Earlier in the day, well before The Academy stepped in, various LGBTQ advocacy groups and individuals reached out to the dude to give him a chance. There was an earnest desire to forgive Hart if his apology was sincere.
Chad Griffin @ChadHGriffin
.@kevinhart4real you have a rare opportunity to take responsibility, teach people in this moment, & send a message to LGBTQ youth that they matter & deserve dignity & respect. You say you've grown. Show us. Make amends for hurtful things you've said & affirm LGBTQ people.
Instead, Hart chose to be a jackass and is now a martyr for bigots.
While he deserved this metaphorical kick in the teeth, it does just go to show that you have to either have a highly sanitised social media presence or one day something you wrote ten years ago can cost you a lot.
The weaponisation of social media like this is a little disconcerting. Common sense would dictate allowances were made for particularly old comments, especially if circumstances were different for that person when they were made and they've apologised since, but folks have been... ruthless so far.
All these comparisons to the James Gunn situation are so misguided.
1). Saying Hart's past comments were weaponized is a stretch. As shown above, he was given every opportunity to apologize, to showcase his growth, to move on. This entire discussion was primarily done in good faith: it presented his tweets genuinely, and presented a potential response to them genuinely.
2). What Gunn did and what Hart did are at the inverse of one another: whereas Gunn made uniquely inappropriate jokes about uniquely sensitive subjects that no one could confuse as reflecting actual sentiments, Hart made a series of standard ass homophobic jokes that very much seemed rooted in his own feelings. Not a lot of people cared all that much to get a pound of flesh over his past transgressions; people just wanted confirmation that he's grown up and wasn't a damn homophobe.
3). Hart chose to step down instead of apologize. Gunn had already made a very good apology for the things he said, and apologized again before being forcibly fired.
So yeah, maybe stop conflating those two situations, like they aren't different on a number of fundamental levels...?
I also find that joke about him 'still growing' because of his small stature pretty funny. Though I wonder, to those currently guffawing at short man barbs, what would happen if say in 10 years making fun of a man's short stature, an uncontrollable characteristic subject to social and professional discrimination, fell out of favor with liberal norms. I wonder how we would react if upon getting a new job in 2030 we had to go back and grovel for our decade-old diminutive disparagement, even if our beliefs changed with the times.
In any case, whether he apologized previously or whether he cares about this particular gig or not, he should have just sucked it up and apologized again. You're one of the hottest stars right now and you have to think long term. I'm sure the good people of Philadelphia can't handle too many more Ls after the Meek Mill fiasco.
Franco/Hathaway, Letterman, Kimmel were all pretty abysmal performances that took some of the luster off of their participants. Chris Rock Probably took something of a hit as well.
Seth McFarlane had a bad show but he really didn't have anywhere to go but up. He's maybe the one person who was smart to take the job, purely for exposure. For anyone established it's not really worth the hassle and pressure.
Franco/Hathaway, Letterman, Kimmel were all pretty abysmal performances that took some of the luster off of their participants. Chris Rock Probably took something of a hit as well.
Seth McFarlane had a bad show but he really didn't have anywhere to go but up. He's maybe the one person who was smart to take the job, purely for exposure. For anyone established it's not really worth the hassle and pressure.
Did hosting the oscars really hurt francos career? And I mean any actual proof? Cause he kind of does his own thing and went to teach and do other shit, and has come back for roles here and there.
Did hosting the oscars really hurt francos career? And I mean any actual proof? Cause he kind of does his own thing and went to teach and do other shit, and has come back for roles here and there.
I think it's kind of hard to make the argument that bombing on the world's largest stage doesn't intangibly hurt your career in some fashion. At best people come out of the hosting gig unscathed, because even with talent it is hard being saddled to this dud of a production.
I am pretty sure Cena had gay jokes as well. I don't think Cena is a homophobe though. I believe his brother is gay. But well, different era of bad taste and homophobia.
One of my all times faves was Sam Kinison and his gay jokes were BRUTAL. None of that shit would fly now.
Boogie's centrism is so stupid and toxic. But that hustle to be indifferent sure helps his views.
Plenty of up and coming presenters that can easily take over the gig, Boogie acting like it's gonna be difficult because of the precedence he imagines this controversy has
Boogie's centrism is so stupid and toxic. But that hustle to be indifferent sure helps his views.
