Kevin Hart Apologizes Again to LGBTQ Community Over Oscars Controversy
Kevin Hart is once again attempting to make things right.
On Monday, the comedian and actor decided to address the scandal that has surrounded him and the Academy Awards since he quickly accepted, and then stepped down, from emcee duties in early December. The apology came on his SiriusXM radio show, Straight to the Hart.
“I will say this, and I want to make this very clear," the comedian said, attempting to clarify his previous words, via The Hollywood Reporter. "Once again, Kevin Hart apologizes for his remarks that hurt members of the LGBTQ community. I apologize."
The new statement was part of an entire segment of his show where he explored the controversy in depth, including revisiting the homophobic comments which first ignited the backlash.
“'I want to say that I have no problem with gay people. I don’t have a homophobic bone in my body. I want you to be happy, be gay, be happy.' And then I say as a heterosexual male, if I can do something to stop my son… that’s where the joke starts!"
"I really had to dive into the whole thing, even the tweets," he continued. “These weren’t words that I said to gay individuals. I didn’t say these words to people, at the time, this was our dumb asses on Twitter going back and forth with each other. We thought it was okay to talk like that, because that’s how we talked to one another. In that, you go, fuck! This is wrong now.”
The standup comic later openly discussed realizing the impact that hurtful words can have on the LGBTQ community.
“Now we’re in a space where I’m around people of the LGBTQ community, and I’m now aware of how these words make them feel, and why they say ‘That s**t hurt because of what I’ve been through,’” he said. "So then we say, ‘Hey, man, as a group, let’s erase this s**t. Hey, let’s not do this. We don’t post this s**t on social media."
On Dec. 6., when the 39-year-old comedian first announced that he intended to decline the Academy’s offer to host the Oscars, he also apologized.
"I have made the choice to step down from hosting this year's Oscar's," he wrote. "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."
"I'm sorry that I hurt people," Hart continued. "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."
Since then, the scandal has continued. Ellen DeGeneres is now receiving criticism for not only supporting Hart but having him on her show early in the new year and encouraging him to take the Oscars gig.
"You can’t let them destroy you and they can’t destroy you because you have too much talent,” she told him on the show. “No one can do that. For them to stop you from your dream, from what you wanted to do and what you have a right to do, what you should be doing. It’s why they haven’t found another host. I think they were secretly hoping that you would come back."
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