Kevin Hart is mourning the death of his father, Henry Witherspoon.
He announced the devastating news via Instagram on Wednesday.
Hart shared two photos of him and his father. His mother passed away in 2007. He also thanked his dad for making him a “better father.”
“RIP to one of the realest & rawest to ever do it…Love you, dad. Gone but never forgotten….Give mom a hug for me…. y’all did good, man. Thank you for everything…. I’m a better father because of you 😢💪🏾🙏🏾 We will all make you proud,” the 43-year-old actor and comedian wrote in the caption.
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A second post was shared by the “Ride Along” star two hours after his initial post.
“RIP spoon …..😢🙏🏾.”
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Hart has been forthcoming about his strained relationship with Witherspoon. He also talked about forgiving him. In 2017, he appeared on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. He opened up about how his relationship with his father made him a better dad to his children.
“My kids actually think I’m the coolest dad on the planet. I know why I am the way that I am; my dad has a lot to do with that – the mistakes that my dad made, you know, the decisions to do drugs, being in and out of jail, in and out of our lives. I saw firsthand what not being present did, and because of that, I now know what being present means. I know what that can do; I know what effect it can have on your child coming up.”
Hart also spoke about healing his relationship with Witherspoon. The 43-year-old comedian said he chose not to be angry.
“I was strong enough to deal with it coming up because I have a different attitude. I’m a positive guy,” he said. “I choose to go positive instead of negative a lot, and because of that, my relationship with my dad is amazing now! And my dad understands how I feel and how I look at things, and now my dad is focusing on being the best grandparent that he possibly can.”
“I think there’s a choice. You always have a choice to make. My thing is, I don’t have time to be angry. You know how much time it takes to hold a attitude and a grudge? That’s time and energy! I don’t have that time! The time that it takes you to go, ‘I don’t like that person,’ and keep that in you … over a period of time, that’s a lot of time that could be devoted to something positive. I choose positive because overall, positive will always beat negative.”
Our condolences go out to Hart and his family.
