Kevin Hart Steps Down As Oscars Host Following Backlash To Past Homophobia
Many are calling for him to be removed as the host of the 2019 Oscars.
Content warning: the following article includes uncensored homophobic slurs and phrases.
UPDATE #2: Kevin Hart has stepped down from his role as Oscars host. In a new tweet he announced his decision, also apologising to the LGBTQ community for his past words.
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
UPDATE: Kevin Hart has recently posted a new Instagram video from Australia where he is currently on tour. In it he states he has just received a call from the Academy giving him an ultimatum to apologise for his past tweets or he’ll be removed as Oscars host. He says he has “passed” on it. You can watch the video below, we expect a statement from the Academy sometime soon.
ORIGINAL ARTICLE: Earlier this week comedian Kevin Hart was announced as the host for the 2019 Academy Awards. Unlike the near-simultaneous news that Andy Samberg and Sandra Oh would be MCs for the Golden Globes though, a lot of people are incredibly not down with Hart’s appointment, dredging up his many previous instances of homophobia.
The accusations levelled at Hart come from two main arenas. The first is his long history of the use of the phrases “fag” and “no homo” in a litany of tweets spanning several years and the second, far more harmful behaviour, is his frequent comedic output in his stand-up and elsewhere surrounding a fear and disgust that his own son would one day come out as gay.
The vast majority of these incidents occurred prior to 2011, with the offensive tweets in particular since deleted. But as this is the internet we’re talking about, nothing disappears forever.
I wonder when Kevin Hart is gonna start deleting all his old tweets ??? pic.twitter.com/ZbYG6SI3Xm
— Benjamin Lee (@benfraserlee) December 5, 2018
A forgiving person might expect Hart, a much bigger star now than he was in 2011 and with the eyes of the world set to descend on him as Oscars host, to distance himself from his past, apologise and confirm he is now a changed person who is trying to do better. Yeah, nah, that has 100% not happened.
In light of the resurgence in accusations of bigotry, Hart has today posted a video on Instagram that can be pretty much summed up as “leave me alone, I don’t give a shit”.
Despite claiming in the accompanying comment that people indeed learn, grow and mature, Kevin Hart refuses to engage with the conversation surrounding his homophobic output. The whole response is an utter shirking of responsibility for his actions, of the impact they cause to the LGBTIQ community and his role as a hugely popular public figure.
People were not having a bar of his thoroughly weak response, with calls to remove him as Oscar’s host only seeming to increase in number and fervour.
It’d be a shame if the Oscars had to give up on Kevin Hart and settle for someone who respects their viewers.
— Louis Virtel (@louisvirtel) December 7, 2018
Kevin Hart really said “what’s understood should never have to be said” as a response to all this… like we’re a side chick asking for a title ?
— Y’all Won (@SylviaObell) December 7, 2018
Kevin Hart used a lot of words in that rambling Instagram caption and yet none of them were 'sorry for being a homophobe'. interesting
— Cathy (@catherinebouris) December 7, 2018
You @KevinHart4real are NOT FIT a model, or representative to Host for the @TheAcademy which CELEBRATES & WELCOMES talent of all genders, sexualities, & ethnicitieas. you frequently reveal yourself to occupy the malevolence you treat people who don't sexually exist like you as.
— IAM (@IndyaMoore) December 6, 2018
Hart’s defenders are few and far between with really only his wife stepping in to say that only God can judge him. Wrong Eniko, I’m judging him right now.
Yes, Eniko, you’re certainly damned if you DON’T tweet faggot a bunch of times and threaten violence if your son were gay pic.twitter.com/QYHU1srP8c
— Ira (@ira) December 7, 2018
One of the more thorough takedowns of just how problematic Hart’s attitude to the ongoing saga is, comes to us via Pose star Indya Moore who posted the following comments on his Instagram:
The Academy is yet to respond to the outcry to dump him as host although there is some precedence in its history to do just that as Brett Ratnor was forced to resign as a producer for the 2011 show after video of him saying “rehearsing is for fags” was leaked.
With the entertainment industry at the fore of societal change amongst the #MeToo era, having an Academy Awards host who not only has a past riddled with latent homophobia, but refuses to acknowledge or apologise for it, is a backwards step. Yes, his bigoted behaviour is mostly from the past decade but if Kevin Hart is unable to provide an earnest, heartfelt apology combined with a real-world demonstration that he’s changed he does not deserve to be the face of this or any awards shows.
Homophobia is not positivity.
— Jamie Lee Curtis (@jamieleecurtis) December 7, 2018