Just two days after the announcement that he’d be hosting/screaming at the 2019 Oscars, Kevin Hart has stepped down from the role after refusing to apologise for old anti-gay tweets.
Hart announced the decision on Twitter, saying that he didn’t want to be a “distraction”, and (finally) apologising to the LGBTQ community.
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
This comes after screenshots began to circulate on Twitter of some of Hart’s since-deleted tweets from 2010 and 2011, in which he uses homophobic slurs.
https://twitter.com/adambvary/status/1070451517092651008
Hart’s response to the tweets was uh… not fantastic. He initially reacted by posting a video of himself on Instagram admonishing fans for “searching for reasons to be angry“.
While he made reference to growing and maturing as a person, he also made it clear that he wasn’t going to apologise for those tweets.
After reportedly being told by the Academy that he’d have to apologise or they’d fire him from the host role, Hart posted another video saying he’d rather quit than say sorry.
Look: weird flex, but okay? At least he’s not bitching about losing the gig?
Meanwhile, the Academy is, how you say, fully fucked. They don’t have a host for their night of nights and it’s only two months away. Any volunteers?
