Kevin Hart is coming out swinging at the BET Awards … poking fun at Diddy, Cardi B and Kanye West in his opening monologue.

The comedian started off with a Diddy joke … telling the crowd at the Peacock Theater in downtown Los Angeles they would be wise to avoid any after-parties where things get “slippery.”

Kevin said we’ve all been learning a lot about folks recently and said other things to steer clear from include yachts, boats and pink stuff … name-dropping Cardi and referencing the recent controversy involving her boyfriend, NFL player Stefon Diggs.

It’s interesting … Kevin used Waymos in his joke … and some of the driverless cars got torched during this weekend’s protests over immigration raids in L.A. … with some demonstrations going down close to the BET Awards venue.