Kevin Hart Steps Down From Oscar Gig Over Homophobic Tweets

After a longer-than-usual search the Academy finally found an inoffensive, charming but not really edgy comic to host the upcoming Oscar ceremony, and Kevin Hart lasted almost two days before being forced to step down as host for homophobic tweets he made almost a decade ago.

Hart posted a video on Instagram explaining why he chose not to apologize for the tweets that basically said it was because he already apologized for them and he’s not going to keep doing it his whole life, which is… fair, I think.

Via Variety:

“I chose to pass on the apology,” the 39-year-old actor-comedian said in the video. “The reason why I passed is because I’ve addressed this several times. This is not the first time this has come up. I’ve addressed it. I’ve spoken on it. I’ve said where the rights and wrongs were. I’ve said who I am now versus who I was then. I’ve done it. I’m not going to continue to go back and tap into the days of old when I’ve moved on and I’m in a completely different place in my life.”

I think Hart handled it in a mature way and the situation isn’t all that different from what happened to James Gunn, aside from the fact that people angry about Hart were acting in good faith and not looking for any excuse to get him fired because he said something mean about their imaginary daddy.

Hart later announced he was stepping down as the host of the Oscars on Twitter and offered an apology for his old Tweets.

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

Now the Academy has to find a new host, something that won’t be easy. Who is okay with having the world know they were lower on the call sheet than Kevin Hart? And who wants to take a job the last guy left because he made unwoke tweets a decade ago? They’re going to end up with one of the Real Housewives at this rate. Wait, isn’t Kevin Hart one of the Real Housewives? Oh s**t, they better call Honey Boo-Boo.

The way I see it, the Academy has two choices for a host. The first is they can get someone so edgy that people will have trouble digging up something they said that isn’t offensive. Someone like Sarah Silverman or Jim Jefferies or Ricky Gervais who would never in a million years be considered under normal circumstances and just stand behind them no matter who calls for their head. They kind of tried this with Seth MacFarlane, but that’s only going like, 50% of where they need to go now. The other way to is just get a major star no one ever thought would take the job like a George Clooney or a reanimated Dean Martin. No one is going to think George Clooney was a second choice to host anything.

But they’re probably going to get Hannah Gadsby, the completely unfunny “comedian” behind Nanette. Because nothing says “fresh new perspective” than a fat, angry, lesbian feminist who hates men. She’s like the antagonist in an episode of Married… With Children. When the first adjective used to describe someone’s comedy special is “important” and “funny” doesn’t make the cut, that’s the kind of person the Oscars wants as a host.