December 7, 2018

"After Kevin Hart was announced as the host for the 2019 Oscars, old tweets and press comments of his surfaced that contained a litany of homophobic jokes and statements."

"(e.g. 'One of my biggest fears is my son growing up and being gay,' Hart said while promoting the movie Seriously Funny.) Two days after the hosting news broke and social media started circulating the comedian’s past remarks, Hart has posted a video on Instagram not saying he’s sorry for anything. He does say, however, that 'our world is becoming beyond crazy, and I’m not going to let the craziness frustrate me.' Hart adds in the video’s caption: 'I’m almost 40 years old and I’m in love with the man that I am becoming,' and, 'What’s understood should never have to be said.' So, if you didn’t know Kevin Hart has grown over the past 10 years, well, that’s on you."

Vulture reports.

UPDATE: "Kevin Hart says he won't host Oscars after furor over homophobic tweets" (CNN).
"I have made the choice to step down from hosting this year's Oscar's," Hart, who is currently performing in Sydney, Australia, announced late Sunday on Twitter. "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."
ADDED: From a column in Variety that went up before Hart stepped down — "Why Kevin Hart Was the Wrong Choice to Host the Oscars" by Owen Gleiberman:
The trouble with Kevin Hart’s words— the reason that, by and large, they’re terrible jokes — is that they express a spirit of extreme anti-empathy. They’re not just “cheap gags.” They’re overtly hostile and parochial; they basically demonize LGBTQ identifying people as The Other..... Hart’s spirit is, in fact, a bit Trumpian: superior and divisive, based on the falsity of exclusion.... The last thing that anyone needed on Oscar night was to be laughing at the the host and wondering, in the back of one’s mind, whether the cutting edge of his jokes was really the sharp blade of intolerance.
The swipe at Trump is stupid. It's the kind of overtly hostile and parochial demonizing Gleiberman impugns. I don't associate Trump with anything anti-gay, so why drag him in?

108 comments:

Nonapod said...

Once again the Twitter mob prevails.

They should just have a welsh corgi host the Oscars.

rhhardin said...

Homophobic funny jokes?

rhhardin said...

Which one of you queers is gonna suck my dick, song title. Presumably line on entering a Texas bar.

Wheeler Walker Jr for Oscar Host.

James K said...

Maybe Sara Jeong could host. She's never said anything offensive on Twitter.

rehajm said...

Another fine job from the Clinton war room to imbed their man Chris Rock! All jokes will now be pro Hillary!

gilbar said...

apparently, one of the things he said was that if he saw his son playing with his daughter's dolls; he'd take them away, 'cause that's so gay
How DARE him!

David Begley said...

Why no tag: the era of that’s not funny?

ALP said...

Apparently he's stepped down. That didn't take long.

Oso Negro said...

KISS THE RAINBOW FLAG, PEASANTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tank said...

Gay card > Race card.

Who knew?

David Begley said...

Where was the due diligence by the hiring committee? Sloppy.

Why did Hart accept this gig knowing this was going to happen? Or was it intentional?

mezzrow said...

Shaking our heads as we witness the death throes of mass popular culture as we know it.

The Oscars - as relevant and timely as an issue of Life magazine.

Known Unknown said...

WHO!? Who doesn't want to wear the ribbon!?

hiawatha biscayne said...

homophobic? he's afraid of homosexuals?

Leland said...

I was worried. Kevin Hart has a pretty good reputation, and I didn't think it needed to be sullied by hosting the Oscars.

Gahrie said...

If Hollywood had an ounce of integrity, everyone else would turn the job down in protest.

That being said, I predict the host will be Kathy Griffin.

Lewis Wetzel said...

So now you turn on the TV and the only jokes you hear are about white people. Isn't that racist?
I imagine that these days you can't even tell a joke with gay character in it, even if the gayness isn't part of the joke, like "A gay neutron walks into a bar asks how much for a beer. Bartender says for you, no charge!'"
So to make sure that no gay or black or women or Mexican gets offended, the commedian will always have to specify that the joke is a about a white character, like "A white male hamburger walks into a bar. Bartender says 'Sorry we don't serve white male food here.'"
Isn't very funny is it?

Chuck said...

Am I alone in having no idea who Kevin Hart is or why h is famous?

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Anfita will smash you
Gay mafia will ruin you
Leftwing SJW will make your life miserable.

