Kevin Hart was forced to step down as host of the 2019 Academy Awards after a ghey rights group uncovered old “homophobic” tweets on his Twitter feed.
Hart confirmed on Twitter.com just after midnight Friday that he was stepping down as host because he didn’t want to be a distraction.
“I sincerely apologize to the LGBTQ community for my insensitive words from my past,” he tweeted.
Ghey rights group GLAAD reached out to the Oscars broadcaster ABC Network and the Academy to discuss Hart being named to host the Oscars.
GLAAD said it wanted to remind ABC and the Academy of Hart’s “anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and record.”
In a video posted on his Instagram account late Thursday, Hart said the Academy gave him the option of apologizing for his old “homophobic” tweets, mostly dated from 2009-2011, but he politely declined to apologize.
“I chose to pass on the apology. The reason why I passed is because I’ve addressed this several times,” Hart said in a video on Instagram.com.
“We feed Internet trolls and we reward ’em. I’m not gonna do it man,” Hart said.
Hart has since deleted most of the old tweets, including this tweet:
“Yo if my son comes home & try’s [sic] 2 play with my daughters doll house I’m going 2 break it over his head & say n my voice ‘stop that’s gay.'”
In his 2010 special “Seriously Funny,” Hart said “One of my biggest fears is my son growing up and being gay. Keep in mind, I’m not homophobic, I have nothing against gay people — do what you want to do, but me, being a heterosexual male, if I can prevent my son from being gay, I will.”
Hart’s fans showed their support for him on Instagram, saying they do not believe he is homophobic.
But there are others on social media who constantly search for reasons to validate their victimhood status.
Hart wrote on Instagram that critics on social media should “stop being negative” about his old tweets.
“I’m almost 40 years old. If you don’t believe that people change, grow, evolve? I don’t know what to tell you. I love everybody.”
Photos by Judy Eddy/WENN.com, Instagram.com
