Kevin Hart acknowledges ‘miscommunication’ with gay community
Comedian Kevin Hart (Paras Griffin/Getty)
Kevin Hart has spoken out about the row that saw him quit the Oscars rather than issue an apology for homophobic tweets.
In December, Hart abruptly dropped out as host of the Academy Awards after organisers reportedly asked him to issue an apology for resurfaced tweets mocking “fags.”
Speaking to USA Today on Monday (April 1), Hart spoke about his decision to not issue a direct apology for the anti-gay slurs or homophobic jokes in his comedy routine.
Kevin Hart: I wasn’t playing the victim
The comedian said: “The way that I handled it in the beginning was never from a place where I’m being negative or angry or playing victim.
“It was, ‘Hey, guys, I apologised about this. I talked about this years ago and I said I’ll never do it again.’
“To me, that was the apology. The apology was never doing it again. I didn’t understand why that wasn’t good [enough].”
Comedian Kevin Hart wrote anti-gay slurs online. (Phillip Faraone/Getty)
He added: “Why isn’t the 10-year change of a guy never talking like this, never doing it again through stand-up or jokes, being noticed?
“I thought the best way to say sorry is by changing, whereas some people still wanted to just hear me say it again. And that’s where I think the miscommunication or the disconnect came from.”
Kevin Hart: Gay friends told me to apologise
Hart added that he has had “several conversations with good friends of mine that are part of the LGBTQ community,” including Empire director Lee Daniels, who told him, “We just want to know that you don’t feel the way you felt then. We wanted to hear you say that.”
The comedian continued: “I thought that me putting my change on display and never going back to that was the best way to do that. And if the verbal (apology) would have been better, then I can understand that. But at the time, I didn’t grasp that concept of just wanting to hear that again.
“Hopefully the people of the LGBTQ community know that I in no way, shape or form embrace any ill will toward anybody in general. It’s not who I am.”
“I thought the best way to say sorry is by changing.”
—Kevin Hart
Speaking on SiriusXM in January, Hart had said: “I’m not debating right or wrong, I’ve already stated it’s wrong, there’s no question of what it was. But the other side of it is this.
“If the fight from the LGBTQ community is equality, that’s the fight. The fight is the will and want for equality. I’m riding with you guys. I understand you.
“But in the fight for equality, that means that there has to be an acceptance for change.
“If you don’t want to accept people for their change, then where are you trying to get to the equal part? Where does the equality part come in?”