Blue wave!

Lucid-Ideas said...

This is thought-policing. Plain and simple. Their arguments are so weak they can't allow anything contra-agenda to get into the aether. Hart is right, "it is crazy." He's waking up. Lots of people are.

"If you want to learn who rules over you, look around and see who you are not allowed to criticize." - Voltaire (allegedly)

How did we get here?

I know that there are some gay people that don't necessarily agree with this de-platforming nonsense. But I have something to say to them...

GET THE DEPLATFORMERS IN YOUR COMMUNITY UNDER CONTROL, OR I SEE A DARK FUTURE FOR YOU AND YOUR LIFESTYLES.

I we can't have our lifestyles, you're not going to have yours either...

Limited blogger said...

I'm available

Gahrie said...

Am I alone in having no idea who Kevin Hart is or why h is famous?

Probably.

chillblaine said...

From @kevinhart4real: "I sincerely apologize to the LGBTQ community for my insensitive words from my past."

That is an apology, an abject apology. It's ok for Sally Kohn to groom her daughter to be a lezzie, but heaven forbid you want your son to be happy in any other way than either hoping he's gay, or being just peachy with it.

Chris N said...

Thanks for this, Ann. At Peace Pavilion West, we have a Penitence Station. You may confess all phobic, racist, sexist and environmentally impure thoughts in this healing, Community space. The Leader eventually shows up at the center of The Human Pagoda with great fanfare. It started out as a joke where he was lowered down in a harness, but I guess it’s pretty serious now.

We invite Mr Hart to come.

Holiday Namaste to all!

Rick.T. said...

rhhardin said...

"Wheeler Walker Jr for Oscar Host."

He does like his Puss in Boots! (clothed version)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qY0c_DByPb8:

On the other hand, maybe Rodney Carrington, who is a little more in touch with his male appendage:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6WaHk8OrSI

Xmas said...

Chris Rock is enough of a comedian to know that Hillary is a punchline.

Caligula said...

"Watch what you say, watch what you do ..."

We don't need Orwell's telescreens to create a constant-surveillance society, not when we can just spy on each other.

And the internet never, ever forgets.

Chris N said...

Also, Welsh Corgis have shown significant Hostility to other breeds, so that will not scale to global human hosting.

Also off the list:

German Shepards
Great Danes
American Bulldogs

Tank said...

Hart finds that shortatude and blackatude can’t overcome gayatude.

tim maguire said...

So is this the new normal? Whenever someone gets named to a high visibility gig, their background gets searched for signs of wrongthink?

tim maguire said...

I'll host the Oscars. Instead of telling jokes, I'll whittle a spoon out of bamboo. That's entertainment!

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

First of all, leftwing scolds are racist.

Next - Name a comedian who could pass the leftist scold test? Kathy Griffin.

Wince said...

tim maguire said...
So is this the new normal? Whenever someone gets named to a high visibility gig, their background gets searched for signs of wrongthink?

And silly George Orwell had us thinking you'd have to put elaborate rat cages over people's heads.

chickelit said...

Bob Hope was right about gays.

tcrosse said...

Meanwhile, George Takei is sending his tux to the cleaners.

chickelit said...

I agree that Kathy Griffin should get the gig. And people should be forced to watch as well.

Fernandinande said...

So you think Bob Hope is funny, chickenlittle? I can't imagine what sort of mind thinks like that. Sad.

I didn't know that Kevin Hart has grown over the past 10 years, and well, that’s on me. See how my one shoulder is all slumped with the weight of the pain?

Nonapod said...

Name a comedian who could pass the leftist scold test? Kathy Griffin.

Unfortunately she's about as funny as pediatric leukemia.

chickelit said...

Oscar ratings hit an all time low last March. The trend is downwards. Let's all help them reach their goal.

etbass said...

Eating their own. Ha Ha.

Curious George said...

"ChucKKK said...
Am I alone in having no idea who Kevin Hart is or why h is famous?"

You wouldn't like him. He's black.

William said...

Megyn Kelly said that she didn't think that dressing up as Diana Ross was racist and then her world collapsed. She tried the abject apology route but to no avail. She's finished, albeit richly finished......Be interesting to see how this plays out viz a vi Kevin Hart. I don't think it looks too good for him, but he's got more intersectional points than Megyn and his core audience is not NBC executives. I guess he'll survive, but his career will take a hit.

