Ellen DeGeneres’ Brother Defends Talk Show Host For Supporting Kevin Hart

In the latest chapter of the Kevin Hart/Ellen DeGeneres/Oscar hosting saga, the daytime talk show host’s brother, Vance DeGeneres has come to the defense of his sister’s support of Hart despite the controversy surrounding him regarding resurfaced homophobic tweets that caused him to lose the Oscar hosting gig.

CNN’s Don Lemon chimed in with emotional criticism of the interview and, of course, Twitter wasted no time with the backlash.

“Regarding my sister – no good deed goes unpunished,” he wrote. “All she’s ever done is try to help make the world a better, kinder, more compassionate place. And she’s paid the price for her efforts. You may want to pick on someone who actually deserves your criticism.”

Earlier this week Ellen DeGeneres welcomed Hart on her show where she wanted him to come back as host of the annual ceremony despite all the scandal. On the show, she told Hart: “Don’t pay attention to them; they are a small group of people who are very, very loud. We are a huge group of people who love you and want you to host the Oscars.” Many people agreed with her — and just as many disagreed with her choice to support Hart.

Deadline exclusively reported that Hart will not reemerge as host of the Oscars, despite DeGeneres’ support. Hart has since posted on Instagram that he has grown as a person over the past decade and understands that his past homophobic tweets were wrong and from when he was “an immature comedian”.

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