Kevin Hart says he’s reconsidering Oscars hosting gig

SHARE Kevin Hart says he’s reconsidering Oscars hosting gig
ap18122667675326.jpg

In this Dec. 11, 2017 file photo, Kevin Hart arrives at the Los Angeles premiere of “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle” in Los Angeles. | Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File

NEW YORK — Prodded by Ellen DeGeneres, comic Kevin Hart says he’ll reconsider his decision to step down as host of the Academy Awards.

Hart had backed away two days after being named host last month when some homophobic tweets he had made a decade ago resurfaced. But DeGeneres urged him to host the show during an interview that aired Friday on her talk show.

The motion picture Academy has not named a replacement host for its Feb. 24 awards show.

“You have grown,” DeGeneres told him. “You have apologized. You’re apologizing again right now. You’ve done it. Don’t let these people win. Host the Oscars.”

RELATED

Comedians defend Kevin Hart amid homophobic tweets scandal

She applied subtle pressure by saying after one commercial break, “We’re back with this year’s Oscars host, Kevin Hart.”

Hart told her that “you have put a lot of things on my mind” and that he would think about their conversation.

If there’s a campaign to get him back, it couldn’t have started more slickly: on the hugely successful talk show run by one of Hollywood’s most prominent gay celebrities, who hosted the Oscars herself in 2007.

DeGeneres said she called the Academy this week to urge that Hart be brought back, and was told that officials would be “thrilled” if he did. An Academy representative did not immediately return a message for comment.

Hart wrote homophobic remarks on Twitter mostly between 2009-2011, including one where he said: “Yo if my son comes home & try’s 2 play with my daughters doll house I’m going 2 break it over his head & say n my voice ‘stop that’s gay.'” It was later deleted. He has also made anti-gay comments in his standup in the past.

Hart told her that when his old messages resurfaced, “what was once the brightest light ever just got real dark.” He initially said he wouldn’t apologize because he had addressed the issue several times. But given an ultimatum to apologize, he did so and stepped down.

Hart said it was hard for him because he considered it an attack when his tweets resurfaced a day after he got the Oscars gig.

“That’s an attempt to end me,” he said. “That’s not an attack to just stop the Oscars … Somebody has to take a stand against the … trolls.”

DeGeneres received some resistance on social media, with some commenters saying that Hart’s homophobic jokes were a legitimate issue for discussion, and it wasn’t a case of people maliciously trying to hurt him.

She responded on Twitter: “I believe in forgiveness. I believe in second chances.”

The Oscars are looking for something to juice Hollywood’s biggest night, after the ceremony drew its smallest audience ever in 2018.

DAVID BAUDER, AP Media Writer

The Latest
The man was found unresponsive in an alley in the 10700 block of South Lowe Avenue, police said.
The man suffered head trauma and was pronounced dead at University of Chicago Medical Center, police said.
Another federal judge in Chicago who also has dismissed gun cases based on the same Supreme Court ruling says the high court’s decision in what’s known as the Bruen case will “inevitably lead to more gun violence, more dead citizens and more devastated communities.”
Women make up just 10% of those in careers such as green infrastructure and clean and renewable energy, a leader from Openlands writes. Apprenticeships and other training opportunities are some of the ways to get more women into this growing job sector.
Chatterbox doesn’t seem aware that it’s courteous to ask questions, seek others’ opinions.