Kevin Hart steps down from Oscar hosting gig amid criticism over past anti-gay tweets
By Louis Casiano | Fox News
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/8...922/l5uAXb.jpg
Comedian Kevin Hart has announced he is stepping down from hosting the 2019 Academy Awards amid criticism over years-old tweets deemed anti-gay.
Hart, 39, posted on Twitter early Friday an apology to the LGBTQ community for his past comments.
“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,” Hart tweeted.
In a follow-up tweet, he added that" "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."
The announcement came two days after Hart announced on his Instagram account that he’d been selected to host the 91st Academy Awards, which will be broadcast Feb. 24. He was slated to take over the hosting duties from Jimmy Kimmel, who emceed the past two ceremonies.
Shortly after announcing the hosting gig, several now-deleted tweets by Hart using words such as “homo” and “gay,” dating back to 2011, resurfaced.
In a 2010 stand-up special, Hart said "If I can prevent my son from being gay, I will."
GLAAD, a media monitoring group founded by LGBT people in media, said it had contacted the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to discuss Hart’s gig prior to him stepping down.
"We’ve reached out to @ABCNetwork, @TheAcademy and @KevinHart4real’s management to discuss Kevin’s anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and record as well as opportunities for positive LGBTQ inclusion on the Oscars stage," the group tweeted.
Late Thursday, Hart reacted to the backlash in an Instagram video.
[IGM]p/BrEFNFalWgw[/IGM]
https://i.imgur.com/YuI1ACn.png
"If u want to search my history or past and anger yourselves with what u find that is fine with me, a shirtless Hart said. "I’m almost 40 years old and I’m in love with the man that I am becoming. "If you want to hold people in a position where they always have to justify or explain their past then...I'm the wrong guy, man."
Some Twitter users, including celebrities, were not amused.
Chad Griffin, president of Human Rights Campaign, which advocates for LGBTQ equality, also chimed in.
In another Instagram video, Hart said the Academy asked him to apologize for the past tweets or "we're going to have to move on to find another host."
"I chose to pass," Hart said. "The reason I passed because I've addressed this several times. I've said where the rights and wrongs were. I've who I am now versus who I was then."
"We feed into the Internet trolls and we reward them, I'm not going to do it, man. I'm going to be me, and stand my ground," he continued.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Nick Cannon STRIKES BACK, Defends Kevin Hart By Posting 'Homophobic' Tweets From Woke Comedians
By Emily Zanotti - The Daily Wire
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/8...924/Wa7ITV.jpg
Comedian Nick Cannon came to the defense of his friend Kevin Hart Saturday, striking back at "woke" comedians who demanded Hart step down from his position hosting the Oscars awards ceremony by revealing their individual histories of making "homophobic" and "problematic" comments on Twitter.
Hart stepped down from hosting the Oscars on Friday, after pro-LGBTQ activists revealed that Hart had written "homophobic" tweets in the past about what he might do if his son turned out to be gay.
Hart initially refused to apologize for his past tweets, claiming that they were immaterial to his current career, but eventually caved to pressure, announcing late last week that he was "sorry" for his behavior and that he would not be hosting the Oscars, so as to "not be a distraction" from the Hollywood awards ceremony.
That's when Cannon stepped in, posting to his own Twitter feed examples of "homophobic" tweets from some of Hollywood's most recognizable "woke" names: Amy Schumer, Sarah Silverman, and, of course, Chelsea Handler.
Warning: the language is pretty strong.
Cannon doesn't want the three women to be forced to apologize, IndieWire reports, "but to question why so much backlash was given to Hart when homophobic jokes have been made for some time by comics both male and female."
Ultimately, Cannon believes that comedians should be free to joke about what they want, and to make mistakes, missteps, and bad jokes along the way, without those mistakes coming back to haunt them when they're nominated to host one of the single largest entertainment events on the calendar.
"You know I’ve been saying f***ed up sh*t since twitter started!” Cannon replied to one fan who asked him what he was doing. “I don’t play that politically correct bulls**t! F*** politics!! Only Truth!”
None of the women Cannon exposed have apologized for their tweets or, really, said anything in response to Cannon's publication. Sarah Silverman, IndieWire says, has occasionally cited her previous work as rough and amateurish.
“All I can do is learn from it, be changed forever by it, and do what I can to make it right going forward," Silverman told The Guardian last year.
Strangely, though, woke Hollywood isn't willing to grant the same grace to Kevin Hart.
