are being held accountable for things they may have said and/or done years ago.
‘Kevin is in a position because he’s a brilliant comedian to kind of decide what he wants to do. He doesn’t have to step down. But he can. And when you look at that situation, well, who got screwed in that deal? I think Kevin’s gonna be fine,’ he said.
Dave Chappelle ($35million), Chris Rock ($30million) and Ricky Gervais ($25million) rounded out the type five.
The other five included: Gabriel Iglesias ($20.5million), Terry Fator ($18million), Jim Gaffigan ($17.5million), Jeff Dunham ($16.5million) and Sebastian Maniscalco ($15million).
