Ellen DeGeneres says the Academy still wants Kevin Hart to host the Oscars, urges him to take the job
Aux Features Kevin Hart
Last month, it was announced that Kevin Hart would host the 91st annual Academy Awards, but the comedian quickly quit the gig after refusing to apologize for old, homophobic and transphobic tweets that surfaced in the wake of the announcement. The Academy’s since considered moving forward without a host, but no decision has been made. If you’re wondering why, well, Ellen DeGeneres has an answer: The Academy still wants Hart for the job.
Hart sat down with DeGeneres, a former Oscars host, on her talk show on Thursday, and the interview, which airs today, finds DeGeneres rallying behind Hart and revealing that she personally called the Academy to ask if they would consider reinstating Hart. “We want him to host, whatever we can do, we would be thrilled, and he should host,” she said they said.
This comes via Deadline, who characterize those who dug up Hart’s tweets as “trolls.” DeGeneres seems to feel the same way about them. “Don’t pay attention to them; they are a small group of people who are very, very loud,” DeGeneres said to Hart. “We are a huge group of people who love you and want you to host the Oscars.”
Hart replied by saying “it’s tough for me because it was an attack, a malicious attack on my character, to end me.”
DeGeneres also called those offended by Hart’s (gross, mean, bizarrely aggressive) tweets “haters,” saying “they will win if you don’t host the Oscars.” She continued, “You can’t let them destroy you because you have too much talent, and for them to stop you from your dream, from what you want to do, what you have the right to do, what you should be doing… Don’t let those people win, host the Oscars… That’s why they (The Academy) haven’t found another host, because they are secretly hoping that you would come back.”
Hart, who says he’s grown over the past several years and admits he made the jokes when he was “an immature comedian,” says he’s considering the possibility of returning as host.
“Leaving here, I promise you I’m evaluating this conversation. Let me assess, just sit in the space and really think, and you and I will talk before anything else,” he said.
Watch Ellen lay out her case below.
And here’s Hart discussing his old tweets and the backlash he received.
197 Comments
A malicious attack on his character (by bringing up homophobic jokes he himself said in specials and on twitter and never apologized for (hint: you can’t call yourself a victim in an apology) or showed contrition for) vs a malicious attack on his hypothetical gay son (child abuse! hilarious! Parents are still murdering their children in this day and age for not appearing straight and cisgender). Immature jokes from when he was younger, i.e., 4 years ago, when he was in his 30s. If you’re still homophobic in your 30s, there’s more wrong with you than just immaturity.
‘Speaking out against his shitty material is a violation of free speech!’ – The dumb half of the Internet.
“The answer to bad speech is… for everyone else to shut up about it and possibly leave the internet”
So your prefer this guy lose his job? He’s a comedian. They should have free reign. He should take the job and stand up to the puritanical authoritarians who are going after comedians.
Yeah, I’m clearly trying to put the millionaire with multiple movies being released this year out on the street by asking him to behave like a civilized human being and not a violent homophobic child abusing asshole.
He was joking. You cannot take jokes seriously. I can’t believe what’s happened to young people: He didn’t abuse anyone. Answer me, do you think He should still perform? Only if he follows YOUR rules and falls to his knees and apologizes? And you don’t think that’s a little authoritarian? It’s comedy. Stop attacking comedy. That’s lame.
You know, for someone who gets extremely upset at the slightest bit of pushback to problematic speech on the internet, you sure do have a lot of thoughts about what other people shouldn’t be allowed to say.
Never said you can’t say it, but I’ve also never formed an exceedingly uptight mob to corner someone for their tweets. But I’m the one with the problem with free speech? Kinja, please.
I’m gonna go out on a limb and guess you’re a straight white man.Kevin Hart will be just fine without you standing up for his very unfunny homophobic jokes.
I don’t need to go out on a limb to see that you judge people by race. You people are soooooooooooo fucking racist. You judge EVERYONE by race.Drink piss for eternity, you racist cunt.
Did you get a nice souvenir from Charlottesville? Besides the tiki torch, I mean. Don’t worry, Donald Trump will make all the racist non-white people go away soon, sweetie.
Snookums, you judge people by the color of their skin. You’re a proud bigot. You know what the difference is between you and the alt right? The color of skin you hate.Come on down to the side of MLK. Or keep judging people based on race, see where that takes you (cough cough guaranteed conflict). Fucking moron.
I’m white like you, asshole. Unlike you, I’m not a racist asshole who thinks white people are the most oppressed people on the planet. Enjoy your impotent rage!
