Kevin Hart Steps Down as 2019 Oscars Host

Kevin Hart was scheduled to host the 2019 Oscars awards show but stepped down after homophobic remarks he tweeted between 2009-2011 resurfaced. One of Hart's tweets from 2011 said the following: “Yo if my son comes home + try’s 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 response, he gave up his position as host and released the following statement: “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."

Hart's response was calm and appropriate as well as apologetic as he can be. As we saw previously with Justin Beiber, apologizing for things you said in the past can be a cheap ticket out if people are willing to buy it. However, it is important to note that the Academy did ask Hart to issue an apology or they would find another host. Hart instead chose to step down so as to not feed the internet trolls.

I think it is acceptable for people to apologize for what they have said in the past. I agree that people learn and grow. Hart said, "Guys, I’m almost 40 years old. If you don’t believe that people change, grow, evolve as people get older, I don’t know what to tell you. If you want to hold people in a position where they always have to justify or explain their past, than do you. I'm the wrong guy."

Hart's response makes sense to me. He said some things in the past that were wrong, as we all have, and he learned from it and apologized. The tweets were pretty old in consideration so how long are we supposed to hold people accountable for things said in the past? We cannot assume he is still the same person he was ten years ago. We can never truly know whether the celebrity stepped down out of true respect, or because it would have tarnished his reputation and given him bad publicity had he kept the role as host. Therefore, I think his apologies on social media were acceptable as we can't expect him to issue a heartfelt apology to every single person he's ever offended.