Kevin Hart Is Reevaluating Oscars 2019 Hosting Gig

Last month, actor Kevin Hart stepped down as the 2019 Oscars host after his past homophobic tweets made headlines.

At the time, Kevin tweeted, “I have made the choice to step down from hosting this year's Oscar's....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.”

A month after the decision, Kevin seems to be reconsidering after a one-hour heart-to-heart conversation on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.” He told Ellen, “Leaving here, I promise you I'm evaluating this conversation. This is a conversation I needed to have. I'm glad I had it here. I'm glad it's as authentic and real as I could've hoped it would be.”

Ellen offered her support for Kevin, saying, “What we're going to get to see onstage with you hosting the Oscars is sophistication, class, hilarity, and you growing as a person. Because most people would say, 'I'm walking away… ' For you to be the bigger man, for you to say, 'I understand,'... and to not pay attention. There are so many haters out there. Whatever is going on in the Internet, don't pay attention to them. That's a small group of people being very, very loud. We are a huge group of people who love you and want to see you host the Oscars.”

She added, “As a gay person, I am sensitive to all of that. You've already expressed that it's not being educated on the subject, not realizing how dangerous those words are, not realizing how many kids are killed for being gay or beaten up every day. You have grown, you have apologized, you are apologizing again right now. You've done it.”

Ellen, who hosted the Oscars twice, even called the Academy to push for Kevin's reinstatement. She revealed, “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 like 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.'”