Kevin Hart tried to do something nice, but of course it blew up in his face. Justifiably, I believe. For months (truly, months) we had to talk about Kevin Hart and whether his old homophobic tweets and comedy routines meant that he was an inappropriate choice to host the Oscars. It wasn’t completely about the fact that Hart’s “comedy” was laced with homophobia for years, it was that he threw a fit when people called him out on it. He could have simply issued a substantive apology (that was all the Academy wanted from him) and people probably would have moved on. Maybe. Anyway, Kevin Hart tried to say something about Jussie Smollett being violently assaulted by MAGA bros. Hart wrote this on his Instagram:
Sending prayers your way @jussiesmollett ….This is unbelievably sad. Why are we going backwards….this is disgusting. We as people have to do better. WTF is going on the world???? Why are we falling in love with hate???? God damn it people….Choose love…I repeat…Choose love. I will forever choose love and I will continue to teach my kids how to do the same. Stand strong brother
It’s a nice message, but it didn’t exist in a vacuum. People were like “hey remember all of the homophobic sh-t you used to say and tweet? What happened to Jussie is part of that.”
But keep joking about beating up your kid for being gay, Kevin Hart!
— sam greisman (@SAMGREIS) January 29, 2019
This is why someone’s jokes about beating their gay son were never funny
— Ira (@ira) January 29, 2019
And as added bonus, Ellen DeGeneres got dragged into the criticism too. Remember how she caped for Kevin, like she was in charge of what all LGBTQ folks should feel?
And less than four weeks ago, you sat across from Kevin Hart and said "Don't let those people win.” But “those people” whom you described as “haters” were queer black people hoping that you’d take the relationship between language and violence more seriously. https://t.co/k7uW8xG9gf
— Saeed Jones (@theferocity) January 30, 2019
Given what we’ve seen so far, I fully expect the men who attacked Jussie Smollett to score a sit-down interview with Ellen at some point in the next few weeks. Maybe it will be a roundtable discussion with Kevin Hart.
— Saeed Jones (@theferocity) January 29, 2019
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Ouch….but deserved. People are so complicated, I 100% believe Kevin and Ellen are sincere in their concern….and I 100% believe they deserve to get dragged like this. Do they see the connection? Lesson learned? I guess we will see.
@Mia4s such a wise comment.
We can say that Ellen and Kevin are priviledged assholes, which they are but they certainly do not WANT to hurt people.
They also were completelly misguided and ignorant.
But how will we get better as a society if you cancel everyone?
We need dialogue.
And that’s one of the reasons I often think of Obama. he could be fierce but was great at dialogue and normalizing stuff that seems “different” to other people. And he changed his mind on some bigotted views he had specifically regarding homosexuality.
Agreed. To me it seems less like a dragging and more like a necessary pointed reminder of why we have to stay so vigilant about homophobia and racism in the first place, and that it’s not just about words or differences in opinion.. Both of these things cost people their lives and wellbeing.
Sure Kevin…
This is why homophobic jokes, racist jokes, and rape jokes are not effing funny, because they represent actual violence that people have to deal with everyday!
True that!
This has made me so sad. Is it 1954?
Comedy has consequences. How comedians like Hart and DeGeneres don’t understand that is beyond me.
Good! Everyone who defended Kevin is backtracking like crazy.
I can’t believe what happened to him (Jussie). It’s just SO MUCH HATE …
Even Kevin is allowed to be horrified by this, regardless of his not-very-funny jokes.
Kevin should be horrified: by the act and his own ignorance to date.
Haters aren’t just internet trolls. They are violent people causing actual life threatening harm feeling buoyed by MAGA and his form of humor that degrades people for how they look or their sexuality.
He’s got skin in the game whether he wants to admit it or not.
People need to stop saying I’m not gay, not my problem. I’m not black, not my problem. I’m not a woman, not my problem. I’m not poor, not my problem. I’m not fat, not my problem.
If you are human, how other humans are treated is your problem.
DRAG 👏🏾HIM👏🏾
Kevin deserves this. And I hope he actually takes everyone’s words to heart instead of releasing another statement about “haters” and how everybody is wishing for his downfall. Take some responsibility for your words and actions.
Same here – this would be his (second) chance to say “you know what, you guys are right, and what I’ve ‘joked’ about before was wrong. I’m sorry and will never do it again.”
But I’m sure he will continue to get defensive, and not realize he’s been part of the problem.
I do appreciate anyone who reaches out in support of Jussie though.
My heart is broken for Jussie, and for his loved ones. I can’t imagine what he’s going through, and I hope his physical injuries are not too severe. And that the disgusting racists who did this are caught quickly.
And maybe this time he’ll do something substantial, but I doubt it. I really truly don’t believe he’s changed in any way other than he’s learned not to say that kind of stuff on twitter or to an audience. I think he still believes it’s fine to do and say what he does, and he seems to use religion as an excuse in part.
Yeah, notice how he didn’t mention the homophobic culture that incites violence like this.
Wow, he doesn’t get it at all. How can he not understand the blatant hypocrisy?
Oh, yeah, because he’d rather play the victim of “trolls” and “haters” instead of actually listening and learning and growing.
If he had sat their and said nothing they would have still crucified him.
I thought Kevin’s tweet was good until the last 2 lines. He needs to talk less.
We clearly live in a world with only saints or demons!
People need to stop pretending that language doesn’t have its own power and can’t exist as a tacit form of violence. Cruelty is built with small steps.
REALLY
Kevin made a joke, didnt physically hurt anyone, when he realized he hurt people’s feelings he owned it & apologized. He learned from it & by the way he didnt make those comments last week or last month.
Comparing Kevin to the attackers is DUMB
He’s a comedian. He made jokes YEARS ago that he has already apologized for many times over. He’s allowed to show concern over something so horrific happening.