Kevin Hart refuses to host Oscars again: “Those days are done”

Kevin Hart has asserted that he will never host the Oscars, saying that they are not “comedy-friendly environments”. 

The comic actor had been scheduled to host the 2019 edition of the awards ceremony, but stepped down from the role in the wake of a backlash over a series of homophobic tweets that he had posted in 2010 and 2011. 

He had previously said that he would not go back to host the show, but in a new interview with Sky News, he has underscored his aversion to the role. 

“Whatever little hope you had, I want to destroy it right now,” he said. “Those gigs aren’t good gigs for comics. It’s no shot to the Oscars, no shot to the Globes or anything else. Those just aren’t comedy-friendly environments anymore.” 

“I think they 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.” 

This year’s Oscars will be hosted by Jimmy Kimmel for the fourth time. He previously filled the role in 2017, 2018 and 2023. 

Earlier this week, Hart revealed that he “almost died” in a terrifying plane accident. Appearing on The Graham Norton Show to promote his new Netflix comedy film Lift, he said: “I almost died. We were landing and as we did the front wheel broke, and I just saw flames coming out of the front of the plane.” 

“It was one of those moments when I thought, ‘This is it’, and I realised that if it happens I was cool with where I was in life. I didn’t panic.” 

Hart also had a near-death experience in 2019 after being involved in a serious car accident. The following year, he told fans he was “lucky to be alive” and that the incident had given him a “whole new perspective” on life. 

Back in August, the comedian found himself in need of a wheelchair after tearing his lower abdomen during a footrace with former NFL player Stevan Ridley. 

Hart’s new film Lift, which also stars Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Sam Worthington and Úrsula Corberó, sees the comic play a thief tasked with executing a heist on a 777 passenger flight from London to Zurich. 

“It’s my first leading man role where I am serious,” Hart told Norton. “It’s a proper thriller and for the first time I’m not responsible for the jokes.” 

Lift is available to stream on Netflix now. 

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