On Wednesday afternoon, comedian Kevin Hart was announced as the host of the upcoming 91st annual Academy Awards. Barely 24 hours later, he stepped down from the gig.
Between those bookends, Hart’s homophobic past, which included 40+ tweets featuring gay jokes, AIDS jokes, antigay slurs, and other homophobic rhetoric, resurfaced, prompting a huge public outcry.
Late last night, the 39-year-old comedian tweeted:
I have made the choice to step down from hosting this year's Oscar's….this is because I do not want to be a distraction on a night that should be celebrated by so many amazing talented artists. I sincerely apologize to the LGBTQ community for my insensitive words from my past.
— Kevin Hart (@KevinHart4real) December 7, 2018
I'm sorry that I hurt people.. I am evolving and want to continue to do so. My goal is to bring people together not tear us apart. Much love & appreciation to the Academy. I hope we can meet again.
— Kevin Hart (@KevinHart4real) December 7, 2018
He followed that up this morning with a quote from Martin Luther King, Jr.:
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. Martin Luther King, Jr.
— Kevin Hart (@KevinHart4real) December 7, 2018
We’re pretty sure Dr. King wasn’t thinking about stand-up comedians with homophobic pasts who rake in $1 million a show when he said that, but we digress.
The reactions to Hart stepping down from the Oscars gig have been all over the map. Some people support the decision. Others support Hart’s homophobic past. And some really aren’t yet sure how they feel about the whole thing.
Check out what people are saying…
https://twitter.com/andylassner/status/1071073693135069185
The fact that people are mad about Kevin Hart making gay jokes for standup on twitter 9 YEARS ago is so stupid
— Sweet Dee (@Day_Lhag) December 7, 2018
https://twitter.com/MavenOfMayhem/status/1071064379028725760
A Comedian says something that offends people and refuses to apologize? What do I say?…..Fuck em if they can’t take a joke! Well done #KevinHart #TeamDl
— DL Hughley (@RealDLHughley) December 7, 2018
If you think LGBTQ people reacted too strongly to Kevin Hart, here’s why: It’s not that his jokes were unforgivable, but these are the kind of ubiquitous jabs that kept me and so many queer people in the closet for years. They’re not jokes—they’re beliefs. He opened a wound.
— Jill Gutowitz (@jillboard) December 7, 2018
We're now in a era where comedians have to apologise for jokes? This is complete and utter bullshit! #KevinHart
— #Ravens#O's#Lakers ? (@B_MoreRob) December 7, 2018
https://twitter.com/TrevorWatson1/status/1071073564906975232
I’m with Kevin Hart ??? pic.twitter.com/vVXkJKQi6s
— Franklin Saint-Laurent (@MardyMarvel) December 7, 2018
Kevin Hart once again proving that MLK quotes are most often deployed by dummies who are in the wrong.
— Joel D. Anderson ? (@byjoelanderson) December 7, 2018
Political correctness is a cancer killing this country
Kevin Hart has nothing to apologize for
He is hilarious and shouldn’t be shut down by the leftist mob
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) December 7, 2018
I’m no saint. We just wanted a little understanding, a little explanation. Apologies are tough – they leave you vulnerable. Toxic masculinity is real. I deal with it in my own way too. So on that note, I appreciate @KevinHart4real apologizing. And apology accepted. That’s all.
— billy eichner (@billyeichner) December 7, 2018
https://twitter.com/realNateClemons/status/1071094914954481665
As a gay man, I wasn’t “looking for reasons to be negative” when Kevin Hart was announced as host of the Oscars. But when presented with blatantly homophobic undeleted tweets that use the word faggot, I was alarmed, angry. His inability to understand the backlash is abhorrent. https://t.co/MIzblYuDCw
— Nigel Smith (@nigelmfs) December 7, 2018
I didn’t wanna tweet this in case it looks like I’m defending homophobic black men but while I don’t give a damn about Kevin Hart losing his Oscars gig, there is a weird practice of white gay journalists digging through black peoples tweets to unearth homophobia which is sus.
