Kevin Hart released a truly awful statement about his homophobic tweets
We live in the golden age of bad non-apologies, but Kevin Hart's response to recent backlash over resurfaced homophobic jokes might take the cake.
"Stop looking for reasons to be negative... Stop searching for reasons to be angry," Hart wrote in his Instagram, along with a grainy video of him shirtless expressing the same sentiments.
For those playing catch up: On Wednesday, Hart was announced as the host of the 2019 Oscars. Within hours, concerns were raised online that resurfaced a litany of (now-deleted) tweets.
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One described how, if he ever saw his son playing with his daughter's doll house, "I’m going 2 break it over his head and say n my voice 'stop that’s gay.'" Others included him using homophobic slurs against other people.
So are these the kind of "jokes" Kevin Hart is gonna tell when he hosts Oscars? pic.twitter.com/ElnX5uUR1l
— Adam Ellis (@moby_dickhead) December 6, 2018
These weren't just one-off thoughtless tweets, either. As noted by many, this joke from his 2010 stand-up special Seriously Funny echoed the same bigoted sentiments:
On Thursday afternoon, Hart took to Instagram to post a video and caption expressing his support for the real victim in all this: himself.
A post shared by Kevin Hart (@kevinhart4real) on Dec 6, 2018 at 3:20pm PST
"I work hard on a daily basis to spread positivity to all," he declared, once again disregarding the feelings and experiences of many in the LGBTQ community. He then suggested that the people his jokes upset should, "take your negative energy and put it into something constructive."
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.
— Erik Anderson (@awards_watch) December 5, 2018
Well, you know what they say: The best way to show everyone you know how to "live" "learn" "grow" and "mature" is by blaming them for the consequences of your own actions.
Most infuriatingly, Hart used the same diminishing, condescending excuses from his Seriously Funny joke to try and mask the hostility of his attitude. Hiding behind his brand of happiness and posi-vibes, he finished by declaring "I live to love," and telling everyone to "Have a beautiful day."
Whether or not Hart at all recognizes the "negativity" of his own early, homophobic comedy remains to be seen. But we hope he has a beautiful day.
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