Plenty of up and coming presenters that can easily take over the gig, Boogie acting like it's gonna be difficult because of the precedence he imagines this controversy has
can someone post some receipts for the "apologized many times" thing, please
because it's amazing how many times I've seen that talking point, and yet the one apology I've seen circulated around (from 2015, I think) was more a defense of his homophobia than an actual apology
If he'd apologized about it many times and has changed his views, you would think restating that would be no big thing to clear the air and keep a job.
All these comparisons to the James Gunn situation are so misguided.
1). Saying Hart's past comments were weaponized is a stretch. As shown above, he was given every opportunity to apologize, to showcase his growth, to move on. This entire discussion was primarily done in good faith: it presented his tweets genuinely, and presented a potential response to them genuinely.
2). What Gunn did and what Hart did are at the inverse of one another: whereas Gunn made uniquely inappropriate jokes about uniquely sensitive subjects that no one could confuse as reflecting actual sentiments, Hart made a series of standard ass homophobic jokes that very much seemed rooted in his own feelings. Not a lot of people cared all that much to get a pound of flesh over his past transgressions; people just wanted confirmation that he's grown up and wasn't a damn homophobe.
3). Hart chose to step down instead of apologize. Gunn had already made a very good apology for the things he said, and apologized again before being forcibly fired.
So yeah, maybe stop conflating those two situations, like they aren't different on a number of fundamental levels...?
Both made tweets that are indefensible! Would you be saying the same if a White nationalist group brought Hart's tweets back to the surface? it sucks that Gunn's tweets were weaponized, but Gunn made those tweets; not anybody else. Same for Hart.
Sometimes you can't apologize your way out of some shit.
The biggest difference between the two is Gunn looks to have grown from his past mistakes.
Yeah, Gunn emphatically apologized when the tweets were highlighted after Disney hired him, and then again when they were brought back up this year. He didn't just stop posting stuff like that.
No one has to accept his apologies, but they were given without caveats and hedging more than once.
I also find that joke about him 'still growing' because of his small stature pretty funny. Though I wonder, to those currently guffawing at short man barbs, what would happen if say in 10 years making fun of a man's short stature, an uncontrollable characteristic subject to social and professional discrimination, fell out of favor with liberal norms. I wonder how we would react if upon getting a new job in 2030 we had to go back and grovel for our decade-old diminutive disparagement, even if our beliefs changed with the times.
In any case, whether he apologized previously or whether he cares about this particular gig or not, he should have just sucked it up and apologized again. You're one of the hottest stars right now and you have to think long term. I'm sure the good people of Philadelphia can't handle too many more Ls after the Meek Mill fiasco.
Agreed. I get that the LGBTQ community has been attacked in ways far worse on average than short men have, but to argue that it's not hypocritical (or to ignore the fact that it is) to mock a short man because he's short is pretty ignorant.
Jesus Christ. Note to self, don't say anything that might age badly within a few years on social media. Because some asshat will just dig it up and ruin you
Jesus Christ. Note to self, don't say anything that might age badly within a few years on social media. Because some asshat will just dig it up and ruin you
Jesus Christ. Note to self, don't say anything that might age badly within a few years on social media. Because some asshat will just dig it up and ruin you
Jesus Christ. Note to self, don't say anything that might age badly within a few years on social media. Because some asshat will just dig it up and ruin you
Guess the dude's still pretty homophobic if he wasn't willing to spend two seconds throwing out an apology to save his opportunity to host for the Oscars. It wouldn't even need to be genuine and people would have gotten over it super quick too.
Jesus Christ. Note to self, don't say anything that might age badly within a few years on social media. Because some asshat will just dig it up and ruin you
When you say something horrible, even be it a joke, but when you grow as a person....everytime someone brings it up, you take that opportunity to address it as it was the first apology. To spread awareness to the issue.
I get that he was trying to be prideful when feeling he didn't have to address the issue again... mainly because he feels he said he would never address the issue again... but not everyone watches the Breakfast Club... not everyone follows everything you say.
So it's not that others have to go out of their way to seek the truth... you have to go out of your way to make up for it. Which in this case means, apologizes again.