Anyone who hoped to see Kevin Hart (44) hosting the Oscars at some point will be disappointed. In an interview with Sky News, the actor and comedian said there was “no chance I’ll ever host the Oscars.” What almost became a reality in 2019 now seems unimaginable for the 44-year-old. From his point of view, such award show appearances are “not comedy-friendly environments.”
In 2018, the Hollywood star was named host at the Oscars. But shortly after it was announced that Hart was set to host the 91st Academy Awards, he turned down the job. The reason was tweets from 2009 to 2011 that were said to have contained homophobic insults. But instead of following the Academy’s advice and apologizing, he decided to resign completely.
In an Instagram video, he appealed to society to stop looking for reasons to be angry. “Guys, I’m almost 40 years old. If you don’t believe that people grow, change, evolve as they get older, then I don’t know what to tell you,” he wrote on the post.
In an interview with Sky News, Hart sees the comedian’s job as difficult these days: “There’s too much pressure about how a comedian should be and what jokes are and what aren’t.” From his perspective, industry comedians with relationships with guests would understand “that these rooms are very cool.” It is not uncommon at such events for the audience to be made fun of. Jo Koy (52) recently had to face criticism for his Golden Globes presentation, in which he grilled various guests. Kevin Hart stood behind his industry colleagues.
“These gigs are not good gigs for comedians,” he told Sky News. “They’re just not comedy-friendly environments anymore.” That’s why he won’t host the Oscars, the Golden Globes or anything similar in the future. Talk show host Jimmy Kimmel (56) seems to have a different opinion. He will host the Oscars in 2024 for the second year in a row and fourth time overall.