Never said anything remotely like that. Just said you judge people by race, which you do. Sorry snookums okay byeeeeeeeeeeee!
You absolutely can call comedians out and criticize their jokes, I don’t know where this idea can from that just because someone is joking they’re immune from criticism or no one can speak on the attitudes/motivation behind those jokes. And the thing is, Hart could’ve totally performed a routine on feeling uneasy at the prospect of his child being gay, of how it’d be weird to technically love a gay man and not mean he himself is gay, or the awkwardness of having a sex talk with a young gay guy, etc. that could be hilarious. What he said, on the other hand, just came off as hateful. I know Eddie Murphy said the F-word several times on “Delirious”, if he did that now (or another comic did a similar routine), there’d be backlash because there’s been social progress. Doesn’t mean you can’t joke around but it does mean there might be more social consequences for people making light of homophobia (or just treating gay people, the fact that they exist in general, as a joke). People seem to think that anything not illegal should have zero consequences, sorry that’s not how it works anymore. You can joke about whatever you want, and then people will tell you what they think and you can decide how to act based on that. So much bitching these days just equates to “I used to be able to do/say whatever I wanted with impunity and now there’s pushback and I don’t like it”. Well, other people didn’t like what *you* were doing/saying ans they’re less marginalized, so tough shit.
Fuck you with this shit.
I don’t think anyone rational is actually accusing him of abusing his actual children in the actual real world.
His jokes are stupid, and unfunny, and really aren’t the types of jokes family-friendly mega-movie Kevin Hart should be making, but you’re definitely going a bit far saying that they represent him actually abusing children.
Which is why I didn’t say he was a violent homophobic child abusing asshole. I said he was acting like one.
He really isn’t, though. Violent, homophobic child abusers don’t generally talk about abusing their children on twitter. 😛
Bless your heart, you sweet summer child.
Go fuck yourself, you judgmental, condescending fuck-wad. ^_^
It’s just words, right?
I forgot to call you passive aggressive. Apologies for the omission.
and a hearty namaste to you too, buttercup. I know how upsetting it can be when people say things you don’t like on the internet.
this is pretty hypocritical considering you’re the person throwing a hissy fit here, doofus. ^_^
But then, I’m not putting on a performance of being a free speech absolutist 🙂
I’m certainly not doing that. I’m just calling into question equivocating his stupid jokes with actual child abuse. I’m pretty sure I said he shouldn’t have made the jokes. 😛
I think you’re too stuck on painting me as a bogey-man that you’re not actually paying attention to what I wrote.
and I think that you’re teaching us all by example exactly how serious you are when you demand that people respond dispassionately to words they don’t like.We can always agree to disagree about that.
I’ve made no such demands. 😛
No, they just get inspired by other people joking about beating their gay children.
This is akin to claiming that watching violent movies is the reason people go shoot up schools. 😛
Not really. Shooting up schools is never viewed as an admirable or justified act by society. Abusing, abandoning, or killing gay kids IS viewed as admirable in large segments of American society. Kevin Hart is not responsible for violence against gay children. But his attempts at humor clearly advance the notion that having a gay child is a tragedy, even if you buy his claims that the crux of the joke is really about his own insecurity. He’s not guilty of abusing gay children, or even causing gay children to be abused. He’s guilty of shitty, irresponsible comedy.
I really don’t see where I’m defending his jokes. I’m pretty sure I called them “stupid” and “unfunny,” so I really don’t know where all this is coming from. Go ahead and go after me, though. I’m clearly your enemy here. 😉
Oh, sweetie. You wouldn’t crack 100,000 on my enemies list. But if it makes you happy to imagine that this is all about you, go for it!
Where is this even coming from? *_*
“…Abusing, abandoning, or killing gay kids IS viewed as admirable… “Holy shit. It’s retarded.
Who are you to say what kind of jokes he or anyone else “should be making”? This is the problem, we are putting limits on comedians based on moral outrage. It’s what the conservatives used to do. Now, it’s the left. How can you be so lame?
Obviously he shouldn’t have made the jokes because obviously they’re bad for his family-friendly big-movie-making career. If he wants to be everyone’s favorite comedian he should avoid making jokes that a bunch of people hate that get him fired. 😛
I would like to interject that our collective lust for outrage is why will never have a Guardians of the Galaxy 3.
