Back in 2018, Kevin Hart came under fire when a bunch of his old anti-gay tweets resurfaced online.
After the comedian was announced as the host of the Oscars, internet users uncovered several of his since-deleted posts that featured anti-gay slurs and mocked LGBTQ+ people.
One of the posts in question, which was shared in 2011, read, “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.’”
Before long, Kevin’s extensive history of anti-gay sentiment was brought to light, with people looking back on a 2010 stand-up bit where he said, “One of my biggest fears is my son growing up and being gay.” The comedian insisted he had “nothing against gay people,” but said that if possible, he’d prevent his son from being gay.
A few years prior, Kevin defended his past problematic tweets. He purportedly told writer Jonah Weiner in 2015, “I’d never apologize for what was never intended to be disrespectful — I’d never allow the public to win for something I know wasn’t malicious… I think people take things so serious — you send out a tweet, and I’m not apologizing for that.”
He also defended his “joke” about having a gay son. “It’s about my fear. I’m thinking about what I did as a dad, did I do something wrong, and if I did, what was it? Not that I’m not gonna love my son or think about him any differently,” he said.
Kevin initially refused to apologize for his past anti-gay tweets when they resurfaced in 2018. "I chose to pass, I pass on the apology," he said in an Instagram video. "The reason why I pass is because I've addressed this several times. This is not the first time it's come up. I've addressed it. I've spoken on it. I said where the rights and wrongs were, I said who I am now versus who I was then. I've done it."
Kevin also told people to “stop searching for reasons to be angry” in a lengthy Instagram caption. “If u want to search my history or past and anger yourselves with what u find that is fine with me. I’m almost 40 years old and I’m in love with the man that I am becoming. You LIVE and YOU LEARN & YOU GROW & YOU MATURE,” he wrote.
“I’m sorry that I hurt people.. I am evolving and want to continue to do so. My goal is to bring people together not tear us apart. Much love & appreciation to the Academy. I hope we can meet again,” he added.
Kevin has repeatedly addressed the controversy over the years — although many times, his statements have only sparked more backlash. In 2019, for example, he said that he believed the outrage was purely “a malicious attack” to end his career.
Fast-forward to today, and Kevin has addressed the controversy once again — this time to explain how he finally understood the harm caused by his past anti-gay remarks.
Appearing on 60 Minutes with Anderson Cooper on Sunday, Kevin credited fellow comedian Wanda Sykes with helping him understand why his past comments were so problematic.
“Wanda Sykes said, 'There's people that are being hurt today because of comments like the ones that you made then, and there's people that were saying it's OK to make those comments today based off of what you did then,’” Kevin recalled.
"It was presented to me in a way where I couldn't ignore that," he continued.
Kevin added, “So in those moments of despair, great understanding and education can come out of it if you're given the opportunity.”
