Posted on 12/05/2018 8:08:02 AM PST by Ennis85
After months of speculation, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences confirmed December 5 that comedian Kevin Hart would be taking on the job of Oscars host for the upcoming 91st Academy Awards. The gig will be Hart’s first time hosting the Oscars, a massive step up from his gigs hosting ceremonies like the BET Awards, the MTV Video Music Awards, and the MTV Movie and TV Awards. However, Hart’s hiring is being met with some backlash online from film writers and Oscar pundits.
Erik Anderson, the founder of Awards Watch, took to social media shortly after Hart confirmed his hosting duty to call out the comedian for his controversial past. The awards prognosticator wrote, “Considering how many of the Oscars’ biggest fans are women and gay men it’s quite something for the Academy to hire a guy who beat one wife, cheated on another when she was eight months pregnant and said one of his biggest fears is his son growing up and being gay.”
Hart publicly admitted in December 2017 to cheating on wife Eniko Parrish while she was pregnant earlier that year. In his 2017 memoir “I Can’t Make This Up,” Hart admitted there were times when his marriage to first wife Torrei Hart became violent. But it’s Hart’s controversial comments on homosexuality that are resurfacing the most in the wake of his Oscars hosting being confirmed.
Benjamin Lee, film writer and journalist for The Guardian, shared a polarizing bit from Hart’s 2010 comedy special “Seriously Funny” in which he joked about how he would react to his son growing up as a gay man.
“One of my biggest fears is my son growing up and being gay,” Hart said in the special. “That’s a fear. 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.”
Lee accompanied Hart’s quotes with the caption, “And the Oscar for most homophobic host ever goes to…” In that same special, Hart performed a skit where he looked back at times his son gave off “homosexual tendencies,” to which Hart joked that he would yell at his son, “Stop, that’s gay!”
Hart told Rolling Stone in 2015 he would not make the same joke again and that the quote had everything to do with his own insecurities than with taking aim at the LGBTQ community. Regardless, the joke has remained a point of contention in Hart’s career. The Guardian film critic Peter Bradshaw even referenced it while debating whether or not Hart was the right Oscar host in a post titled “Can Kevin Hart Tiptoe Through the Oscars Minefield?”
As others observed online, Hart was accused again of being homophobic after the release of his 2015 comedy “Get Hard,” in which he starred opposite Will Ferrell. At the time of the film’s release, Hart, Ferrell, and Warner Bros. were criticized for numerous homophobic prison jokes in the movie. Given this year’s Oscar race includes queer films like “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” and “Boy Erased,” plus movies about gay icons such as Freddie Mercury (“Bohemian Rhapsody”) and starring gay icons like Lady Gaga (“A Star Is Born”), Hart being hired as host stands out even more.
In a statement confirming his Oscars hosting duty, Hart wrote, “I will be sure to make this year’s Oscars a special one. I appreciate The Academy for the opportunity…now it’s time to rise to the occasion.” The 91st Academy Awards air February 24, 2019.
https://twitter.com/awards_watch/status/1070144276447653888?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1070144276447653888&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.indiewire.com%2F2018%2F12%2Fkevin-hart-homophobic-abusive-past-oscars-host-1202025494%2F
https://twitter.com/benfraserlee/status/1070134637605867520?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1070134637605867520&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.indiewire.com%2F2018%2F12%2Fkevin-hart-homophobic-abusive-past-oscars-host-1202025494%2F
How did Barbra Streisand’s career survive such crimes?
The ghey always trumps the black. They have more money.
And they’re racist - but that okay because they’re more righteous in their suffering.
Does any parent want their kid to be queer?
>>being homophobic after the release of his 2015 comedy “Get Hard,” in which he starred opposite Will Ferrell. At the time of the film’s release, Hart, Ferrell, and Warner Bros. were criticized for numerous homophobic prison jokes in the movie.
Apparently no man in history has ever been raped by a man in prison
But it is quite allreet in media to make fale rape claims and jokes about a supreme court justice...
They’ll have to adjust the height of the mic stand numerous times on Oscar night.
The statistics are very clear. Gay men suffer very badly because of their sexual perversions. Drugs, violence (from other gays), alcohol, suicide, disease - they lead in all categories.
Just get another one, they all look alike- hitlary klinton.
Gays, and every other minority, will have equality when they can take a joke, not when jokes about them stop. They should strive to be like rednecks, Irish, and most other groups of straight white males (and females) who liberals love to make fun of and laugh at.
Many individuals in minority groups have reached equality. But liberals (mostly upper class whites) work hard to keep the rest offended, oppressed, and unequal.
Why is it so hard for women to find men that are sensitive, caring, and good-looking? Because those men already have boyfriends.
I saw two guys wearing matching clothing and I asked if they were gay. They quickly arrested me.
90% of women don’t like men in pink shirts. Ironically, 90% of men in pink shirts don’t like women.
Life without women would be a pain in the ass, literally.
If sex is a pain in the ass, then you’re doing it wrong .
I don’t care for Hart. I completely agree with what he said. Those butt hurt by his words can foad.
Keep making geh jokes but many of us know their great value. For one, they’d be great soldiers- it’s a fact that they’ll never leave their friend’s behind.
Homophobia is just the entirely normal aversion that normal people feel for perverts.
Get treatment.
I remember when we first got a TV back in late 1956. The next year we saw our first Oscars show, and one of the entertainments was a bald headed guy singing to a sweet young thing...”Baby it’s Cold Outside!”
When will they admit to stereotyping gays and blacks in sitcoms?
Well, if black comedian is a job prerequisite, he’s not a bad pick. But like other recent comedian hosts, he’s neither a classy movie star (Jack Benny, Jimmy Stewart) nor famous as a presenter (Johnny Carson, David Letterman).
Of course, a guy like Bob Hope who was a movie star AND a comedian AND a presenter is ideal.
I meant Jack Lemmon, not Jack Benny. But Jack Benny was a good choice, too. Hell, Liz Lemon wasn’t even bad at GG, though that’s a much lower-class affair.
Didn't Tracy Morgan say something even worse?
"He said if his son that was gay he better come home and talk to him like a man and not [he mimicked a gay, high pitched voice] or he would pull out a knife and stab that little N (one word I refuse to use) to death. ... Tracy then said he didn't f--king care if he pissed off some gays, because if they can take a f--king d-ck up their a--... they can take a f--king joke"
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