I could be wrong, but I’m under the impression that he’s actually apologized for his tweets and jokes in the past, like years ago already, and his whole point now is “how long do I have to keep apologizing?” Wether you think he’s funny or not, when is he “allowed” to work again? How many times is this going to get brought up whenever he tries to do any work in the future ?
I’m perfectly fine with that because the second movie was crap.
I’m perfectly fine with that because the second movie was crap.
People are accusing him right now in this thread of child abuse. You think perhaps outrage culture has gone a bit too far?
No.
A) It’s “free rein.”
B) Kevin Hart is a millionaire many times over. I could not give less of a shit if he lost this particular job.
He can still do his job, which is being a comedian. He’s not getting fired from Denny’s.
Yeah you just think he should never work again. So subtle. You’re so quiet. It was all fun and games but now that I know you’re an ugly troll of a human it’s like you don’t want to talk anymore. Come on sweetie let’s see a smile on that ugly mug you call a face.
Sweet darling dearest, I love you, but I’m not taking you out of the grays. You need to try harder if you want that.
Ohhhh. Looks like uggo needs a diper change
Probably an extra large one too huh?
Try harder.
Nah. I’d rather stick with what I know bothers you and is thus in all likelihood true. I think it’s so brave of you to keep talking to me even though we’ve established that you’re unlovable and will almost certainly spend your relatively short life alone.
Dude, we can see you responding to yourself. You forgot to switch accounts. Hilarious.
it’s because i dismissed his replies, dork
He didn’t lose anything, he quit because he was too chickenshit to say “I’m sorry” without adding a bunch of qualifiers that negate the apology! He still makes an insane amount of money doing standup tours. He has a new movie coming out, and probably has two or the more in the can to follow.He quit the gig, and he should stand by that decision.
“They should have free rein.” He does have free rein. So do we. We don’t like what he said. We don’t believe that he has changed. We suspect he doesn’t understand what the big fuss is all about, which is unfortunate. Many of us do not make our decisions based on who Ellen likes or does not like. It happens.
I do not buy it. I mean, I’m sure you don’t like it, but I think there’s more going on here. You’ve rejected two apologies, one directly to the LGBTQ community. Bottom line: You want him to do something. He won’t do it or can’t do it to your expectations. This is about making him bend and genuflect. Meaning its about power.
You should make your decisions based on Ellen’s likes and dislikes. She’s apparently part of the deep state.
I am thoroughly in favor of absolutely everyone leaving the Internet.
It would be awesome. Unfortunately, it seems to be the Milo-adjacent who suggest it, and only for other people.
Jesus, do you see the alt right in your cornflakes? Here’s some breaking news (from 2016): Milo isn’t alt right. The alt right are Identitarians. You cannot be gay and be part of the alt right. Frankly, the panic over the alt right is exactly the same as over Muslims after 911. They have zero power.
Speaking out against his shitty material is a violation of free speech!’ – The dumb half of the Internet. I don’t know how exactly to calculate it, but the internet might be more than half dumb.
Who specifically said that?
“Telling comedians what they can or cannot do is progress! Preferably by forming outrage mobs to blather on about hate speech!“ – The fucking lame half of the internet.
And by “speaking out” I mean “making sure he doesn’t get a job hosting awards shows.”
I don’t know man. I have relatives in their 70’s who are just recognizing that they’ve known closeted (recently un-closeted) gay people for their entire lives, and it’s only now changing their perceptions of what it even means to be homosexual. It’s never to late to change your mind.
You want to control comedy and pour over everyone’s lives for ammunition. George Carlin is breakdancing in hell. Orwell weeps.
“I sincerely apologize to the LGBTQ community for my insensitive words from my past.”- Kevin Hart. Why do people keep saying he hasn’t apologized. I googled apology kevin hart, and there are a few, but you can’t get clearer than this.
It’s not like we were that much less “woke” four years ago, that you can cite “different times, different standards.” Or maybe we weren’t, fuck me if I know any more.
What about human thumbs?
Pictured: Kevin takes a Hart look in the mirror.
There’s no reflection. Is he a vampire???
No, vampires are funny.
The Count made me laugh.He also made himself laugh.
You guys know this is no big deal, right?
Ellen cashing in her declining goodwill for Kevin Hart…ok.
I’d watch to see a sans host production. That or hire John Mulaney and Nick Kroll. Or…Terry Crews as President Camacho.
“it’s tough for me because it was an attack, a malicious attack on my character, to end me.” So you’re going to take your ball and go home because…you said some stuff and people saw it and didn’t like it? Grow up. And why is Ellen pandering to this BS.
