US comedian and actor Kevin Hart abruptly withdrew from hosting the Oscars on Thursday night amid flack for past homophobic and anti-gay tweets.
Two days after announcing he had landed what he called a dream gig, Hart said that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences had told him to choose between apologizing for the tweets or losing the job. Hart said the tweets were from nearly a decade ago and that he has matured since then.
“I chose to pass on the apology. The reason why I passed is because I’ve addressed this several times,” Hart, 39, said during a video posted to Instagram.
Watch video below:
See apology below:
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
The Academy must now find a new host for the 91st Academy Awards in February.
The “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle” star was to have hosted the glitzy event after talk show host Jimmy Kimmel held the gig for two consecutive years.
Whoever hosts it will face pressure to boost audience ratings for the annual show that will be held on February 24 in Hollywood and which had an all-time low of 26.5 million viewers last year, compared to 43 million in 2014.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has said that it was introducing a number of changes to improve viewership, including shortening the show to three hours and handing out some of the awards during commercial breaks.