— Jason Okundaye (@jasebyjason) December 7, 2018
https://twitter.com/rgay/status/1070857486398156800
https://twitter.com/blkcero/status/1071022912893870086
https://twitter.com/IndyaMoore/status/1070814833459658752
Kevin Hart is not above reproach. He’s not even above his kitchen counter. And I should know bc we the same height.
— john henry ? (@unkleju) December 7, 2018
Related: Kevin Hart’s Oscar invitation exposes Hollywood’s ongoing double standard toward gays
Wicked Dickie
Didn’t realize the gay agenda was unanimously accepted by all Americans. Congrats white gays, y’all won.
Brian
In the real world, employers can and do fire workers for far less than this.
(Of course, Hollywood isn’t the real world.)
rray63
I truly thought gays were gays. When did this “white gays” garbage start?
Lacuevaman
huh? you make no sense
2ndcoming
Exactly. The white gays think the world should revolve around their agenda. whites gays are racist and bigoted and I refuse to support any gays causes that would benefit them. It would be like me supporting the KKK or Nazi and to be honest I would rather support them. Lets defeat the Gay White Agenda ASAP.
davidjohng
@2nd coming…and yet you support a heterosexual black male patriarchal church based agenda that thinks and acts that you’re a piece of shit.
Xzamilloh
I think Kevin Hart would have apologized on his own — or through more prodding from his publicist– but it was the ultimatum that initially made him quit.
I have mixed feelings about this, namely because I never found Kevin Hart to be particularly funny, always found him homophobic and never got his appeal… but that’s not for me to figure out.
On the other hand, it’s ridiculous that these companies and advertisers still don’t seem to understand how little the general public care about vocal minorities of people outraged over old things, and thus have created this puritanical moral standard that is becoming impossible to enforce and is designed to turn on itself.
I hate apologies like these, because I’m gonna surmise that he still feels the same before apologizing and the ppl demanding one still feel the same.
Don’t apologize if you don’t mean it and don’t demand an apology you’re not going to accept.
With that said, he wouldn’t have saved the Oscar ratings anyway because just plain don’t care about this crap anymore. Even as an ardent anti-Trumper, it’s old watching celebs get social justice-y and pay themselves on the back as they go to million dollar parties and exist in an elitist vacuum.
Xzamilloh
I’ll just say that I’m no longer the edgelord that I was that thought crapping all over my own fellow lefties made me some pureblood lib that was sick of the The Regressive Left, but this is one issue i won’t budge on, and this makes me really uncomfortable for the standard it sets for the rest of us who say effed up things in our past that we may no longer feel the same way about, or forgot we even said and have never had time to reflect on it.
uberhund
Yes, yes, yes, anyone can make a mistake, and yes, yes, yes we’ve all messed up. I’m 60, and I’ve changed my opinion about bisexuality, trans issues and any number of other political issues over my life. But the trick is, to apologise before you get caught, and, if you’re caught before apologising, try and do it (properly) anyway, and show you mean it with some kind of action. Unpologies (‘sorry I’ve offended those really touchy people’) just make it worse: if you’re wrong, be an adult and say you’re wrong. I’d expect that behaviour from my 14-year-old nephew: if you made a mistake, apologise and make amends if necessary. Really not that difficult!
Pete le meat
True.
Pete le meat
Hollywood has enabled the careers of homophobic blacks for many years. So has the music business. Liberals have used the homophobic black model to make money.
Doug
If Hart had any class, he would have accepted the Oscars gig and started the show out with an apology and a speech about how people change. We all change our views as we get older and more experienced. But I still say if he’s changed his views as much as he claims he has, he would have deleted those tweets years ago.
Kangol
But he would have had to apologize before the show even to keep the gig. I truly think he has issues around sexuality (his and others) and is afraid of gay people at a certain level. He wouldn’t be the first. In fact, I think he’s probably a bit worse than quite a few straight people who may make or at least laugh at anti-gay or anti-lesbian jokes, or racist or sexist ones for that matter, and don’t think they’re a big deal (or of themselves as homophobes or racists, etc.) until they’re called on them. Not long ago I had to check a liberal white female acquaintance who thought it was OK to make a joke about another minority group, and I politely but firmly told her, Uh no, I don’t play that crap, and she was shocked and apologized, but I thought to myself, she probably swaps out one group for another depending upon who she’s speaking with, even though in general this is a person who supports LGBTQ equality fully, does not think of herself as racist or anti-Semitic and supports liberal and progressive causes, etc.
