Kevin Hart Receives 100M Investment As Laugh Out Loud & Hartbeat Productions Merge Into One Company

Hartbeat Productions and Laugh Out Loud, two of Actor and Comedian Kevin Hart’s two entertainment businesses, are merging into a single linear comedy based entertainment company called Hartbeat.

This comes to us from Deadline. Along with the combination, the company is also announcing a $100 million investment by private equity firm Abry Partners. Nicolas Massard, a partner at Abry, will join the Hartbeat board. NBCUniversal’s Peacock, which signed a multi-year, first look deal with Laugh Out Loud and acquired an equity stake in 2020, will remain a shareholder.

Thai Randolph, who led the capital raise and held the posts of president and COO of Laugh Out Loud and COO of Hartbeat Productions, has been upped to CEO of the new entity. Hartbeat Productions’ Bryan Smiley will head content and LOL’s Jeff Clanagan will spearhead distribution, with each also getting the title of president. Hartbeat Productions co-founder Leland Wigington will lead a new production banner under Hartbeat.