Kevin Hart says he is still thinking about hosting the 2019 Oscars after fellow comedian Ellen DeGeneres told him she reached out to the Academy of Motion Pictures on his behalf and they said they still wanted him for the job.
The comedian said he is “evaluating” retaking the hosting job during an episode of Ellen DeGeneres’ talk show that is set to air Friday — about a month after he suddenly quit the gig when some decade-old homophobic tweets he sent resurfaced online.
“I called the Academy today because I really want you to host the Oscars,” DeGeneres said.
“We want him to host, whatever we can do, we’d be thrilled,” DeGeneres said The Academy told her. “The Academy is saying what can we do to make this happen.”
He told DeGeneres that he was still angry about how the tweets were dredged up less than a day after he was formally given the hosting job in December.
In one of the tweets, sent in 2011, Hart wrote: “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.”
After the tweets resurfaced, Hart said in an Instagram video that the Academy asked him to apologize and, instead, he stepped down from hosting.
“I just got a call from the Academy and that call basically said, ‘Kevin, apologize for your tweets of old or we’re going to have to move on and find another host,’” Hart said in the December video. “I chose to pass on the apology.”
During his “Ellen” appearance, Hart said he refused to apologize because he had done so in the past and did not want to feed people who were criticizing him online. He said he didn’t have a “homophobic bone” in his body.
“This is stuff I have addressed,” Hart said. “I’m not going to pay it any mind because when you feed into that stuff you only add more fuel to the fire.”
But at the end of his appearance, Hart ultimately said he would consider taking the hosting job back.
“You have put a lot of things on my mind,” he said. “Leaving here, I’m promising you I’m evaluating this conversation … Let me assess, just sit in the space and really think.”
The Academy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
