Entertainment Movies Kevin Hart Opens Up About Forgiving His Ex Drug Addict Dad—and Learning From His Mistakes Night School star Kevin Hart says despite his dad's absence from his childhood due to drug addiction, he still loves and provides for him today By Janine Rubenstein Janine Rubenstein Instagram Twitter Janine Rubenstein is Editor-at-Large at PEOPLE and host of PEOPLE Every Day podcast, a daily dose of breaking news, pop culture and heartwarming human interest stories. Formerly Senior Editor of music content, she's also covered crime, human interest and television news throughout her many years with the brand. Prior to PEOPLE she's written for Essence, The Cape Times newspaper and Los Angeles Magazine among others. On-screen Rubenstein can be found featured on shows like Good Morning America and Entertainment Tonight and she routinely hosts PEOPLE and Entertainment Weekly's star-studded Red Carpet Live specials. Follow the San Francisco native, Black Barbie collector and proud mom of two on Instagram and Twitter @janinerube People Editorial Guidelines Published on September 28, 2018 04:47 PM Share Tweet Pin Email Trending Videos Kevin Hart knows a thing or two about forgiveness. The Night School star — who opened up to PEOPLE in this week’s issue about the struggles of fame and how wife Eniko forgave him following last year’s cheating scandal—shared how he found a way to forgive his own father. “No matter what, he’s my father,” says Hart, 39, of Henry Witherspoon, who he wrote extensively about in his 2017 memoir I Can’t Make This Up. According to Hart, Witherspoon often times wasn’t around due to his crippling drug addiction and multiple jail stints. When he was around, Hart wrote that those memories were more chaotic than happy. Still, Hart says now, “Regardless of my upbringing and the way I was raised and how often he was in my life, he’s my dad…I have a positive outlook on life regardless and I’m going to love you because you’re my father.” Kevin Hart Opens Up About His Painful Childhood and Ex Drug Addict Dad Witherspoon is now sober and his son holds no ill-feelings towards him. “I understand that nobody’s perfect, people are flawed, people make mistakes,” says Hart. “I shouldn’t hold a high level of judgement over your head about things I can’t change.” He adds, “You can’t go back in the past and fix this or fix that. I can only move forward, and I can only love you today.” Today, Witherspoon is soaking up as much quality time as he can, thanks to Hart. “I’m in a position where I’m blessed and I can provide,” says the star. “I can say, ‘Here, dad, here’s a home, here’s a car, here’s some money. Go spend time with your grandkids. Be the best grandpop…the days that you missed with me are the days that we missed, it’s fine. I’m okay with that.'” Kevin Hart Reveals How Wife Eniko Forgave Him After Cheating Scandal: She’s ‘My Backbone’ Kevin Hart/Instagram And though Hart says he gets most of his qualities from his mom Nancy, who died of cancer in 2007 (“I’m 100 percent her child”), he admits he learned something important from his dad. “I took the mistakes that I feel that my dad may have made and instead of complaining about them, I use them to my advantage. I know what I should do, and the things that I don’t want my kids to ever feel…And the most important thing that you can give your kids is time.” Night School, starring Hart and Tiffany Haddish, hits theaters nationwide Friday. For more on Kevin Hart’s road to fame, family and forgiveness, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday.