Kevin Hart Mourns Death of His Dad: 'Give Mom a Hug for Me'

In a tribute to his late father Henry Witherspoon, Kevin Hart said, "I'm a better father because of you"

Photo: Kevin Hart/Instagram

Kevin Hart is mourning his father.

On Wednesday, Hart, 43, shared two posts on Instagram announcing that his father Henry Witherspoon died.

"RIP to one of the realest & rawest to ever do it…Love you dad," Hart wrote in one caption alongside a carousel of photos of the two with other members of the family. "Gone but never forgotten….Give mom a hug for me….y'all did good man." (Hart's mother Nancy died in 2007 from cancer.)

"Thank you for everything….I'm a better father because of you 😢💪🏾🙏🏾 ," Hart added. "We will all make you proud…."

In a second post shared about two hours after the initial upload, the actor and comedian simply wrote, "RIP spoon …..😢🙏🏾," alongside a photo of him with his father.

Hart previously opened up in 2018 about how how he found a way to forgive his father, who he wrote in his 2017 memoir I Can't Make This Up often times wasn't around due to drug addiction and multiple jail stints. When he was around, Hart wrote that those memories were more chaotic than happy.

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"No matter what, he's my father," Hart told PEOPLE at the time. "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."

Hart said in 2018 that his father was sober and that he did not harbor any resentment toward Witherspoon.

"I understand that nobody's perfect, people are flawed, people make mistakes," Hart said at the time. "I shouldn't hold a high level of judgment over your head about things I can't change."

"You can't go back in the past and fix this or fix that," he added. "I can only move forward, and I can only love you today."

Albert L. Ortega/Getty

Hart told PEOPLE in 2018 he felt "blessed" to be in a position where he could provide for his father.

"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.' "

The comedian, who shares son Hendrix, 14, with ex Torrei Hart and is also dad to 23-month-old daughter Kaori Mai, and son Kenzo Kash, 4, with his wife Eniko Hart, said in 2018 that he takes "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," Hart said at the time. "And the most important thing that you can give your kids is time."