Kevin Hart hasn’t changed his mind about never hosting the Oscars, a claim he’s made since stepping down from the position in 2019 after past homophobic comments came to light on Twitter.
In an interview with Sky News today promoting his new Netflix film Lift, Hart, told by the interviewer that his fans were “gutted” by his absence from the 2019 Oscars and asked whether he’d consider hosting in the future, said, “Whatever little hope you had, I want to destroy it right now. Those gigs aren’t good gigs for comics.”
Hart emphasized that he wasn’t insulting the Oscars or similar shows like the Golden Globes. “Those just aren’t comedy-friendly environments anymore. I think [the Oscars] got it right one year where it was like just a bunch of personalities acting as the hosts and that’s a nice thing. It’s a collaborative thing, different people get to be responsible for act one, act two, act three, but you know, the days of it being a room for a comic, those days are done.”
Hart was booked to host the 2019 ceremony when controversy arose over anti-gay jokes from his stand-up routines years earlier. The actor-comic stepped down, saying he didn’t want to be a “distraction” from the awards.
In the new interview, Hart commends comics who have hosted awards shows. “Shouts out to those that have cracked the code and done it right early on,” he said, “the Chris Rocks of the world, the Billy Crystals of the world, the Globes have had like Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Ricky Gervais. There’s a lot of people that understand it. But if you’re not an industry comic, meaning a comic that has the relationships of all, then those rooms are very cold. So, me doing it is, of course, I have an advantage because I know the room…But for others it’s not the same.”
“It’s not the gig that it was of old,” he continued. “It’s too much pressure on the idea of a comic and which jokes are not jokes. So it’s tough,” Hart added.
Hart’s comments come just days after comic Jo Koy bombed as host of the Golden Globes on Sunday. Koy got overwhelming bad reviews from critics and online commentators for his unfunny opening monologue and his gibe at Taylor Swift.
In the wake of Koy’s performance, comedians including Steve Martin and Whoopi Goldberg have defended the first-time host, noting the difficulty of being an awards host. Earlier this week, Hart told Bravo host Andy Cohen, “Jo’s fine. Jo Koy is a phenomenal comedian; he sells out arenas everywhere.”