Kevin Hart will always speak out "on behalf of" his true friends.
The 41-year-old star - who has defended Ellen DeGeneres amid her workplace investigation, and Nick Cannon after he made anti-Semitic comments on his 'Cannon Class' podcast - has opened up on his decision to publicly back the pair during their recent controversies.
He told Deadline: "I don't lose sight of the definition of friendship, and in our business, it's one thing that people don't really hold on to.
"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.
"I know the people that both of them are, and knowing the people, all I can say is my experiences with those people."
The 'Central Intelligence' actor insisted he wasn't trying to "take away" from other people's alleged experiences.
He explained: "That's not to take away from what other people are saying that they have had, and that they have done. It's just to highlight what I'm saying I know, and what I can speak on behalf of."
Meanwhile, Kevin described Ellen and Nick as "two of the most amazing people" he knows.
Reflection on friendship, he added: "When it comes to Nick, and it comes Ellen, I know who they are, and I know who they've been for the years that I've been around them, and I can only speak to that. Those are two of the most amazing people that I know."