I didn’t see a single person who wanted Hart off the Oscars. I did see a lot of people confused and hurt by his Instagram video blaming all the “haters” and refusing to apologize for very explicit homophobia.
He really is stubborn and arrogant not to apologize. Granted there will always be a group of people that will want him out no matter what he says but he didn’t even try I wish Ellen had pushed for him to apologize. I get she’s a friend but can’t let him off the hook after he’s just martyring himself
Why do we want an apology from him? It’s clear it wouldn’t mean anything at this point. Let him dig his hole.
Why are you demanding a comedian apologize? That’s the lamest thing I’ve ever heard. How old are you, eighty?
No one should apologize to the outrage mob. They don’t mean it, they are just running on a program. They have launched a full-scale attack on comedy. They went after Chris Rock, ffs. If you support these censorious bullies, you are anti-comdey, which means you are anti-art. You people demand the comedian to apologize. That’s just totally lame. Are you church ladies?
You got me, I am very anti-comdey.And if you attack me for mocking your typo, you’re anti-comdey too!Also, if you could prove you’re not a Russian bot as your syntax indicates, that’d be great.
Nice. You just trotted out the “You’re a Russian bot! ” canard right out the gates. I’m typing with my thumb.
Congratulations on being an actual human being with a real stupid human opinion! Kevin Hart is listed as a producer on no less than 6 movies or series in 2018 or in the future, and will act in 6 movies this upcoming year. He’ll play the 18,000-seat Toyota Center and the 12,000-seat Pensacola Bay Center next week. Please tell me more about how his free speech has been restricted!
Ugh. A ferocious hate mob formed to demonize him over tweets. It’s fucking lame. You support such puritanical public outrage mob bullshit?
Lol shut the fuck up you dumb bitch
Yeah, but you’re not REALLY bothered by Hart facing consequences for hate speech, you’re just running on a program. What are you, an alt-right piece of shit?
People like you are cancer.
Hate speech doesn t exist. The constitution is clear. There is no definition for it that people agree on, no judge to rule on it. You live in a country with free speech, and you’re willing to hand it over because of some naughty words. You are anti-comedy. That’s got to suck.
How many more times are you going to write a version of this comment? Did you forget you wrote it? Are you 80?
Fatty
See? I told you he loves me.
Ignorant and unattractive is such a good pairing.I’m glad you’re back to paying attention to me though tons of fun.
I got worried there that you had finally had a heart attack from all the grease and fat clogging up your veins.
Does it warm your heart to know that this incel has 3 different Kinja accounts he harasses you on? It makes me so happy that you get him this triggered.
I was playing with him for awhile and then I got bored. It’s all fatty this and fatty that. He’s not even original. It’s been fun dismissing him and watching him get more and more unhinged.
It’s just so odd, before you had no issue leaving me 15-20 gifs like a child or intellectually disabled person might do. But once I started talking about you being a big fat hog its almost like it reminds you of the thing that you spend all your time mentally trying to run away from and channel your hatred of into your santimonious garbage comments that you spend so much time on. Hmmmmmm. I can’t for the life of me understand why that would be…..Hmmm Oink oink porky.
“But once I started talking about you being a big fat hog its almost like it reminds you of the thing that you spend all your time mentally trying to run away from and channel your hatred of into your santimonious garbage comments that you spend so much time on.”projection.jpg
If I’m a church lady, Dad, you made me that way.
None of that follows logically. You can express your disgust with a particular comedian expressing hateful, homophobic views without being anti-comedy; that’s just holding a comedian accountable for his artistic choices, the same way you would if a film-maker made a movie where the villains were, say, a cabal of Jewish capitalists controlling the world. And even if you were anti-comedy, it doesn’t follow that you are anti-art. You might just not consider comedy an art-form. Some people don’t consider photography an art-form, but proudly support the rest of the arts.
No one needs to apologize just because you’re a fragile petal with no real problems.
This is a disappointing look for Ellen. It’s one thing to want to help a friend but she’s not just any random friend and her well-earned platform comes with a greater responsibility to be objective. She doesn’t seem to get the point that he wasn’t and isn’t contrite because he doesn’t really think he did anything objectionable or harmful and is not the victim in this situation. She could’ve done more publically educating him about the issue and maybe getting him to actually apologize rather than excusing his behavior, or lack thereof, because she knows him.