William said...

File this under who cares.

Don't care a wit about mediocre "comedian" and don't care about Golden Globes.

Bunk, 100% bunk.

That is all.

Jupiter said...

This is worth unpacking. He didn't say that homosexuals should be thrown from rooftops. He said that he didn't want his son to become one. No one but Muslims wants to throw homosexuals from rooftops, but the Left is OK with Muslims. What the Left is not OK with is people who don't want their children to be homosexuals. Which is to say, everyone who has children.

William said...

Was the remark about how Kevin Hart has grown some kind of stature joke? I long for a world where jokes about short men are as verboten as jokes about fat women, Gays, minorities and transgendered people live in such a world, and their lives are indeed blessed.

Ralph L said...

Let's see: LGBTQ... are oppressed and need protection, but parents shouldn't be afraid of their child being one. Good logic there.

Unknown said...

Can't get any better, just let me repeat it.

"Let's see: LGBTQ... are oppressed and need protection, but parents shouldn't be afraid of their child being one. Good logic there."

rhhardin said...

Anti-empathy sounds good to me. It would hobble trading on empathy.

The butt would be the empathizer community, not the ostensible target.

Tommy Duncan said...

"One of my biggest fears is my son growing up and being gay..."

Political correctness trumps truth.

Leland said...

Am I alone in having no idea who Kevin Hart is or why h is famous?

Yes, for the reason given and many others unstated yet today.

Static Ping said...

As a reminder to you all, the "love is love" movement is all about lots and lots of hate.

Otto said...

tag:cultural marxism.

Michael Fitzgerald said...

Hart was hostile and intolerant to the wrong people. The Academy will hire someone who is hostile and intolerant only to the targets approved by Democrat party members.

wendybar said...

But if Obama and Hillary can evolve, why isn't Kevin Hart given the same respect? This whole thing is STUPID.

wendybar said...

WE NEED A HOST THAT SPOUTS MORE TRUMP HATE!!!! THAT is what the Oscars are turning into. And they wonder why nobody watches anymore?

rcocean said...

Why is it always a man hosting the Oscars.

Get Lena Dunham or Whoppi, or Joy Behar, or Rosie.

rcocean said...

What about the Gal who did the WHPC dinner?

SHe was hilarious.

tcrosse said...

Hart has turned down a poisoned chalice. Hosting the Oscars is not a career-enhancing move.

AlbertAnonymous said...

Reason 7,382 why I won’t watch... again.

James K said...

“Hart finds that shortatude and blackatude can’t overcome gayatude”

It’s always most unforgivable when a black strays from the plantation. I think that’s called ‘intersectionality’ or something.

J. Farmer said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
J. Farmer said...

I have never been a particular fan of Kevin Hart's comedy, and his movies are generally awful. That said, I think the "homophobia" uproar is nonsense.

The trouble with Kevin Hart’s words— the reason that, by and large, they’re terrible jokes — is that they express a spirit of extreme anti-empathy.

Since when has an expression of empathy been a necessity for jokes?

The last thing that anyone needed on Oscar night was to be laughing at the the host and wondering, in the back of one’s mind, whether the cutting edge of his jokes was really the sharp blade of intolerance.

Right. I know that's why I go to comedy shows. So that I can feel that the comedian empathizes with me and is tolerant. Certainly not to laugh or hear a fresh perspective on things.

PM said...

Freebie to AMPAS: Give the gig to RuPaul and promo the show by promising he'll be in a new outfit after every commercial break. Prep roughly 178 costumes.

AlbertAnonymous said...

I love this site. I just mentioned Wheeler Walker Jr. the other day on another thread and today I see two more references.

By the way, the whole “which wanna you fags gonna suck my dick” reference was perfect for this thread. Well done.

AlbertAnonymous said...

“If my dick is up why am I down?” Wheeler Walker Jr.

Dirty songs, but funny stuff.

Yancey Ward said...

And here I though Kevin Hart had stopped growing when he was 10 years old.

William said...

Andy Dick would be a good choice. He's out and proud and represents the true face of Hollywood.

n.n said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
n.n said...

Transgender/homosexuality and political congruence.

Transgender physiology and mental (e.g. sexual orientation) attributes are trending, but they are noticeably classified as separate and equal, with elite and "populist" ranks in a transgender spectrum.

Matt said...

