So the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced yesterday that comedian Kevin Hart will host the 91st Academy Awards on February 24, 2019.
But not everyone’s happy about it.
Considering how many of the Oscars' biggest fans are women and gay men it's quite something for the Academy to hire a guy who beat one wife, cheated on another when she was eight months pregnant and said one of his biggest fears is his son growing up and being gay.
— Erik Anderson (@awards_watch) December 5, 2018
Yeah, he wouldn’t be our first choice for Oscars host either.
Just a little backstory: In a radio interview last December, Hart admitted to cheating on his wife, Eniko Parrish, just a few months earlier while she was pregnant with his child.
How about we take this to the next level?
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And in his 2017 memoir I Can’t Make This Up, he admitted to being physically abusive toward his first wife, Torrei Hart.
And, yes, there were those comments he made during his 2010 comedy special “Seriously Funny” about how his “biggest fear” in life was having a gay son and that, as a heterosexual male, he would do everything in his power to prevent that from ever happening.
Now we get it, times change and people evolve. Someone who once held a homophobic belief can have their heart and mind opened. It’s totally possible.
But in a 2015 interview with Rolling Stone, Hart didn’t seem to have changed much. While he said he probably wouldn’t make that same joke again, he added that it wasn’t because the joke bombed, but rather people are more “sensitive” than they used to be.
I wouldn’t tell that joke today, because when I said it, the times weren’t as sensitive as they are now. I think we love to make big deals out of things that aren’t necessarily big deals, because we can. These things become public spectacles. So why set yourself up for failure?
That same year, Hart also said in a radio interview that he would never play a gay character because he would feel too “insecure.”
Then later, he appeared in the movie “Get Hard,” an R-rated bro-com starring Will Ferrell as a millionaire sentenced to ten years in prison for embezzlement who asks Hart to help “toughen him up” before heading off to the slammer. The film was chocked full of homophobic jokes and endless talk about anal sex and male rape.
Variety called “Get Hard” the “most high-profile comedy ever made about the subject of prison rape.”
As part of his prison-prep routine, Ferrell decides to try to perform oral sex on a guy, and he takes an older gentleman into a bathroom stall. “I’m going to suck your d–,” Ferrell says, but he’s so disgusted by the thought, the scene will feel homophobic to some viewers. Another running joke has Ferrell shove objects up his anus.
Considering how queer this year’s Oscar race is shaping up to be, with films like “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” and “Boy Erased” that both feature gay characters, and movies about gay icons like Freddie Mercury or starring gay icons like Lady Gaga, the fact that Hart is going to be hosting the ceremony feels especially awkward.
In a statement posted to Instagram yesterday, Hart wrote, “I will be sure to make this year’s Oscars a special one. I appreciate The Academy for the opportunity…now it’s time to rise to the occasion.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bq_Ig_EFiOx/?utm_source=ig_twitter_share&igshid=4i2wqwfu2mfy
anthony_d22
Ugh so annoying. But to be fair this is a lot less homophobic than most straight black men.
enlightenone
Homophobic and “fair” doesn’t go together!…”ugh so annoying!”
QueerTruth
That’s saying…. nothing. Sadly.
Chrisk
There’s always going to be a place for that kind of comedy. F*gs, Ni**ers, sp*cs, etc. Andrew Dice Clay made a nice living doing it. Also black or hispanic comedians always making jokes about race. We’ve heard it about a million times now. It’s just boring and lacks any creative effort.
Juanjo
And we all remember what happened to Andrew Dice Clay, don’t we? MarriCareer took a nose dive 20 years ago and never recovered.
enlightenone
Totally agree – not the least bit creative, but it works because some heteros, especially of the male persuasion, can feel good in their sexual insecurities and identities!
spacecadet
@Juanjo – actually, Clay is in the current box office hit A Star is Born. I didn’t even recognize him and he did a pretty effective performance.
Xzamilloh
Are we pretending like the Oscars are still a big deal? Because I just don’t care, do you?
PinkoOfTheGange
You should like put that on a jacket or something.
Hussain-TheCanadian
Personally speaking, I like Kevin Hart as a comedian, his situational comedy and his imitation of the Rock are pure gold.
I did find his comments about not wanting a gay son amusing, especially the part about “I’d do everything in my power to make sure that doesn’t happen” – He’s just ignorant, its clear he doesnt understand that people are born gay, and there is nothing he, his church, or anyone else can do to stop that natural process from happening.
They need to hire David Chappelle for these, or is he too much for Hollywood?
enlightenone
“…amusing for you,” but ends up being tragic for some gay kid struggling to understand and accept himself which for some leads to suicide, depression, or the closet for one too many!
PinkoOfTheGange
No Chappelle is too smart to do them.
Hussain-TheCanadian
@ enlightenone
Yeah you’re right, he is going to put his kid through a mental torture chamber if he tried to “change” him/her, and the tragedy is even compiled if anyone else tried to emulate Kevin’s pointless attempts at f*cking up his kid. You are right Sir, as amused as I am at his ignorance, the real life consequence for his child will be horrendous.
