Kevin Hart Admits 16-Year-Old Daughter Was ‘Tough’ on Him Following Cheating Scandal

Kevin Hart recalls “tough” moment he had with his 16-year-old daughter, Heaven Hart, after telling her that he cheated on his wife Eniko Parrish. During a Red Table Talk interview with Will Smith, Hart detailed the difficult emotions that were involved in his conversations with Heaven, and he admitted that his daughter didn’t let him off the hook easily. While Hart is used to the criticism, being in the public eye, he says it hits different when it’s his children that are disappointed in him.

My daughter was tough on me, to this day my daughter is tough on me,” he confessed. “Getting my daughter to understand that I was sorry, that I made a mistake — that was real. Through my public debacles, I’ve got on some armor. It’s very hard to bother me. But when your child shows disappointment, shows emotion, shows, ‘I don’t understand why,’ and you’ve got to have those conversations — [your] head drops for the firs time. You realize there’s an emotional cord that nobody else has the privileges of ever touching.”

Over the years, Hart has acknowledged his cheating scandals after having stepped out on both Torrei and Parrish. In fact, Torrei has openly discussed in the past that when he was cheating on her, it was with Parrish, after the two got into a Twitter war when Parrish claimed the two were already separated before she came into the picture. While Hart has found a way to brush things off, his daughter feels otherwise, and during his discussion with Smith, he admitted that he had to realize that it’s not as easy for her as it is him to move on from. “My daughter had a talk with me about her mother that rocked me,” he said.

“She checked me. She said, ‘I want you to stop saying because when you say these things, Dad, this and this and this,” he continued. “‘But honey, I don’t mean — I’m just talking.’ ‘It doesn’t matter, Dad.’” Smith then added, “It’s not just talking […] you unleash dogs on people.” The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air star then noted that his first wife, Sheree Zampino, had to have a similar discussion with Smith early on in their divorce saying that if he spoke about her a certain way whether he was kidding or not, it would allow the public to attack her in a specific way too. The actor admitted that it took him a long time to realize the point she was trying to make, but looking back, he now understands where her frustration was with him.

Smith’s current wife, Jada Pinkett Smith has discussed on her popular Facebook show before how it’s challenging raising kids in the public eye. In efforts to protect them, there’s a different strategy that has to be considered when raising them in front of such a large audience. However, the Smiths have navigated that well over the years, and that’s something Hart has and is navigating as best he can.