SO is this:
Goddamn. The kids are fucking lame. Just because you want an apology, doesn t mean he owes you one. And why are you going around demanding apologies? Who does that? “I demand an apology. Hurrumph!” You sound like a Christian fundamentalist from 1987.
“you have too much talent, and for them to stop you from your dream, from what you want to do, what you have the right to do”Ellen has the right to support Kevin Hart, but nobody has the right to host the Oscars. Also, does he really have that much talent? I always thought he was a hack.
His version of comedy often involves getting loud and in his case high pitched. Sorta the Jim Carey thing that makes me feel like ahhh stop yelling at me that you’re funny.
Or Chris Tucker, except Tucker actually was funny.
I actually like Chris Tucker he feels a little less try hard.
He was his best scene is his death in Jackie Brown.
He also torched the motherfuckin’ screen in The Fifth Element, a role which I doubt any truly homophobic comic actor could have pulled off.
Oh god – I can’t take his Fifth Element character for more than a few seconds.
Yeah…people re-heally need to stop acting like anyone is entitled to anything.
And no one, other than the people in charge of the Oscars, has the right to stop someone from hosting the Oscars either.
You give me way too much credit. The Oscar folks set the condition to keep the job. Hart made the choice to step down instead. All the rest of us did was voice our opinions about his shitty jokes and his self pitying poor-little-me response to the controversy.
This is going to confuse and upset the shit out of some of the commenters here. LOL
Hypocrites! You were all falling over yourselves last summer to defend James Gunn for the same thing. You’re supposed to comedians a little leeway with their jokes. It might be something they find funny but not necessarily believe. If find it funny is up to you. Mel Gibson could host the Oscars for all care, I’m still not gonna watch. Speaking of funny. Didn’t this website used to have good jokes?
gunn was fired, though.
“The same thing” Same except for the part where Gunn apologized and Hart didn’t
“The same thing” Same except for the part where Gunn apologized and Hart didn’tAlso Gunn himself owned up first to his past comments, essentially warning the Disney company that yeah, he had some tasteless jokes from his past online. Disney was aware of it, hired him for three GotG movies, and fired him from the third because they opted to take seriously the “outrage” of Cernovich and a couple other nazi goofballs.
Cernovich isn’t a nazi. That word doesn’t mean anything anymore and that’s sickening. If Ben Shapiro is a nazi, no one is.
Kevin Hart
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.87.9K11:01 PM – Dec 6, 2018This doesn’t count?
If it counts, why does he now think he deserves to be back on the Oscars?
It does, although I think the main concern is that he had to be browbeaten into it. Gunn was fired YEARS after he had apologized for the tweets in question; Hart didn’t apologize until substantially after his tweets were pointed out. When the issue first came up, he acted like a victim instead of someone who had done something shitty.
You guys had years to be mad at Hart’s Tweets. The only reason any one cares now is because he’s famous. Hart’s not a victim in the same sense as someone who gets abused by being different but the things he said were in context of a joke. Context matters, is it funny? Humors subjective, it didn’t make me laugh and I think he’s learning that most audiences won’t tolerate humor that is directed at marginalized groups of people any more. Does he owe anyone an apology? Maybe, just not us.
You guys had years to be mad at Hart’s Tweets.I was completely unaware of Hart’s tweets until the story broke when he was announced as the Oscar host.The only reason any one cares now is because he’s famous.Hart was already famous when he made the tweets. Does he owe anyone an apology? Maybe, just not us. The thing is, he didn’t make these comments privately to individuals. They were public tweets about a group of people in general. It seems reasonable to me that if you say something shitty in public about a group of people, your apology should also be public.
HE DID! He publicly apologized. If you don’t want to accept or acknowledge that I’m not sure there’s much that can be done for you.
It’s my understanding that he didn’t apologize until after he’d lost the Oscar job. Gunn, by contrast, not only apologized before losing his Disney job, it was seven years before, and well before Disney hired him to make a bunch of huge-grossing films for them. The situations are not directly comparable.
Dude, if you’re going to be a contrarian at least get your facts straight. He was never fired. He stepped down because people like you don’t know how jokes work.
What is your people’s obsession with demanding apologies? I’ll tell you: You want your phone of flesh as a means of wielding power. It’s a ritual know, all about power. Look, people are OUTRAGED that he didn’t sink to his knees in submission. That’s why your demands have no substance. You just want people to bend to your bullshit morality claims.
