Kevin Hart jokes he kept coronavirus diagnosis secret because of Tom Hanks

Kevin Hart has revealed that he tested positive for coronavirus early on in the pandemic.

The comedian, 41, performed at Dave Chapelle’s An Intimate Socially Distanced Affair live show on Saturday (22 August), when he announced that he had been diagnosed at the same time as Tom Hanks in March.

Speaking to the audience in Yellow Springs, Ohio, Hart explained: “The problem is that I had it around the same time as Tom Hanks, and I couldn’t say anything because he’s more famous than I am.”

Hanks was one of the first celebrities to test positive for Covid-19, revealing on 12 March that he and wife Rita Wilson had been tested after falling ill while in Australia.

The actor told fans: “To play things right, as is needed in the world right now, we were tested for the Coronavirus, and were found to be positive.”

Hanks later said that he had felt as though his bones were as fragile as “soda crackers” while suffering from the illness.

Hart has recently shown his support for Ellen DeGeneres amid an investigation into a reportedly ‘toxic’ work environment on her talk show.

Explaining his decision to defend DeGeneres, Hart said: “I don’t lose sight of the definition of friendship... There’s a lot of relationships that are fake, and there’s some that are real. In my case, the ones that are real are the ones that I’m always going to be adamant about speaking on behalf of.”

DeGeneres had previously defended Hart after he was forced to step down from hosting the Oscars due to resurfaced homophobic tweets.