Jamie Lee Curtis Isn’t Impressed With Kevin Hart’s Apology For Homophobic Tweets
Jamie Lee Curtis is one of the many people in the entertainment industry who condemned comedian Kevin Hart after homophobic tweets of his surfaced, People is reporting. Hart was set to host the 91st Academy Awards when it came to the public’s attention that he had tweeted multiple homophobic comments from around 2009-2011. He often used derogatory terms.
“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,'” one tweet read.
This sparked outrage on Twitter, prompting Hart to address the situation in a video he posted on his Instagram– but he did not appear to outright apologize.
“If you want to hold people in a position where they always have to justify or explain their past — then do you,” Hart said. “I’m the wrong guy, man. I’m in a great place, a great mature place where all I do is spread positivity. If you’re not doing that, you’re not on my page.”
Curtis didn’t reference Hart directly, but a simple message she tweeted out was clearly referring to his video.
“Homophobia is not positivity,” Curtis wrote. As of this writing, the tweet has 7,702 retweets and 43,739 likes. The tweet also has 485 responses — a majority of which are in resounding agreement with the actress’s statement.
Homophobia is not positivity.
— Jamie Lee Curtis (@jamieleecurtis) December 7, 2018
Hart initially doubled-down on his view, with a follow-up Instagram post stating that the Academy was requesting that Hart apologize or be denied the opportunity to host. Hart maintained the position that he had nothing to apologize for.
“I chose to pass, I passed on the apology. Reason why I passed is because I’ve addressed this several times. This is not the first time this has come up. I’ve addressed it. I’ve spoken on it,” he said in the video.
Indeed, Hart did acknowledge homophobic jokes he made live in his stand-up in an interview in 2015. Hart used to tell a joke in his set where he spoke of what he would do if he had a son that came out to him as gay. He explained in his interview that the joke wasn’t intended to be attacking the hypothetical gay son, but instead was supposed to poke fun at himself and his own “insecurities.” Still, not much explanation has been given regarding his tweets, which were the main source of the backlash.
Hart finally tweeted an official apology on December 7 and announced that he would no longer be hosting the Oscars. Comedian Billy Eichner, who was vocal about his disapproval of Hart’s comments, tweeted that he appreciated his apology. As for Curtis, she hasn’t commented on the situation since her initial tweet.
I have made the choice to step down from hosting this year's Oscar's….this is because I do not want to be a distraction on a night that should be celebrated by so many amazing talented artists. I sincerely apologize to the LGBTQ community for my insensitive words from my past.
— Kevin Hart (@KevinHart4real) December 7, 2018