Blackceo
When I first found out Kevin Hart was hosting the Oscars, my reaction was “meh”. I have never found him as funny as others do. Do I believe he has “evolved”? I don’t know. Its interesting though that he essentially did it his way. He refused to be told by the Academy to apologize in order to keep the gig so he apologized and stepped down anyway. The lesson here is that social media is getting a lot of people in trouble for things and that is something people are continuing to have to learn the hard way. Employers, college admissions, etc all have ways of not wanting to be associated with homophobes and racists, although put the same energy into canceling Jeffree Star and Logan Paul for their racist stuff. What you put out there is there forever and your first amendment rights do not protect you from certain consequences, that are not protected. I’d prefer Tiffany Haddish and Maya Rudolph hosting quite honestly, or Amy Pohler and Tina Fey. Kevin has always come off as a little, insecure prick.
WindsorOntario
I want to know the names of the people on the committee who thought he’d be a great choice. These people should be fired – come on – you must have some sense of a potential host’s work background. There’s just no excuse for this with all the ways we have to look up someone’s past work.
I feel like this was a big ‘fu*k you’ to the gay community because to a lot of gay men, this event is like the Super Bowl. Gay people spend a lot of money to be a part of these events and also do a lot of the work to make these events happen. Choosing this person to host would be like choosing Roseanne to host the BET Awards.
Kieran
Sorry, but privileged heterosexuals don’t get to tell gay folk how they should feel about homophobia in our society. If Kevin Hart has to be used as an example that gay jokes can definitely cost you, so be it. Let’s hope the contrite Hart truly has “evolved”. We’ll see.
2ndcoming
The same should go for the privileged whites gays who are often, racist, bigoted, selfish and greedy.
davidjohng
@2ndcoming….and what about gay black males who refuse to come out and go “down low” so as to conform to some black male patriarchal church-based religious culture that seems to permeate overwhelmingly that culture without a lot of push-back.
surreal33
Sorry when make comments rooted in hate IT IS NOT A JOKE!!!
If you make racist, homophobic, anti-semitic, “jokes” today, last week, ten years ago, the underlying hatred is NOT temporary!!! The hatred lives in your heart and does not change with time. Therefore
you don’t get a pass because time has past.
mz.sam
Who needs black homophobes hosting the Oscars. The Academy needs to do the right thing and hire Janelle Monae to host the show. Besides, the Oscars have been losing viewing audiences yearly anyway.
Pistolo
Straight people want us all to assume every Republican who stomped on us has reformed, every do-nothing Democrat who didn’t support our cause have reformed, everyone who kicked their kids out of their house has reformed, every bully we had in highschool has reformed….cause, like, y’know gay marriage happened. Because Ellen. Because Glee. Because Will & Grace. Some of these tweets are in 2011 but in straight people time that’s EONS ago because, quite frankly, they WISH it were. It wasn’t.
One of the hardest things for the majority to admit is that there isn’t this finite, perfect moment where a civil rights goal is achieved. We’re 50+ years after MLK died and racists still haven’t learned their lesson, don’t think the same thing couldn’t happen to us! Because it can and it will which is why we need to continue to hold people accountable.
Curtispsf
Thank you for speaking TRUTH. Well said. And if Kevin Hart wants a second chance for a bite of that apple let’s see him do some real work FOR the LGBTQ community. A few PSAs for the Trevor Project, for anti-discrimination rights for trans people would certainly be a step in the right direction. SHOW us with your deeds that you’ve changed, ’cause words spoken years after the damage has been done are cheap.
Terrycloth
Just call Neil Patrick Harris everybody loves him hes gay he can sing ,dance tell jokes do magic , hes an actor has a chef husband and 2 cute kids…hes safe and a nice guy too !