Opinion: Kevin Hart Should Not Be Over His Controversy
Illustration by Riona Vaghchhipawala.
Regarding the controversy surrounding Kevin Hart’s homophobic Tweets, the comedian appeared on CBS’s The Late Show last Wednesday and said that he was “over it.” In response to Hart’s defensive stance, host Stephen Colbert said, “I found that it’s over when the audience is over it, and not when I’m over it.”
Colbert’s words not only ring true in a general setting, but they also serve as key advice to fix Kevin Hart’s reputation.
For reference on the severity of Hart’s homophobic jokes, he one time tweeted that if he ever saw his son playing with his daughter’s dollhouse, he would “break it over his head” and say “‘stop that’s gay.’” Despite these comments, he still tweets often about how he loves “being a dad.”
Hart’s reason for tapping out of his homophobic arena is because he claims to have apologized time and time again, including before the resurfacing of his tweets. In truth, Hart reiterated in five interviews ranging from 2013 to 2015 that joking about the LGBT community is “too dangerous.”
The first time he did apologize was through a tweet on December 6, but hours before then, he whined in a tweet that people should “stop looking for reasons to be negative” because at the time, he was “truly happy.”
His weak attempts at victimizing himself only perpetuated the controversy further by making him a larger target for fans and the media. Had Hart admitted regretting his statements on the same day as those organizing the Oscars told him to apologize or step down, he might have been able to stand a little taller than usual.
A good example of someone who suffered from his decade old tweets is James Gunn, director of the critically acclaimed “Guardians of the Galaxy” and “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” who was looking forward to working on that franchise’s third installation. His tweets were disgustingly pedophiliac and homophobic, but his apology came quickly and was honest.
The controversy surrounding Gunn lasted less than two weeks. Hart is now clocking in at over a month.
During that month, Hart has shown no sincere regret. His nonchalance speaks volumes to how much he really “cares” about the situation.
For me, that raises the question if Hart really ever changed into a better man who would accept his son for being gay, or if he would still beat the son that he “loves” to be the father of.
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Will Roach, senior, has been the Opinions editor for the Messenger since 2018. Will is also the president of Movie Appreciation Club and a member of the...
Alex McAteer • Apr 25, 2019 at 4:33 PM
This is entirely ignoring his repeated public apologies. It also ignores the fact that Hart is a comedian. If we are to take every comedian at face value many of them would be in jail. Hart made a dumb joke, apologized, and moved on. That should be enough.