Kevin Hart has recently come under scrutiny over 10-year-old homophobic tweets he claims were “satiric comments about his own heterosexual anxiety” – The Guardian.
The comedian / actor refused to apologise on behalf of his actions in the face of the Oscars, and actually, this may have saved his career. By stepping down from the Oscars, Hart removes any power they might’ve had over him, and is therefore able to apologise in his own right, without the idea of gaining something out of it (i.e. hosting the 2019 Oscars).
He 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
He then follows with: “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”.
Many celebrities have been called out for racist or homophobic tweets over the years, for example, last years I’m A Celebrity booted off a campmate for awful comments that he made on twitter when he was young.
It seems that while homophobic comments are downright unacceptable in our society, it becomes almost impossible for people to forgive, and believe in change of another person who has, in Hart’s case, not been that person for 10 years.
Perhaps Hart intends to host the Oscars one day (since it’s on his bucket list), but such a thing will only arise if he is forgiven by the public.
#Peace.Love.Oscars
