As celebrities and castmembers continue to pile on embattled talk show host Ellen DeGeneres with allegations that the “Queen of Kind” reigns over a house of cards, controversial comedian Kevin Hart is coming to her defense.
Hart, who was ousted as the host of the Academy Awards over past anti-LGBTQ jokes and tweets, was “forgiven” by DeGeneres for his defiant homophobia at the height of the controversy. The interview and casual dismissal of child abuse were one of DeGeneres’ first recent scandals.
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Hart was slated to host the Oscars in 2019, but homophobic tweets from 2009 to 2011 surfaced. In them, he used “gay” and “f*g” pejoratively. He eventually stepped away from the gig.
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He wrote in a since-deleted tweet that he would hurt his son if he thought the son were gay: “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.”
He tweeted after he found out that actor Dwayne L. Brown had pictures of him on his phone: “What r u some type of FAT F*G that takes pics of small black men all day?” In another tweet, he wrote that actor Damien Wayans looked like “a gay billboard for AIDS.”
During his interview with DeGeneres, Hart defiantly described the outrage as “slander” and said he had stepped down rather than apologize. The host told him not to listen to the “haters,” who she said were “a small group of people being very, very loud.” Hart, though, said that he’s not ready to forgive people for their “attack to end me,”
DeGeneres public image has been shaken as dozens of people who work both for her and on her show have spoken with journalists, alleging everything from rudeness and not communicating with her employees during the pandemic to losing their jobs after taking medical leave and being targeted for sexual harassment by powerful and unaccountable producers.
While Katy Perry and DeGeneres’ wife, Portia DeRossi, have come out swinging on her behalf, Hart’s defense is only fanning flames further.
Despite saying, “This post is not meant to disregard the feelings of others and their experiences,” Hart does exactly that, describing the allegations as “hate shit.”
“It’s crazy to see my friend go thru what she’s going thru publicly. I have known Ellen for years and I can honestly say that she’s one of the dopest people on the fucking planet,” he wrote on Instagram.
“The internet has become a crazy world of negativity….we are falling in love with peoples down fall. It’s honestly sad…When did we get here? I stand by the ones that I know and that I love. Looking forward to the future where we get back to loving one another….this hate shit has to stop. Hopefully it goes out of style soon.”