Will Kevin Hart’s History of Homophobic Jokes Get Him Removed As Oscars Host?

This week, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences ended an unusually long period of speculation by announcing Kevin Hart as the host of the 91st Academy Awards. The selection made a ton of sense, considering Hart’s an actor with a major stand-up background — like previous Oscar hosts Ellen Degeneres and Chris Rock — who has also been a hugely successful film actor in his own right. The only problem, one that began to emerge as early as Tuesday night, is that Hart has a notorious, though not often-discussed history of homophobic jokes in his stand-up past. Now, a steadily brewing controversy is gaining steam, and those who remember their recent Oscar history are wondering whether this might add up to Hart getting the axe before his Oscar-hosting gig even gets off the runway.

The one joke that most people point to when referencing Hart’s history of homophobia came from Hart’s 2010 Seriously Funny stand-up special. In it, Hart jokes about being a father, worrying about whether his son has gay tendencies or not, and overreacting (sometimes by hitting) when he sees his son acting questionable.

“One of my biggest fears is my son growing up and being gay. That’s a fear. Keep in mind, I’m not homophobic, I have nothing against gay people, be happy. Do what you want to do. But me, being a heterosexual male, if I can prevent my son from being gay, I will.”

It’s neither a good nor terribly creative joke, considering a year later that same “what would I do if my son were gay?” premise was the basis for Tracy Morgan’s infamous “I would pull out a knife and stab my son in the heart” rant that got him into so much trouble. Morgan apologized, publicly and profusely for that remark. Hart never really has, though he’s tried to re-contextualize the joke, while at the same time chalking any controversy up to overly PC culture:

“It’s about my fear. I’m thinking about what I did as a dad, did I do something wrong, and if I did, what was it? Not that I’m not gonna love my son or think about him any differently. The funny thing within that joke is it’s me getting mad at my son because of my own insecurities — I panicked. It has nothing to do with him, it’s about me. That’s the difference between bringing a joke across that’s well thought-out and saying something just to ruffle feathers.”

Blowback to the Hart announcement began almost immediately, with Guardian film critic Benjamin Lee firing off the most frequently circulated tweet, which called out Hart’s homophobic joke directly. Lee later followed up by screenshotting a bunch of Hart’s old tweets where he used “gay” or “fag” as a slur.

Lee’s subsequent Guardian post on Hart included these quotes from Hart, about turning down a role in Tropic Thunder:

During the same period, Hart revealed that he turned down a role in 2008’s Tropic Thunder because the character was gay and his behaviour was “real flagrant” before adding that he’d never be able to play a gay character in the future. “What I think people are going to think while I’m trying to do this is going to stop me from playing that part the way I’m supposed to,” he said.

As the receipts on Hart’s history of homophobia began to make the rounds, questions began to arise about whether Hart should be hosting the Oscars and if either AMPAS or ABC should pull the plug on him. Remember, it’s not unprecedented that exposed homophobia could cost someone the Oscar gig. Back in November of 2011, after Eddie Murphy was announced as Oscars host, with his Tower Heist director Brett Ratner producing the show, Ratner said at a post-movie Q&A that he didn’t rehearse scenes because “rehearsal is for fags.” Two days later, Ratner resigned amid blowback, and Murphy (who has his own problematic history of homophobic stand-up material) backed out in solidarity.

While this Kevin Hart controversy is happening in early December (and thus one less month than the Ratner situation with which to start Oscar preparations from scratch), it’s not out of the question that Hart could be un-selected as host. Homophobia is certainly no more acceptable in 2018 than it was in 2011, and a Hart-hosted Oscars, especially if he makes no effort to apologize for his earlier comments and attitudes, will have this hanging over its head right up until February 24. Insulting the libs might have worked with Roseanne‘s TV ratings, but when you’re talking about the core audience for the Academy Awards, it’s tough to imagine that jokes about smacking your kid because you’re worried he’s gay won’t be a dealbreaker for a lot of them.

Hart has yet to respond to the controversy, though he’s since deleted the offending tweets, which is a good indication that someone has decided this is a big enough problem that it requires some action. Then there was this tweet from late Wednesday night about ignoring people who speak ill of him on the internet, feels at least plausibly like a deflection.

That is, to be sure, not an apology. And it’s tough to see a future for a Kevin Hart-hosted Oscars that doesn’t include either A) a significant and serious apology expressing regret and an evolved mindset — something that most, if not all, comedians find incredibly difficult to do when the subject is an offensive joke — or B) persistent and loud protests from the gay community who, if you have not noticed, occasionally have strong thoughts and opinions about the Oscars.