Kevin Hart Rejects Hollywood — Finally – Washington Examiner

Exactly as I predicted, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences has failed to find a new Oscars host to replace comedian Kevin Hart. The awards show is just seven weeks away.

To recap, Hart was defenestrated after mob outrage erupted over his decades-old statements that were insensitive to the LGBT community. He had previously apologized for these statements, but the Academy wasn’t happy with that. It tried to strong-arm Hart into issuing an even more abject blanket public apology, or else, he would be removed from hosting the awards show. Hart, however, was made of sterner stuff. Having no desire to succumb to the mob, he quit the gig instead.

At the time, I predicted that between people who’ve offended (one half of Hollywood) and people who have raped (the other half), the Oscars would be left with no one but Clint Eastwood’s empty chair to host. I was only half-kidding, but I was also half-right.

Ellen Degeneres, Hollywood and LGBT royalty in her own right, essentially issued a mea culpa on behalf of the Academy, hosting Hart on her show and pleading with him to reconsider hosting the awards show. Ellen relayed her conversation with the Academy, roughly paraphrasing that they said, “‘Oh my God, we want him to host! We feel like that maybe he misunderstood or it was handled wrong. Maybe we said the wrong thing but we want him to host. Whatever we can do we would be thrilled. And he should host the Oscars.”

And, of course, they do. Because they’re desperate. They screwed up.

It’s been over a decade since an Oscars host hasn’t been chosen during the calendar year of the awards. Variety reports that the Academy is “freaking out” over its inability to find a host.

So, like the ex-lover who didn’t realize what he had until she’s gone and shown the world what a moralizing, censorious busybody he is, the Academy has come crawling back to Hart. And like the girl who got her groove back, Hart should go full Gloria Gaynor on the Academy and tell it to have a nice life.

Despite Hart’s seeming consideration during his appearance on “The Ellen Degeneres Show,” he indicated during a print interview in the same day that he would turn the Academy down. And in doing so, Hart would take a powerful stand: There are limits to Hollywood’s thought-policing.

Hart is not Louis C.K. He does not stand accused of harming or harassing anyone, and based on the available evidence, Hart seems to have genuinely reflected and evolved into a better person. He shouldn’t be shamed for that. And in refusing to play the Academy’s shame game, he’s taking an important stand in telling Hollywood that their insufferable, pseudomoralism won’t succeed in taking people down anymore.

And why should Hollywood figures be given an ounce of credence as moral arbiters? These are the worst, most hypocritical, manipulative, and abusive people in the country.

David Simon, an HBO producer, called Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh “rapey as all hell” to slam a Republican Twitter user. Then, a prominent anonymous gossip Twitter account responded, asking why Simon doesn’t apply the same evidentiary standard that would find Kavanaugh guilty to his own employee, actor James Franco, who’s been accused with far more evidence of hitting on underage girls and assaulting women. Simon hypocritically responded by mocking the commenter and then blocked him.

Jay-Z has spent the better part of a decade trying to rebuild his brand as woke and feminist, in no small part with the assistance of Beyonce. Yet, when asked to contribute to a documentary taking down serial predator, abuser, and child molester R Kelly, Jay-Z refused. As did Mary J. Blige, Erykah Badu, and Dave Chappelle. The only celebrity offering to rightly take down another celebrity was professional good guy John Legend.

None of this is even to mention Harvey Weinstein, Bill Cosby, Kevin Spacey, Jeremy Piven, Les Moonves, Sylvester Stallone, Chris Hardwick, Asia Argento, Allison Mack, Bryan Singer, Russell Simmons, Danny Masterson, Nick Carter, Brett Ratner, Roman Polanski, and maybe just a few thousand more.

If Hart were still spewing disparaging remarks about gays, or if he denied what he’d said in the past, people would be right to push back. No one deserves an esteemed cultural position by default, and we should certainly demand ethics from people serving as the effective gatekeepers of our art and culture. But for the same people happy to rape and plunder less powerful women, children, and sometimes even men, for personal pleasure and profit to not have an ounce of grace for someone who has learned, evolved, and actively bettered themselves?