Kevin Hart sends mixed messages about hosting Oscars

He appeared to reopen the door during an appearance on Ellen DeGeneres’ talk show “The Ellen Degeneres Show,” but seemed to close it again in another interview.

Jay Scott Smith

Jan 4, 2019

Kevin Hart thegrio.com — (Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images for Universal Pictures)

Kevin Hart, nearly a month after he was forced to step down as host of the Academy Awards after scores of homophobic tweets and jokes had resurfaced online, is speaking out again about the fallout, Variety reports.

The Philadelphia native admitted that the Academy’s ultimatum to apologize for the old jokes put him on the defensive and he told the magazine that he was done dealing with the Academy.

When he, however, made the appearance on Ellen DeGeneres’ talk show, he expressed that he was open to hosting the show if the Academy would have him.

Ellen not only publicly defended Hart, but says that she even called the Academy to ask them to reinstate him.

“They were like, ‘Oh my God, we want him to host,'” DeGeneres said during the show. “‘We feel like maybe it was misunderstood or it was handled wrong or maybe we said the wrong thing, but we want him to host. Whatever we could do, we would be thrilled.’”

DeGeneres, often seen as the foremost LGBT star in the business, dismissed those who took issue with Hart as “haters” and went as far as to tweet her support of him

I believe in forgiveness. I believe in second chances. And I believe in @KevinHart4real. pic.twitter.com/oJxfGXhU4P

— Ellen DeGeneres (@TheEllenShow) January 4, 2019

Her coziness with Hart did not set well with a number of her LGBT fans. Philip Picardi, the editor in chief of Out Magazine, tweeted that he believes in forgiving homophobes, but only if they actually apologize.

And furthermore, Ellen can’t forgive someone on behalf of the community, LOL. That’s NOT how that works! I think she gave Kevin a pass instead of having an actually productive conversation about what these words and attitudes mean and how prevalent they are in our society.

— Phillip Picardi (@pfpicardi) January 4, 2019

Social media continued to hammer Ellen for her support of the unapologetic Hart.

I feel like if you’re not homophobic anymore, you shouldn’t mind apologizing for your past homophobia again and again and again. I don’t want to hear a hostile retelling of how we didn’t hear your meager apology the first time.

— Louis Virtel (@louisvirtel) January 4, 2019

(1) First, the people who brought up Kevin Hart’s past tweets — like me — were not, as Ellen characterized, “haters.” The host of the Oscars had made anti-gay jokes, and LGBT people who love the Oscars were legitimately startled to see just how harsh his words were. It wasn’t a…

— Adam B. Vary (@adambvary) January 4, 2019