Ellen DeGeneres’ interview with Kevin Hart and support for him as Oscars host is sparking controversy and backlash.
In the interview, DeGeneres revealed not only does her fellow comedian have her full support after he stepped down in the wake of controversy over his past homophobic tweets, but she is also actively campaigning to have him host this year’s Academy Awards.
“I called [The Academy], I said, ‘Kevin’s on, I have no idea if he wants to come back and host, but what are your thoughts?’ And they were like, ‘Oh my God, we want him to host. We feel that maybe he misunderstood or it was handled wrong or maybe we said the wrong thing but we want him to host. Whatever we can do we would be thrilled. And he should host the Oscars,’” DeGeneres told Hart.
DeGeneres’ actions and Hart’s apology got a divided response on Twitter, with many members of the LGBTQ community voicing their disapproval, while others commended the pair.
Prominent activist Deray was among the many to disavow the interview and DeGeneres’ support.
“I expected Ellen to actually ask Kevin Hart some sort of challenging question. Anything, really,” he wrote. “But instead, it was just one long monologue from Kevin interspersed with Ellen’s approval. That interview made me miss the previous talk show hosts that asked tough questions.
Louis Virtel, a co-host of the Crooked Media podcast Keep It, kept the focus on Hart, tweeting, “I feel like if you’re not homophobic anymore, you shouldn’t mind apologizing for your past homophobia again and again and again. I don’t want to hear a hostile retelling of how we didn’t hear your meager apology the first time.”
Piers Morgan also weighed in, saying supporting Hart was “very big” of DeGeneres. He tweeted, “Very big of her. Of course, if Trump had said the homophobic things Kevin Hart tweeted, Ellen would have led the furious unforgiving ‘woke’ rage against him. Liberal celebrity hypocrisy is such a limitless vibe.”
Journalist Katie Herzog offered her support to the host, calling out DeGeneres’ critics for “dragging her for having Kevin Hart on her talk show.”
Hart, 39, announced last month he was stepping down from the role after declaring he would not apologize for his past homophobic comments which were resurfaced after it was announced he would host the Academy Awards. The star later had a change of heart and did apologize.
The host, 60, later added that as a member of the LGBTQ community she is sensitive to homophobic comments but accepted Hart’s apology.
Despite the tweets and comments he made, DeGeneres said Hart had grown as a person.
“There are so many haters out there, whatever is going on the internet don’t pay attention to them, that’s a small group of people being very, very loud. We’re a huge group of people who love you and want to see you host the Oscars,” she said.
The 91st Academy Awards will air live from Los Angeles on February 24 at 8 p.m. ET.
– Courtesy: People.com