"One of my biggest fears is my son growing up and being gay"

I wasn't familiar with Kevin Hart's work, so I looked up some clips on youtube. He's pretty funny - there's a story about ping-pong that I laughed out loud at a couple of times. But he's clearly a story-telling comedian, as opposed to the kind that tell one-liners. I'm guessing is that the offending line was not a joke in itself but part of the buildup to a story.

On the other hand, some people who I never heard of and whose names I've already forgotten were offended, so that means I should care.

Jason said...

William: I long for a world where jokes about short men are as verboten as jokes about fat women, Gays, minorities and transgendered people live in such a world, and their lives are indeed blessed.

WHAT'S THAT!?!?! WE CAN'T HEAR YOU FROM DOWN THERE!!!

Infinite Monkeys said...

Am I alone in having no idea who Kevin Hart is or why h is famous?

Unlike the other answers so far, I'm saying no. I had to do a search to see who he was. I saw a list of the things he's been in. I still don't know who he is. I haven't seen any of those movies or TV shows.

Jason said...

I think they should shitcan all awards to anybody who ever joined a standing ovation for Roman Polanski.

Come on, Oscar Committee! Give me a call! I'll host the show for free, and you'll be swimming in ratings!

Sigivald said...

"I don't associate Trump with anything anti-gay, so why drag him in? "

You're not the target audience.

The target audience does associate him with anti-gay-ness.

Not because of anything he actually says or does, of course, but "because he's a Republican and those Others are all anti-gay".

Trump might literally be the most pro-gay/not-at-all-anti-gay Republican President in history, but it doesn't matter - Orange Man Bad!

("He pushed to get transsexuals out of the military! That's hating gays, because shut up!")

old crank said...

I sympathize with this guy. Nobody wants their kid to be gay, and I haven't run across a gay person who wanted to be gay. It's just a tragic fact of life that you can't always get what you want.

There's no reason to demonize people who acknowledge facts.

Darrell said...

Get Louis C.K. They can have a running joke that he is masturbating throughout the show by pixelating his zipper area and hand. He can take a mic out to the audience and stand in front of women.

Birkel said...

Pauly Shore is available.

Darkisland said...

What is wrong with a parent wanting their child to grow up to be normal?

Who in the Hell would worship abnormality?

(See comments on Tuesday and the terms "average" and "normal")

Nothing wrong with being gay, just the same as there is nothing wrong with having 6 toes, or a hearing problem. All limit one's life choices, though.

I would think any normal parent would want their kids to have as few limitations on their life choices as possible.

John Henry

J. Farmer said...

@Darkisland:

I am usually loathe to use this phrase, but "as a gay person," I completely agree with your take.

MayBee said...

He's good enough to be in the movies. To hire, to work with, to interview, to do promo work, to make you money. But to host a tv special about the movies? NOT GOOD ENOUGH.

This is absurd.

Jim at said...

Wait. Aren't these the same, humorless scolds who had Jimmy Kimmel hosting the Oscars? You know. The Man Show's Jimmy Kimmel?

Bilwick said...

I've been hearing "Trump is anti-Gay" since before the election, yet I haven't seen any actual evidence to indicate it. Granted, when it comes to "liberals" you can almost always assume either (a) they're wrong, or (b) they're lying ("No truth but socialist truth"). But this seems bone-headed even for them. Jimmy Breslin wrote "The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight" about a fictional Mafia family but he could have been writing about his own gang (the "liberal" Hive as well).

YoungHegelian said...

I think the time has come for us as a society to see the healing possibilities of Carrot Top.

Leora said...

So the new rule is not only must you agree with them now, you must have always agreed with today's politically correct take. Going to be a very small pool to choose from.

Sam L. said...

Trump-hate Uber Alles!

JaimeRoberto said...

I guess we know now that gays are above blacks on the Intersectionality Totem Pole.

And Trump is anti-gay because he's now a Republican.

Doug said...

HOw about Bert Convey?

YoungHegelian said...

Or, maybe Hollywood could just take a stand for free expression & pick Gilbert Gottfried.

To say this is NSFW is an understatement. These are some of the lewdest & crassest gay jokes ever told to a room full of gays in the history of humanity. You have been warned.

tcrosse said...

BTW Gilbert Gottfried was fired as the voice of the AFLAC duck in 2011 for a few jokes he made about a natural disaster in Japan.

readering said...

