It would appear that we can finally put this whole Kevin Hart hosting the Oscars thing to bed. After the comedian’s hiring came controversy, with old tweets resurfacing, forcing Hart to step away. Since then, it’s been a seemingly constant barrage of “will-he-or-won’t-he” news, with Ellen stepping in to try to convince him. But finally, in no uncertain terms, Hart has come forward to say without a doubt, he won’t be hosting the Oscars.
Speaking to the hosts of “Good Morning America,” Kevin Hart put the final word on whether or not he’d be willing to host the Academy Awards this year.
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“There is no ending to it. If you keep feeding this energy, then it’s going to grow. You’re not getting no more of my energy from it. I’m not giving no more, because it’s endless,” Hart said (via The Wrap). “I want everybody to know I’m done with it. It’s a choice that I’ve personally made to say I’m not addressing it anymore.”
“No, I’m not hosting the Oscars this year,” the comedian said. “The Academy, they’re amazing people, the offer was made, it was received, I was excited this happened, it didn’t work out the way it should have. Right now from a time perspective, I don’t really have time.”
This comes after a recent interview with Disney CEO Bob Iger (ABC is a subsidiary of the Mouse House), where the exec seemed more open-minded about the idea of Hart being welcomed back into the fold after the controversy. He was asked about the idea by Variety.
“If you’re asking me whether I would have accepted him actually him doing it, the answer is yes, provided that he showed a little bit of contrition for some of the things he said a while back,” Iger said. “I was open-minded about it.”
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While it appears that Iger’s goodwill comes in vain, as Hart just isn’t interested, it’s a situation that the CEO and Disney found themselves in about six months ago with filmmaker James Gunn. However, in contrast with Iger’s thoughts on Hart, the word on Gunn is that no matter how apologetic (and it’s clear that the director was more sincere than Hart, who has been fairly defiant), he was never going to be given the chance to come back. But I digress.
Either way, the Oscars remains hostless, with no end in sight. It would seem as if the rumors of no host or multiple hosts will be the way that ABC moves forward.