Instead of Just Apologizing for His Homophobic Tweets, Kevin Hart Calls Out ‘Angry People’ (Updated)

As we have previously reported, Kevin Hart was officially announced yesterday as host of the 2019 Oscars, which will be televised on Feb. 24. While those who watch the Oscars — a number that seems to dwindle year by year — always seem discontent as the awards show’s choice of host, this year there was a strong sense of backlash when years-old tweets from the comedian resurfaced in which he was blatantly homophobic.

In 2011, one tweet read, “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.” He later tried to defend that joke during a 2015 interview with Rolling Stone by saying it was funny because it had to do with his own insecurities as a father. (Yeah, we don’t really get it, either.)

He also told the magazine, “Keep in mind, I’m not homophobic. … Be happy. Do what you want to do. But me, as a heterosexual male, if I can prevent my son from being gay, I will.”

Kevin Hart also had a pattern of calling people “fag” on Twitter, and at one point called someone “a gay bill board [sic] for AIDS” — all of which seems pretty intense for someone recently chosen to host the Academy Awards, which have long been a big to-do for the LGBTQ community.

Following the backlash, Kevin Hart (or his people) was quick to delete these offensive, homophobic remarks from Twitter. What hasn’t happened is an apology — not even your typical statement of regret and an assurance of “that was me then, and I’m a different person now.” None of that.

Instead we’ve been treated to a few posts on social media in which Kevin Hart insists he’s a family man and calls those who are outraged by his remarks “angry people.”

Hart said today on Twitter, “I was asked the most amazing question from my kids today on the phone … they said ‘Dad why don’t you get mad when people talk about you on the internet’ … my answer was ‘I never see that stuff because I’m too busy being happy & loving you 2.’”

I was asked the most amazing question from my kids today on the phone….they said "Dad why don't you get mad when people talk about you on the internet" …my answer was "I never see that stuff because I'm to busy being happy & loving you 2"

— Kevin Hart (@KevinHart4real) December 6, 2018

But would he still be busy loving his kids if one of them came out as gay? We can’t help but wonder.

He followed up that tweet with another: “I then explained to them that it’s hard to know what angry things people are saying when you stay away from the places that angry people love. I said angry people love the internet … so use it only when necessary and spend the rest of ur time enjoying life.”

I then explained to them that it's hard to know what angry things people are saying when you stay away from the places that angry people love. I said angry people love the internet… so use it only when necessary and spend the rest of ur time enjoying life.

— Kevin Hart (@KevinHart4real) December 6, 2018

Now that’s a piece of advice that Kevin Hart should take heed of himself. Next time he has something rude and blatantly homophobic to say, maybe he should keep it off the internet, where — as we’re all now well aware — things you’ve said really do last forever.

Rich Ferraro, Chief Communications Officer for GLAAD, has told The Blast, “GLAAD reached out to ABC, The Academy and Kevin Hart’s management to discuss his rhetoric and record as well as opportunities for positive LGBTQ inclusion on the Oscars stage. They have not yet responded.”

UPDATE, 4:40 p.m. PST: Kevin Hart has published a video on Instagram where he continues to refuse to apologize. “I swear, our world is becoming beyond crazy, and I’m not gonna let the craziness frustrate me or anger me, especially when I’ve worked hard to get to the mental space that I’m at now,” he says. “I’m almost 40 years old. If you don’t believe that people change, grow, evolve as they get older, I don’t know what to tell you.”

Of course, the video begs the question: What would make us think for a second he has “changed/grown/evolved” if he can’t be bothered to make a statement where he rebukes what he said previously? We’re just supposed to assume he’s changed because he’s older, as if there’s no such thing as a 40-year-old homophobe?