Ellen DeGeneres made headlines after she offered a full-throated defense of comedian Kevin Hart on her show Thursday.
Hart, who stepped down as the host of the 2019 Academy Awards in December after a string of homophobic tweets from his account were dug up, has had a strange go of it over the past several weeks. He apologized for the matter when it broke, then refused to continue apologizing, “because when you feed into that stuff you only add more fuel to the fire,” he explained.
He maintained that tone Thursday when Ellen DeGeneres informed him that she’d been working behind the scenes to get him onstage as host. (RELATED: He’s Baaaack! Kevin Hart Considers Returning As Oscars Host Following Ellen DeGeneres Intervention)
“I called the Academy today because I really want you to host the Oscars,” she told Hart.
Later, she tweeted, “I believe in forgiveness. I believe in second chances. And I believe in @KevinHart4real.”
I believe in forgiveness. I believe in second chances. And I believe in @KevinHart4real. pic.twitter.com/oJxfGXhU4P
— Ellen DeGeneres (@TheEllenShow) January 4, 2019
It turns out, not even Ellen can smooth matters such as these over. The popular talk show host got raked over the coals for even deigning to forgive Kevin Hart, let alone promoting him onstage in front of millions.
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 think everyone can agree that Ellen DeGeneres is one of the most admirable and influential people on the planet. But today, standing up for that asshole, she has lost a lot of the love and respect I have for her. #Ellen #KevinHart pic.twitter.com/Me2iUVtoxb
— Evan Murphy (@evmurph796) 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
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
I feel like you could probably count the number of gay male comedians (no, not gay actors) who’ve appeared on Ellen’s show on one hand. A gay stand-up is more likely to be on Ellen for making a coming out video that goes viral than for being funny and talented.
— Laurence “Laura Dern” Barber (@bortlb) January 4, 2019
this whole ellen/kevin hart thing is a perfect example of how privilege and constant praise distorts a person’s reality so much that they perceive any criticism, however valid, to be an attack on their entire livelihood
— ellie (@eleanorbate) January 4, 2019
The only thing @KevinHart4real proved by going on Ellen was that he is a terrible actor with zero genuine remorse who didn’t have the decency to address his ignorance. No, they weren’t “haters” who came after you. It was the LGBTQI+ community because we’re sick to shit of it.
— Harry Cook (@HarryCook) January 4, 2019
Hart was not railroaded out of a job. He was asked to apologize, He quit rather than do so. “The mob” did not make this mess. And Ellen DeGeneres saying, “Don’t let those people win” is ugly. “Those people” are people who don’t prioritize a celeb’s hurt feelings above all else. >
— Mark Harris (@MarkHarrisNYC) January 4, 2019
I also believe in forgiveness. But I also believe that forgiveness requires an actual apology. Not “I’m sorry people are so sensitive.” Just “I am sorry.” All he had to do. And he indignantly refused because he felt his moment was being tainted. That he was the aggrieved.
— Eamon Paton-Usry (@Eamon2Please) January 4, 2019
Hart refused to apologize for his past tweets on DeGeneres’ show Thursday, claiming he already had. In one of the tweets, which was posted in the early 2000s, 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.'”