Kevin Hart has proclaimed he’s no longer going to address stepping down from hosting the Oscars after past homophobic tweets caused controversy. But he hasn’t been able to follow through and wound up discussing his conversation with Don Lemon concerning the issue.
While promoting his film “The Upside” on “The Breakfast Club” Monday, Hart was asked about the private talk he had with the CNN host over the weekend, which Lemon disclosed on his show, “CNN Tonight” Jan. 7.
“It was a mostly off the record conversation because I wanted him to be honest with me,” Lemon said.
Lemon’s remarks came after Hart responded to Lemon’s plea a week earlier for the comedian to become an LGBT ally in the decade after his controversial tweets were made. Hart used a gay slur in response to a Twitter user in one post. In another one, Hart said he would smash a dollhouse over his son’s head if the boy was caught playing with it.
Those tweets cost him a chance at hosting the Oscars this year. And his pal Ellen DeGeneres called on him to resume the gig, but Hart decided against doing so.
On Hart’s SiriusXM radio show, “Straight From the Hart” that evening, the comedian, who told “Good Morning America” he was “done” discussing the controversy, apologized again for his past remarks and explained his intent.
So when he chatted with “The Breakfast Club” Jan. 14, Hart dropped his upbeat demeanor and got serious when it came to his Lemon discussion.
“I ain’t talking about it,” he says. “I just didn’t like what Don Lemon said. And I called him and then we talked on the phone. Me and Don Lemon are fine now. We’re fine now … I don’t have to apologize to Don Lemon.
“Me and Don Lemon had an off-the-record conversation on the phone and I made sure that he understands my point of view and he said some things that made me understand his point of view,” he says. “And we ended up getting off the phone with a mutual understanding of one another and each other’s sides and there was respect. But we had to get to that place. I had to personally call him so he could hear me talk.”
Hart agreed with the summation that he’s an ally to all people, including the LGBT community Lemon wanted him to align with.
“You can’t fake good,” the actor says. “Either you’re a good person or you’re not. You can’t pretend that. At some point, it’s going to come out that it’s not real.”
