Kevin Hart Admits That He Was 'Immature' And Mishandled The Oscar Scandal Over Homophobic Tweets
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A 2018 Scandal
In December 2018, Kevin Hart was at the center of a backlash surrounding some old homophobic tweets. When he was announced as the 2019 Oscar host, people were angry about the opinions that he had expressed online and Hart eventually stepped down.
Some of the tweets in question were indeed a bad look. One from 2011 read "Yo if my son comes home & try’s 2 play with my daughters doll house I’m going 2 break it over his head & say n my voice 'stop that’s gay,'" while another from 2009 read "What ru some type of FAT F-G that takes pics of small black men all day?"
Addressing The Backlash
Hart initially refused to apologize, [saying in an Instagram video}:
"I chose to pass on the apology. The reason why I passed is I’ve addressed this several times. . . . 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’ve done it. I’m not going to continue to go back. . . . We feed on Internet trolls and we reward them. I’m not going to do it, man. I’m going to be me. I’m going to stand my ground. Regardless Academy, I’m thankful and appreciative of the opportunity. If it goes away, no harm, no foul."
When the news broke the next day that he was officially out as the host, Hart tweeted out an explanation of his decision to step down at the time and an apology, saying:
"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."
"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."
Trying To Manage The Fallout
In his new Netflix docuseries, Kevin Hart: Don't F-ck This Up, he addressed the situation, and admitted that the ordeal sent him into clean up mode. He was advised to keep quiet for a while by his publicist:
"He needs to just shut up and put his head down for the next few weeks. What he needs to remember is he’s feeding 50-60 people. When he takes a s--tter, everybody takes a s--tter and that’s a big issue now."
The show also addressed the fact that he went on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, but the interview did little to change his image.
He Admits He Was 'Immature'
Ultimately, Hart admits that he could have managed the situation better, calling himself "immature."
"What I thought was going to blow over ended up becoming a bigger mess than I expected. Everybody is telling me my approach is wrong... There’s a lot of cooks in the kitchen but there’s only one person in the hot water. What I thought [my behavior] was going to do, it did not do. The complete opposite happened.
I missed an opportunity to say simply that I don’t condone any type of violence in any way, shape or form to anyone for being who they are. I f--ked up. ... Instead, I said, ‘I addressed it.’ I said, ‘I apologized.’ I said, ‘I talked about this already.’ I was just immature.
You can't do it by yourself. You don't let them do their jobs by being the defiant. When you're wrong it's going to hurt because you're going to look back and go, 'f--k, I should've listened."