What is your people’s obsession with demanding apologies?When person A thinks person B did something shitty, it is entirely normal for person A to think person B should (potentially among other things) apologize. I’m confused about what part of this you don’t understand. Look, people are OUTRAGED that he didn’t sink to his knees in submission.I don’t think I’m outraged. I don’t think any of my comments imply or express that I’m outraged. I do think Hart should apologize, but I only care a little bit whether he does. I wonder why you keep thinking you know exactly what everyone else is thinking, and why you insist on grouping everyone who has ANY objection to Hart’s behavior into a monolithic group who all have the exact same level of outrage about it. You just want people to bend to your bullshit morality claims.Thinking people shouldn’t say homophobic slurs, or threaten to beat their children because they’re insufficiently manly, is a bullshit morality? Man, I’d hate to find out what kinds of things you think are moral.
I don’t buy it. The massive, entitled calls for apologies belies a demand to power. Sure, some people are offended, as if that means anything. But these activist only care about power. They want people to bend. He’s already apologized twice, yet here we are. Why?
“massive, entitled calls for apologies” “these activist only care about power” It’s interesting how you frame this, as if it’s some sort of monstrous conspiracy attempting to grasp for power and control at all costs, rather than the much more accurate representation of a bunch of people independently expressing their displeasure over Hart’s actions.He apologized twice, and some people accept that, but the apologies seemed forced and conditional rather than sincere. And apology or no, some people would apparently rather Hart simply not have the job in order to avoid the bad taste of the memories of this controversy. Surely the Academy could hire someone who never had to apologize for a bunch of homophobic tweets in the first place.
Kevin Hart
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.55K11:01 PM – Dec 6, 2018Or this?
Exactly. I’m not really a fan of Kevin Hart, and I sincerely doubt I’ll be watching the Oscars unless a close friend or family member of mine were picked to host. Then I’d kinda be obligated to. But, it seems to me that in response to the “controversy” Kevin Hart both declined the offer to hots the Oscars, and apologized for his past comments at the same exact time. He did the right thing by apologizing, and he did the sensible thing by turning down a job that, within seconds, had people putting effort into getting him fired from it. Who the hell would want to host the Oscars in this day and age? The ratings for the Oscars drop every year (that fact is based on nothing, it sounds right though. I’m not googling it) and the best case scenario for any Oscar host is articles about how bland they were afterwards.
Nope, not good enough, not this, not that. That’s why you never apologize to the outrage mob.
I definitely didn’t agree with AVC on that one, Gunn’s firing was justified as a business decision by Disney. I did think his apology was somewhat sincere, but he still said that crap because he thought it was funny to joke about that stuff and if you engage in that type of humor you might lose job opportunities as a result.
Comparing what Gunn said to what Hart said is so fucking stupid, but I think you know that. Fuck outta here with whatever both sides bullshit angle you’re trying to take here.
Kevin, don’t fall for this.
It’s A Trap.
The media want to suck you in
so they can chew you up and
spit you out again.
Why does everyone act like Kevin Hart is some put-upon victim?I’m. Sorry. Literally would’ve taken two words and people would forgive him, I personally would. But now I won’t, because instead of acting like a fucking ADULT he yelled into his phone on Instagram now he’s going on Ellen and playing the victim. This happens with every hollywood fuck up and I’m so tired of it. Just say you’re sorry. It’s really not that complicated. Just. Say. Sorry. Don’t react defensively, just say you’re sorry. Why am I better at this than Kevin Hart, Kevin Spacey, and Louis CK’s publicists? Are PR degrees really that worthless that yall don’t know how to say the words “I’m sorry”? Jesus fucking christ, I need another cup of coffee.
I’m sorry, but we’ve run out of coffee.
Why do people like you act like a stand-up act is a declaration of principles, its stuff written to sound funny and apologizing for it reinforces that fallacy. You think Louis Ck actually thinks those parkland kids are twats for getting shot at? Of course he doesn’t. He did an extended segment on his show Horace and Pete where he had fling with trans person that was very deliberate in explaining how they conceptualize their identity. People demanding an apology aren’t interested in contrition they want to bring people like Hart to heel.
I do think C.K. thinks we should ignore the Parkland kids and that their personal experience having survived a school shooting doesn’t matter. C.K. is an asshole, he’s talented but an asshole, it’s not hard to believe he genuinely thinks that.
Well first of all I’ll say again I don’t think he thinks that. It also doesn’t matter if he personally thinks that. It’s part of an act, the audience seemed to think it was funny, I thought it was funny you I suppose didn’t so don’t listen to his act if it bothers you. Wanting an apology or enforcing some subjective standard of decency in comedy however is ridiculous.