@ PinkoOfTheGange
I would love to see him insult those celebrities and studios to their faces.
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Dnooage
Yes somewhat problematic but when it’s a Black identified person you guys become professional detectives.
Call me when Harvey Weinstein is in jail.
PinkoOfTheGange
All those transgressions were widely publicized at the time.
Harvy’s not so much
Terrycloth
I wont watch because for one I dont find him to be funny at all.he talks too fast and whines..plus he laughs at his own material.2nd they are much better choices to pick from to host #3 ..its 3 &1/2 hours long..I dont care who the best Foley guy was..and those god awful long winded speeches……
Xzamilloh
There aren’t that many choices, because no one wants to host this snoozefest anymore.
RIGay
I have watched him enough times to not feel compelled to watch the Oscars at all. His “edgy” humor is just… uninteresting.
Shame they could not go with Trevor Noah or Jon Stewart.
enlightenone
Great choices! Shame you aren’t the producer.
PinkoOfTheGange
Both said no.
There was an article in Variety or THR on Monday, that no one wanted the gig.
Mikestuff
I think I remember reading several years back that the Academy had ask Jon Stewart to host the show several years running and he kept telling them no, saying it was too much work and he wouldn’t be able use his type of humor.
enlightenone
His circumstances have changed.
Bob LaBlah
I would have preferred a resurrected Arsenio Hall than this poor excuse for a host. The only thing I like about Kevin are the fantasies I have of him sitting on the edge of a leather sling getting fisted by an old white guy wearing a white hood and matching robe.
WindsorOntario
People like Kevin Hart aren’t known for cleaning out their asses so whoever fists him would end up with a whole arm full of shit/diarrhea.
Wicked Dickie
Sounds like you’ve been in that sling before.
jsmu
Yet another pile-of-excrement black homophobe being excepted from the rules of basic decency because Black, and something something something about churches, etc. Vomit.
enlightenone
“Black,” really? “Black” can easily be replaced with…
WindsorOntario
This guy and now Eddie Murphy in the news. Two people who have said the most disgusting, hateful things about our community and they’re getting media attention. Why aren’t we inviting David Duke or anti-black racists to host events?
Why is it okay for uneducated black people to talk about wanting to harm us or how much they hate us? These are two rotten people who fit in just fine in Trump’s America of Hate. These entertainment elites are kissing black people’s asses now because they don’t win any awards. That’s all this is about.
Jason
I’ve experienced more hate from my own gay community than from anyone long before “Trump’s America of Hate”. Yeah the left has shown EVERYONE who the violent, hateful, and intolerant truly are, leftists.
emcdonald75
Why is that White gay people always go full blown racist when you see these black entertainers? It sounds like jealousy to me. I’m Black and I do not like anybody that’s homophobic, racist or xenophobic, but damn, why can you not call Kevin Hart out for being homophobic and that’s it. What does the entire Black community have to do with one person!? White men in Congress, the Supreme Court and the White House are stripping away rights from the entire LGBTQIA+ community, no matter the color of the person. Am I to attack every white person for the actions of white men and women in government? Should I go after every white person that votes for Republicans that have an ideology of restricting rights from the gay community? This is getting ridiculous. That’s why some people equate white people on the left and the right. Many times both sides appear to share the same rhetoric. White doctors, lawyers, politicians, etc. must be just as ignorant because they still support that fool that’s in the White House that actively attacks gay people. They must hate gay people because they support Republicans that frequently side with Christian organizations that go after equal rights. This language in this forum disgusts me, and it appears to be okay because these fools, WindsorOntario and Chrisk, continue to spit nonsense and I have only read one comment that disagrees with them. This is why other ethnic groups view homophobic whites and gay whites the same; it appears to be a superiority complex or some form of privileged thinking that grants you comfort to say any hateful thing you want. When Black people say these hurtful things (I do not agree with any attacks against gay people (Hint, I’m gay)), they are attacked hard by the Left, but it is whites that have control of the government that are stripping away protections for the gay community. That means more to me that what some fool in Hollywood says. Don’t support the Oscars and be done with it! Tell your friends and family to not support the Oscars! Hell, I don’t support the NFL due to Colin Kaepernick. That’s my right! My family still watch NFL but I’m not going to disown my family because of that. I think some of the complaints should be viewed in context, and people should stop acting out with this cavemen mentality.
spacecadet
@emcdonald75 – you are totally right – a person’s race should be completely inconsequential in regards to their homophobia. To lump in someone’s race while calling out that person’s homophobia pretty much tells you all you need to know about the person that felt the need to comment on the individual’s race.
Virpilosus
EMCDONALD75: This old white man agrees with you 100%. Thank you for speaking so powerfully!
