Ellen DeGeneres Is Facing A Backlash For Urging Kevin Hart To Return As Oscars Host

— Ellen DeGeneres (@TheEllenShow) January 4, 2019

Kevin Hart was all set to host the 2019 Academy Awards, until he “made the choice” to unceremoniously step down after some past anti-gay tweets surfaced. “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,” he tweeted. The Oscars still don’t have a host, but Ellen DeGeneres, one of the most prominent gay celebrities out there today, hopes that Hart will re-consider.

During Friday’s episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, the host reveals that she called up the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and asked for Hart to be reinstated as host. “I called the Academy today, because I really want you to host the Oscars. I was so excited when I heard that they asked you. I thought it was an amazing thing and how important it was and how it was a dream,” DeGeneres said. “So, I called them. 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 maybe he misunderstood or it was handled wrong or maybe we said the wrong thing, but we want him to host.’ The Academy is saying, what can we do to make this happen”

DeGeneres called Hart “one of the smartest people I know,” told him to avoid the “haters” (it always comes back to the haters), and noted that there’s “a huge group of people who love you and want to see you host the Oscars.” After apologizing again, the Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle star went after the people who found his old tweets. “This wasn’t an accident. This wasn’t a coincidence. It wasn’t a coincidence that the day after I received the job that tweets just somehow manifested from 2008,” he said. “To go through 40,000 tweets to get back to 2008 That’s an attack. That’s a malicious attack on my character. That’s an attack to end me. That’s not an attack to just stop the Oscars. This is what I want people to understand: That’s an attack to end me.”

DeGeneres’ decision to side with Hart — who tweeted things like, “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’,” and compared a user’s profile pic to “a gay bill board for AIDS” — has led to an online backlash.

— Harry Cook (@HarryCook) January 4, 2019

People Ellen DeGeneres could have had on her show recently:

– The cast of Pose

– Krysten Sinema/Tammy Baldwin

– Courtney Act

– Lena Waithe

People Ellen DeGeneres TOOK THE TIME to lovingly and onesidely reform:

– Kevin Hart, who said gay kids are something to conspire against

— mikey (@shenanigreat) January 4, 2019

(1) First, the people who brought up Kevin Hart's past tweets — like me — were not, as Ellen characterized, "haters." The host of the Oscars had made anti-gay jokes, and LGBT people who love the Oscars were legitimately startled to see just how harsh his words were. It wasn't a…

— Adam B. Vary (@adambvary) January 4, 2019

Ellen trynna be in Night School 2 lmao

— Ira (@ira) January 4, 2019

Ellen giving homophobes the ability to say “but Ellen said it’s okay” is a massive fucking betrayal.

I don’t care how many sitcoms you lost in the 90s.

— Happy Houlidays (@RyanHoulihan) January 4, 2019

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.

— Louis Virtel (@louisvirtel) January 4, 2019

Homophobic man yells at everyone for calling him homophobic.

Ellen: How courageous! Apology accepted.

— sam greisman (@SAMGREIS) January 4, 2019

For Ellen to do this on the day when every LA gay alive took a pic with the Ally billboard is the real killer here. pic.twitter.com/ZlXmwUSC4n

— Slade (@Slade) January 4, 2019

I expected Ellen to actually ask Kevin Hart some sort of challenging question. Anything, really. 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.

— deray (@deray) January 4, 2019

imagine having the clout that Ellen DeGeneres has and wasting it on Kevin Hart instead of say, a queer comedian and/or a woman of color https://t.co/27iloSZajM pic.twitter.com/V8leAkF74M

— pilot! (@pilotviruet) January 4, 2019

(Va E! Online)