The comedians will discuss Hart’s Oscars backlash on Ellen. But their chat is already receiving backlash of its own.
Just under a month since comedian Kevin Hart stepped down from hosting the Oscars amid backlash, an appeal to reinstate him in the role has come from a powerful voice — Ellen DeGeneres.
Hart retreated from the gig just days after he accepted it, after a wave of public outrage over a 2010 comedy routine and a series of homophobic tweets, including one from 2012 in which he joked about hitting his son for having a “gay moment.” But according to the Hollywood Reporter, DeGeneres later called the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to support Hart and ask for his reinstatement — and that Hart, in a conversation set to air on Ellen on Friday, is reevaluating his decision to step down.
I believe in forgiveness. I believe in second chances. And I believe in @KevinHart4real. pic.twitter.com/oJxfGXhU4P
— Ellen DeGeneres (@TheEllenShow) January 4, 2019
THR reports that DeGeneres says during Friday’s episode of Ellen that the Academy never wanted Hart to resign his position at all — merely to apologize for his old tweets. Per the outlet’s account of the taping of Hart’s segment, she describes her conversation with eager Academy representatives as follows:
“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 that maybe he misunderstood or it was handled wrong. Maybe we said the wrong thing but we want him to host. Whatever we can do we would be thrilled. And he should host the Oscars.’”
As one of the most powerful and visible queer people in Hollywood, DeGeneres’s support of Hart will inevitably go a long way toward quelling criticism of Hart, who was initially very defensive after the homophobic aspects of his comedy resurfaced, but who ultimately said that he was stepping down as Oscars host so that he wouldn’t “be a distraction on a night that should be celebrated by so many amazing talented artists.”
DeGeneres, however, tweeted early Friday morning that she believes in Hart, and that she feels he was authentic.
In this conversation, @KevinHart4real was authentic and real, and I’m in his corner. #OscarsNeedHart https://t.co/nhMwSefrMl
— Ellen DeGeneres (@TheEllenShow) January 4, 2019
For his part, Hart voices concern during the Ellen segment that “the slander on my name is all [about alleged] homophobia” and asserts that “I don’t have a homophobic bone in my body ... I know that I’ve addressed it, I know that I’ve apologized.
“I know that within my apologies I’ve taken 10 years to put my apology to work ... I’m a guy that understands now — I look at life through a different lens ... I don’t joke like that anymore because that was wrong.”
Hart also reiterates that he doesn’t want to be a distraction on Oscar night, and added, “Either my apology is accepted or it isn’t; either I can move forward or I can’t.”
In response, DeGeneres encourages Hart to return to the gig. “You have grown, you have apologized, you are apologizing again right now,” she says. “You’ve done it. Don’t let those people win — host the Oscars.”
But plenty of onlookers have voiced concerns that Hart never truly apologized for making the homophobic comedy to begin with, and that despite DeGeneres’s enthusiasm for Hart, he seems to have learned very little in the ensuing debate.
this is disappointing. I’m all for second chances. But Hart has barely shown remorse or that he’s learned anything https://t.co/Eccmx44nj9
— Versha Sharma (@versharma) January 4, 2019
Many people have also argued on social media that both Hart and DeGeneres have minimized the people who are offended by Hart’s comedy. Before stepping down in December, Hart initially referred to his detractors on Instagram as “trolls”; on her show, DeGeneres characterizes the reaction as coming from “haters.”
(2) …mob of people out to get Kevin Hart. It was a group of people who wanted to understand Hart's thinking about those hurtful tweets & his stand-up jokes.
— Adam B. Vary (@adambvary) January 4, 2019
Second, in his Ellen interview, Hart referenced apologizing for his past during the GET HARD junket. Well…
(3) …when @louisvirtel asked Hart about the vaguely homophobic jokes in GET HARD, like Hart affecting an effeminate voice to evoke fear of prison rape, Hart's response was, "Funny is funny." That may be a legit perspective; it isn't an apology. https://t.co/z92Bslbdhr
— Adam B. Vary (@adambvary) January 4, 2019
And in the wake of DeGeneres’s support of Hart, she’s currently facing a backlash of her own from members of the queer community who are dissatisfied with what they perceive as her attempt to speak on their behalf.
Ellen’s show is basically the embodiment of respectability politics, so using it as a platform to absolve Kevin Hart on our behalf sounds pretty much on brand. Her sitcom allowed her to do something radical, which she suffered for, & she’s been running away from that ever since.
— Laurence "Laura Dern" Barber (@bortlb) January 4, 2019
My thoughts on Ellen and this absolving of Kevin Hart. pic.twitter.com/tn7Amh6oDv
— George M Johnson (@IamGMJohnson) January 4, 2019
Several of the clips featuring Hart have already been released online, but the full conversation will air Friday on NBC at 3 pm Eastern.
from Vox - All http://bit.ly/2F7TvIq
Breaking News: Ellen DeGeneres still wants Kevin Hart to host the Oscars. But her support may backfire. - News Paper
0 komentar:
Post a Comment