A former friend of Kevin Hart wants a judge to order the comedian to abide by an alleged promise to pay for arbitration of their dispute regarding the fallout from the actor’s former 2017 sex-tape controversy or waive arbitration altogether and send the case back to court.
The motion stems from the Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit brought by Jonathan “J.T.” Jackson in which he alleged Hart did not use the language they had agreed upon in a July 2021 settlement when Hart addressed their differences on the social media in October of that year. Jackson sued Hart and the entertainer’s loan-out company, Hartbeat LLC, last July 10.
On Wednesday, Jackson’s attorneys filed court papers with Judge Daniel S. Murphy in advance of an April 30 hearing. Jackson asks that Hart be forced to live up to his alleged March 7 commitment to pay the arbitration fees, including the initial $6,750 cost to begin the process, “or else defendants are deemed to have waived arbitration and this case will be restored to the court’s active docket.”
An attorney for the 45-year-old Hart did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Jackson is financially unable to pay his share of the arbitration costs, according to his attorneys’ filing.
“Incredibly, while declining to respond to plaintiff’s efforts to commence arbitration, defendants were actively communicating with a key material witness, (former Hart assistant) Miesha Shakes, regarding a proposed settlement agreement that included terms restricting her ability to communicate with plaintiff,” Jackson’s lawyers further allege in their pleadings.
The judge granted Hart’s motion to compel arbitration during a hearing in October. According to Hart’s lawyers, Jackson’s allegations involve a written contract between him and the company in which both sides agreed to mandatory arbitration of any “controversy, claim or dispute.”
The judge agreed and also placed a stay on the case pending an Aug. 14, 2025, status conference.
In 2018, Jackson was charged with attempting to extort the married Hart by allegedly threatening to make public a video of the performer having sex with another woman, but the criminal case was dropped three years later.
In July 2021, Jackson and Hart settled their disputes and Hart agreed to make a public statement of exoneration, leaving Jackson with the hope he would be able to overcome the negative publicity from the criminal accusations, the suit stated.
Hart, however, “blatantly breached the contract by failing to issue the agreed-upon public statement exonerating plaintiff, causing significant harm and irreparable damage to plaintiff’s reputation,” the suit alleged.