Kevin Hart has stepped down as host of Oscars after past homophobic tweets uncovered
The comedian said it was an 'opportunity of a lifetime' to host the film awards
By Steve Brown
Words: Steve Brown
Kevin Hart has stepped down from hosting the Academy Awards after a series of homophobic tweets were uncovered.
The comedian was revealed this week to be taking over hosting duties of the prestigious film and TV awards and said it was ‘the opportunity of a lifetime’.
However, the Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle actor faced backlash online after a series of historic tweets have been unsurfaced where he labels people ‘gay’ or ‘f****t’ and viewers have called out for his removal from hosting duties.
In the tweets from 2009 to 2010, Hart said: “lmao, that’s why you sweat 4 know reason u fat f*g.”
And another read: “Lmao @ all of the woman asking me where the pic is, I’m not passing along a pic of a naked man!! That would make me gay by association.”
He has also been slammed for comments he made in a segment from his 2010 comedy special Seriously Funny.
Now, the actor has passed on the opportunity but did not fail to apologise for the homophobic comments he made but in an Instagram post he admits he refused to apologise for the comments.
He said: “I just got a call from the Academy and that call basically said, ‘Kevin, apologise for your tweets of old or we’re going to have to move on and find another host’.
“I passed. The reason I passed is because I’ve addressed this several times.
“This is not the first time this has come up. Regardless, to the Academy, I’m thankful for the opportunity, if it goes away, no harm, no foul.
“I’m not going to continue to go back and tap into the days of old when I’ve moved on and I’m in a completely different place in my life.”