Don’t count Kevin Hart out as the Oscars host just yet – at least not if Ellen DeGeneres has anything to say about it.…
Don’t count Kevin Hart out as the Oscars host just yet – at least not if Ellen DeGeneres has anything to say about it.
Hart stepped down in early December after homophobic comments and tweets resurface tweets in which he used words like “homo” and “gay.” Per E! News, the since-deleted tweets date back to 2011.
But when “The Upside” actor appeared on Friday’s episode of “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” he seemed open to the arguments made by DeGeneres, who hosted the award show in 2014.
DeGeneres revealed to Hart that she had phoned the Academy the same day they taped their interview because she wants Hart to have the gig. According to her, the organization also still wants Hart to host. USA TODAY has reached out to the Academy for comment.
She also advised him to ignore the Internet trolls.
“That’s a small group of people being very, very loud,” she advised. “We are a huge group of people who love you and want to see you host the Oscars.”
Hart said it was hard because he viewed this as “an attack to end me.”
“But they’re going to win if you don’t host the Oscars,” DeGeneres offered, adding that she’s “praying” that Hart will eventually be restored as host.
“I think it’s perfect that all this happened because there has to be a conversation about homophobia,” said DeGeneres, who has long been one of one of the most visible LGBTQ celebrities in Hollywood. “And whoever’s trying to hurt you, it brought up you reminding people that you’re a bigger person, that you’ve already apologized, you’re apologizing again.