I’m sorry… You sound like a wonderful person to know. Not. Perfect people like you don’t have many friends, just stay home with your 6 cats and complain about the shitty world you live in. Good luck with that.
my thing is…i know this guy has his fans and all…but to me there’s nothing to his career that is even worth defending…none of us would be worse off if he simply went away.
the people who if they went away would make us worse off is like 1% of 1% of 1% of 1%. of everyone. Hart has entertained me greatly in the past but not so much now that he does the same exact thing every time. I would say that 90% of entertainers, actors , musicians, artists, athletes can be replaced by just about anyone and the drop off in entertainment value is nil.
Because he’s not sorry. He’s still a homophobic asshole, he just wouldn’t SAY so now that he’s a few years older and supposedly more mature.
everyone knows he is. he can’t say that because if he does he and his fans will no longer have the cover bullshit excuses and apologies give him and them to continue being him and to continue liking him.
Why don’t we put a scarlet H on his vest?
Prove it.
Pretty racist.
Because if you haven’t noticed, saying sorry does nothing in the current modern society. It pivots so fast to trying to undercut the sincerity of the apology. If the sincerity of the apology has been beaten to a pulp, then it pivots to well how have they shown that they have changed and are truly sorry. If some how, and I can’t find an actual case of this happening, someone manages to thread that needle then people still find random reasons to dump on them, usually reverting back to they weren’t funny/smart/good/etc previous.Fuck the twitter blackhole that only exists to consume and destroy.
But he doesn’t have to apologize to you or the academy or anyone else.
Get over the fact that someone said some mean words to you.
When did we stop allowing people to apologize or redeem themselves? We want people to grow and be better, but when they do, we still don’t allow them to leave the past behind. It makes no sense. Even more nonsensical is that some of the commenters on this article and the others related to it are the same folks posting multiple screeds in support of James Gunn. It’s the same story, but a different set of trolls.
He tweeted about aggravated assault on a toddler for insufficient performative manliness and refused to apologize for it. I’m not sure how Ellen got through having her life derailed by aggressive homophobia and still thinks Hart is the victim here.
Yeah, here’s the thing: HE WAS JOKING. You cannot be as puritanical as to police comedians, right? That’s what Christian fundamentalists used to do.By their very nature, jokes cannot be taken seriously. If you are offended, that’s YOUR problem. You people want to defang comedy and tell comedians what they can or cannot say and demand apologies like the bible club. It’s insufferable. It’s anti-art. It’s lame.
No one can presume to know Ellen’s real stance on the matter, but Decades of Time + Obscene Shipping Containers Full of Money = probably quite a bit of emotional distance from the struggles she used to experience in the industry.
can you imagine how fucking insufferable his monologue will be if he does end up hosting?
It’ll be thirty five minutes of him pointing at specific people in the audience and calling them various slurs.
well, I’d watch that.
Literally the only way I would watch. I would love to see a host come in and just insult the general hollywood culture and pick out hypocrites from the crowd.
Slurs? But that’s our word. People like him can’t use it.
In that case, shouldn’t it be “sluaz”?
(wow, that made no sense when I read it)
if you play a drinking game for every #metoo joke you’ll be in the hospital by hour 3
good point
I don’t support attcking comedians for jokes, no matter how vile. I didn’t want Dave Chappelle pilloried for his transphobia, or Bill Maher for dropping the N word, or Sarah Silverman for using “gay” as an insult, or Daniel Tosh for his “wouldn’t it be funny…” comeback, or Eddie Murphy for his gay Mr. T routine (which I still find hilarious). Comedy is ugly. Comedy is often offensive. Comedy is sometimes inappropriate and/or unfunny.
If Kevin Hart wants to host the Oscars, and they want him to host, fucking go for it. I don’t care how Kevin Hart feels about gay people, and I don’t need an apology from him. I’ve heard worse homophobia from people I respect more.
But don’t fucking start WHINING about how people are trying to destroy you by posting things you said in the NOT TOO DISTANT past. We already know you don’t understand why what you said was offensive. We know you don’t get it, and never will. But be fucking man enough to OWN YOUR SHIT. Accept the consequences of pissing people off. People are less interested in seeing you grovel on Ellen than they are in seeing that you get why the ignorant shit you said was offensive. You have yet to demonstrate that you DO get it, and there’s no reason to believe you ever will. Go ahead and host the Oscars, and let the approval of the straight soccer moms who watch Ellen be enough for you. Just quit complaining that no one will apologize to YOU for not thinking the idea of you berating your son for being gay is funny.