Trump was dragged in so Hart fans would better understand where the author is coming from with his attack on their hero. Not stupid, banal maybe.

MB said...

Ambitious "celebrities" wishing to host the Oscars 10 years from now better take note!
They should try to anticipate which way the winds are blowing and behave accordingly.
The best career move is probably to be publicly seen dating a transsexual individual.

tcrosse said...

Ambitious "celebrities" wishing to host the Oscars 10 years from now better take note!

Ten year from now hosting the Oscars will be like jury duty (if it isn't already).

langford peel said...

Backing down to the social justice warriors?

What a faggot.

John Pickering said...

The swipe at Trump is stupid. It's the kind of overtly hostile and parochial demonizing Gleiberman impugns. I don't associate Trump with anything anti-gay, so why drag him in?

Ann should ponder more carefully before she pronounces stupid, given her matchless ability to miss the point. The writer compares the comedian's character with Trump's -- superior and divisive, based on false exclusions -- because Trump dominates almost all comparisons. It has nothing to do with being anti-gay. He's anti enough else, wouldn't you say, Ann?

YoungHegelian said...

BTW, ya know what this public humiliation of a black man by a bunch of white gays just did?

It probably just increased the percentage of black men who'll vote for Trump next time a point or two. Because there's nothing that black men love more than seeing a famous black man publicly taken down for an holding an opinion that about 90% of black men share, amirite?

Qwinn said...

"He's anti enough else, wouldn't you say, Ann?"

Not really.

He's just anti-Democrat assholes.

And there's nothing more anti-everything than a Democrat asshole.

Qwinn said...

"So the new rule is not only must you agree with them now, you must have always agreed with today's politically correct take. "

That ain't a new rule at all. Ask Brendan Eich about being fired for having donated $100 toward a California proposition in 2008 that PASSED IN CALIFORNIA and that reflected Barack Obama's public position at the time.

Qwinn said...

"What is wrong with a parent wanting their child to grow up to be normal?"

Not just that - what's wrong with a parent wanting to have biological grandchildren raised by both their biological parents?

Michael Fitzgerald said...

Seth McFarland hosted the Oscars a few years ago. To paraphrase Chrissy Tiegen, Democrat party members are not just assholes and scumbags, they are made out of hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is the building blocks of the democrat party member. Scumbag asshole hypocrites.

langford peel said...

Gays destroy everything they are allowed to participate in every single time. Marriage. Schools. The Catholic Church.

Why should the Oscars be any different?

rehajm said...

It probably just increased the percentage of black men who'll vote for Trump next time a point or two

Did any black guys besides Obama and Chris Rock vote for Hillary last time? I just don’t see the guys from the barber shop voting for an old white woman ever.

Trumpit said...

"Gays destroy everything they are allowed to participate in every single time. Marriage. Schools. The Catholic Church."

You're a rotten Nazi bastard, Lanford. Explain the fact you were caught masturbating with a bagel and some lube. Please walk into a Saudi Consulate and show them your press credentials.

FullMoon said...

That ain't a new rule at all. Ask Brendan Eich about being fired for having donated $100 toward a California proposition in 2008 that PASSED IN CALIFORNIA and that reflected Barack Obama's public position at the time.

The LA times, and other places published a list of donors to that "traditional marriage" proposition.
Made it easier for fanatics and crazies to identify, attack, vandalize, ostracize and harass ordinary people.

walter said...

"The writer compares the comedian's character with Trump's -- superior and divisive, based on false exclusions -- because Trump dominates almost all comparisons"
--
"But Truuuuuump!!"
Right..
Only for those who are engulfed in TDS..which should be in the tags, btw.

langford peel said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
langford peel said...

Trumpit shows up and proves my point.

Homos just ruin everything they touch.

When they were repressed and their sexuality criminalized sex was normal and healthy and heterosexual. When homosexual sex was decriminalized we got AIDS. Because some faggot had to rape a monkey.

When the church outlawed gays they stayed in the closet. When the church liberalized.and let homos become priests they raped altar boys in record numbers. Destroying thousands of lives and bankrupting the church. Money that people donate to help the poor has to pay for homo rape reparations.

Anytime you let the gays out of the closet they destroy everything they touch.

Doug said...


I think the time has come for us as a society to see the healing possibilities of Carrot Top.
Nightmares every night for a whole week. Yes ... there is such a thing as too much plastic surgery.