Kevin Hart already has a thriving comedy and acting career, and now he's aiming for people's stomachs.The prolific actor-comedian opened his first plant-based, fast-food restaurant called Hart House on Thursday in the Westchester neighborhood of Los Angeles near the city's airport. He wants this new venture to attract regular plant-base eaters along with those who haven’t yet been introduced to that world of healthy eating.“Our business is in the business of feeling good. That’s what Kevin Hart is about,” he said in an interview before the restaurant's official opening, which got off to a strong start with a long lines of customers throughout the day. While sitting alongside his wife, Eniko Hart, the actor scarfed down a plant-based crispy chick’n sandwich, chick’n nuggets and tots.Rapper Lil Baby showed up to the preview to place an order from the fully plant-based menu that also features burgers, salads, fries, ice teas and a limeade. The restaurant’s milkshakes are made from an oat-and-soy blend.“I say this all the time: ‘Live, love, laugh,’” Hart continued. “Here, we say ‘Eat your hart out.’ People have a curiosity about plant-based food. It’s something I eat. It’s really good. When you look at other restaurants, Hart House is just as good and maybe even better in some respects.”Hart felt the need to create a healthy space within the fast-food spectrum that’s affordable for customers. There are several other plant-based, fast-food options located throughout Los Angeles, but Hart House’s approach is to serve quality food with sandwiches and burgers that are within the $5-$7 price range — less than competitors.“It’s a major priority for us,” Hart said. “We want to make an environment where people feel good.”In creating Hart House, the comedian-actor teamed up with restaurateur Andy Hooper, chef Mike Salem and businessman Michael Rubin, who was an investor.Salem, who developed Hart House’s menu options, was the head of culinary innovation at Burger King where he helped launch the Impossible Whopper.“One of the cool things about our leadership is that the majority of us are carnivores,” he said. “But we wanted to create this plant-base concept and bring Kevin’s vision to light. We wanted to keep this simple. This is straightforward classic American comfort food.”Along with his flagship location, Hart wants to open six more Hart House restaurants by the end of the year. He already has two locations under construction in Los Angeles including one in the Hollywood area.“We’re being open minded,” he said. “This is a new generation and new way of thinking when it comes to food consumption. This is the beginning stages for us. We will continue to get better over time.”It's a busy week for Hart, whose latest film, “Me Time” with Mark Wahlberg and Regina Hall, released on Netflix on Friday.

LOS ANGELES —

Kevin Hart already has a thriving comedy and acting career, and now he's aiming for people's stomachs.

The prolific actor-comedian opened his first plant-based, fast-food restaurant called Hart House on Thursday in the Westchester neighborhood of Los Angeles near the city's airport. He wants this new venture to attract regular plant-base eaters along with those who haven’t yet been introduced to that world of healthy eating.

“Our business is in the business of feeling good. That’s what Kevin Hart is about,” he said in an interview before the restaurant's official opening, which got off to a strong start with a long lines of customers throughout the day. While sitting alongside his wife, Eniko Hart, the actor scarfed down a plant-based crispy chick’n sandwich, chick’n nuggets and tots.

Rapper Lil Baby showed up to the preview to place an order from the fully plant-based menu that also features burgers, salads, fries, ice teas and a limeade. The restaurant’s milkshakes are made from an oat-and-soy blend.

“I say this all the time: ‘Live, love, laugh,’” Hart continued. “Here, we say ‘Eat your hart out.’ People have a curiosity about plant-based food. It’s something I eat. It’s really good. When you look at other restaurants, Hart House is just as good and maybe even better in some respects.”

Hart felt the need to create a healthy space within the fast-food spectrum that’s affordable for customers. There are several other plant-based, fast-food options located throughout Los Angeles, but Hart House’s approach is to serve quality food with sandwiches and burgers that are within the $5-$7 price range — less than competitors.

AP Photo/Jonathan Landrum Jr.

“It’s a major priority for us,” Hart said. “We want to make an environment where people feel good.”

In creating Hart House, the comedian-actor teamed up with restaurateur Andy Hooper, chef Mike Salem and businessman Michael Rubin, who was an investor.

Salem, who developed Hart House’s menu options, was the head of culinary innovation at Burger King where he helped launch the Impossible Whopper.

“One of the cool things about our leadership is that the majority of us are carnivores,” he said. “But we wanted to create this plant-base concept and bring Kevin’s vision to light. We wanted to keep this simple. This is straightforward classic American comfort food.”

Along with his flagship location, Hart wants to open six more Hart House restaurants by the end of the year. He already has two locations under construction in Los Angeles including one in the Hollywood area.

“We’re being open minded,” he said. “This is a new generation and new way of thinking when it comes to food consumption. This is the beginning stages for us. We will continue to get better over time.”

It's a busy week for Hart, whose latest film, “Me Time” with Mark Wahlberg and Regina Hall, released on Netflix on Friday.

Spotify is not joking around amid a dispute over royalties for comedy content. The streaming giant has removed the work of hundreds of comedians from its platform -- including Tiffany Haddish, Kevin Hart and the late Robin Williams -- according to rights agency Spoken Giants.Spoken Giants, which represents some of the affected comedians, describes itself as "the first global rights administration company for the owners and creators of spoken word copyrights," and aims to get streaming platforms to pay comedians for writing jokes in the same way songwriters are paid.The group told CNN that the take-down happened Nov. 24, and said that it never requested the content's removal."Unfortunately, Spotify removed the work of individual comedians rather than continue to negotiate," CEO Jim King told CNN."With this take-down, individual comedians are now being penalized for collectively requesting the same compensation songwriters receive," he added. "After Spotify removed our members' work, we reached out but have not received a response. We have now requested an immediate meeting to resolve this situation."A Spotify spokesperson told CNN that the streaming platform had already paid "significant amounts of money" to offer the comedy content to listeners, and "would love to continue to do so.""However, given that Spoken Giants is disputing what rights various licensors have, it's imperative that the labels that distribute this content, Spotify and Spoken Giants come together to resolve this issue to ensure this content remains available to fans around the globe," the spokesperson said.Although the content is still available on other platforms including Pandora and Sirius, Spoken Giants said comedians with lower profiles and revenues could suffer from losing Spotify as a platform.On social media, New York-based comedian Joe Zimmerman called the move "corporate bullying." Another New York-based comedian, Liz Miele, tweeted that her albums had also been removed from the platform because comedians "had the audacity to ask for money owed to us," and jokingly compared herself to singer Taylor Swift.Swift was previously engaged in a dispute with Spotify, arguing artists were not paid enough. The singer pulled her entire catalog from the platform in 2014 but reversed her decision in 2017.

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