I’m a little confused why you say it’s not okay to criticize comedians for saying things we think are offensive, and then you proceed to criticize Hart for not apologizing for offensive jokes.
It IS confusing, because it’s a complicated area. But what it comes down to is, I’m not angry at Kevin Hart for not apologizing. I’m angry at Kevin Hart for feeling HE is OWED an apology.
In other words, he shouldn’t have tried to apologize without apologizing. He should have either apologized, or shut the fuck up. Instead, he made himself the victim. It’s weak.
Also, I didn’t say it’s not okay to criticize comedians for saying offensive shit. I criticized most of the comedians I sited in my original post vociferously. I just don’t think they should have lost work or opportunities over the things they said…just like Kevin Hart shouldn’t lose his Oscar gig over what HE said. I just want him to be a man about it.
You weren’t that vociferous.
In the past, I mean.
It’s a fine position to think that a person’s words shouldn’t affect their job prospects, but I don’t agree with it. If a celebrity goes around saying racist/sexist/homophobic things in public, I wouldn’t want that celebrity representing my organization. The idea that everyone should be able to say anything they want and never suffer any consequences for it is absurd.
That’s not what I’m saying. I’m saying the context of the remarks (i.e. the fact that they’re part of a comedy routine) is a mitigating factor. That’s not to say a comic should be able to say whatever they want and expect to keep their job. But I don’t think any of the comedians I referenced, including Kevin Hart, rise to (or sink to) that level. Generally speaking, the way you punish offense comedians is to not see their act. It the Academy wants to trust that people weren’t offended enough by Hart’s comments to skip watching the Oscars, I have no problem with that. I also have no problem with people choosing not to watch because they find Hart offensive.
Your take is good, and you should feel good.
Always do!
It’s clear that Ellen Degeneres would rather side with the rich than the LGBT community. Although I am chocked by the mild responses posted here about her.
It’s not chocking, she’s teflon!
Also, straight people, just so you know: Ellen Degeneres isn’t the actual Queen of the Gays. That would be Adam Rippon.
The Oscars are fucking terrible. Who gives a shit?
We HAHV a WINNAH!
He should steer clear of the liberal asshole shit show. He stays away from slamming Trump so I’m not sure how he fits the bill anyway. It’s a protest show and he’s not into that.
Kill yourself
I’d love to know Ellen’s private thoughts on this. I have guesses, but can’t quite figure out how she came to this conclusion …
I don’t have a dog in this fight at all, but I thought he “didn’t apologize” this last time because he had apologized before? And no, I don’t have proof that he had apologized before and frankly, I’m too lazy to even look.
These conversations start and everyone clambers up to the high ground and pretends they’ve never said anything terrible or cruel or thoughtless. So disingenuous. The truth is, if everyone on this planet was held accountable for the most offensive thing they’d ever said, there would be like nine Amish people left who you could hire to do anything.
I am very grateful that social media and/or cameras in everyone’s pockets weren’t a thing when I was young.
To me this reeks of desperation by the Academy. They likely reached out to Ellen who is a previous host and asked her to bail them out by getting Hart back.
Wow, you guys sure do love whitesplaining.
If you think *this* is a bad look for Ellen, y’all haven’t been paying attention.
She’s clearly an alt right white supremacist.
Of all people to not understand how hurtful and idiotic those “jokes” were made by Kevin Hart…But if you were expecting hard hitting questions or tough love by Ellen Degeneres on her daytime talk show…well there’s your first problem.
She’s a traitor to the LGBT community. Fuck her.
Hart is a real life version of the dad from Empire’s first season. Bet he threw his son in a trash can too.
He should say no and demand an apology.
I love all the people here who know better than fucking ELLEN how gay people should react to Kevin Hart. I don’t give a fuck about him either way, but the overwhelming number of people here saying Ellen is wrong (and just because you don’t LITERALLY type “Ellen is wrong” doesn’t mean you’re not saying it, you pedantic fucks) despite her being the person who should be the type to “judge” him is insane. If actual, real life gay people are ok with it (I’ve not seen huge outcry against him anywhere but amongst woke straight whites), then who in the fuck are you? Remember the idea that if you don’t like something, you just ignore it? Nah, let’s destroy everything we don’t like. Given everything is hated by someone, that should turn out GREAT!