OrchidIslander
@emcdonald75, “Why is that White gay people always go full blown racist when you see these black entertainers? It sounds like jealousy to me. I’m Black and I do not like anybody that’s homophobic, racist or xenophobic, but damn, why can you not call Kevin Hart out for being homophobic and that’s it. What does the entire Black community have to do with one person!?”
Because they (far too many white gay men) are racist and are too mentally lazy to see individuals. Far easier to castigate an entire “different” group.
nm4047
WTF are you saying???
mlnave
Just make sure Bruce Vilanch screens all of Hart’s material.
BrokebackBob
I think the category that he falls into is BlackCelebTrash™
Jason
Gay people need to stop complaining about everything all the time. He’s a comedian. Lighten up. Also, gay people criticising anyone else for cheating is RICH. It’s not always about you all the time. Constantly bitching only pushes straight folks farther away from us.
enlightenone
It works just as well the other way around, yes???? And what “pushes” gay folks “farther away from” straight folks? Take your time to respond – I’m sure it will be a long list if you THINK about it!
rray63
Egads, I’m sure I’ll get called a racist for asking this but why is it okay for blacks, or is it people of color to make jokes about whites, gays, whatever but not the other way around? One is offensive, the other isn’t? Someone explain it to me, please.
Chrisk
You don’t dare make jokes about POC or you’ll end up as yesterdays news. Discrimination is definetly still a one way street. Just reverse it. Say a white comedian found out his daughter was dating a black guy and how discusting he found it. He wouldn’t even get asked to a dog award show.
Chrisk
Although white comedians like Lisa Lampenelli have done it but her heart was always in the right place and the audience accepted it. Plus she’s actually funny unlike Hart. Helps allot.
OrchidIslander
Because history is not on your side. When have white people ever told jokes about black people that weren’t slurs or based on stereotypes or in racist fun (for white people)?
enlightenone
Didn’t know this 2×4 was a “homophobe” since I don’t remember anything he says, and he’s easy to confuse with all the other wife beaters, cheaters, and “homophobes.”
Wicked Dickie
Part of adulting is realizing that Kevin Hart is not that funny.
GregR
Whether he’s funny or not is immaterial. Somewhere some kid will blow his or her brains out because a parent can’t accept him/her being gay. Not a good match for the Oscars, especially when Trump is quadrupling down on the LGBT hatred.
Wicked Dickie
“Queerest Oscars in history”? Do people even still watch the Oscars?
Wicked Dickie
Maybe Louis C.K. is more to your liking? Or is he still masturbating in front of Sarah Silverman? Or how about Michael Richards? Kevin Spacey? Kellyanne Conway has time also.
jasentylar
Lol
tjr101
Trump is president… this pales in comparison. We have other issues to be enraged about.
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
Few things in life pizz me off more than a Black or a Jew spewing hatred and bigotry against another minority….
I was at a protest and Orthodox Jews were spewing the most vile hared. I went to the leader and told him :
“Hitler would be so very proud of you”…..
supernaut
I am 26 cm taller than Kevin Hart, so he is harmless to me. Nobody watches the Academy Awards for a 2nd time, not even gay men I would assume, the hosts come and go.
Geeker
This man’s whole act is him talking and acting like an idiot, why in the Hell would the Oscars choose him, have they just embraced their eventual demise and decided to just throw themselves off a cliff to end their misery faster?
Terrycloth
Funny is George Carlin..Robin Williams… those are 2 who made you think as well as made you laugh…there are many many more I wont make a list…then it agree to disagree so I’ll leave it at 2.
Tombear
I remember when the “Oscars” ceremony was the gay Super Bowl. Not anymore. I don’t know any of my friends that will be watching.
kinito69
Im confused because I remember seeing positive stories about Hart on Queerty a few times throughout the last few years. Queerty also posted several “sexy pictures” of Hart on the website. I always thought he was homophobic but for some reason people are just realizing this I guess…..The some could be said about the rapper, The Game too. He is very homophobic but like Hart, he is always in articles and pictures on Queerty so I don’t know what the point of complaining is……
Kangol
Queerty wanted to stir the pot with this one. Yes, they have featured Kevin Hart in positive posts, but they clearly wanted more clicks and commentary, since the pro-gay posts or anything positive barely merits responses, while ones that bring out the gay racists and white supremacists, like the transphobes, the Trump defenders, people trashing millennial nonbinary/queer YouTubers etc. generate lots of page clicks and commentary. And it usually works.
Pete le meat
Blacks before gays – that’s how liberal identity politics works.
Kangol
Cut the racist crap out, please! Your beloved right-wingers are actively trying to deny you your rights, the ones a BLACK president helped to secure. Not the current vile white man in the White House nor the last Republican, who actively campaigned in 2004 against same-sex marriage in tandem with white Republican legislators, to ban it. So can the racism and get a f*cking grip!
James
GOOD RIDDANCE. WHO NEEDS HIM AND HIS STUPID JOKES.