Kevin Hart Apologizes To LGBTQ Community Again, But Adds, “There has to be acceptance for change”
(LOS ANGELES) — Monday on his Sirius XM radio show Straight from the Hart, comedian Kevin Hart addressed the ongoing controversy about stepping down as Oscars host after old homophobic tweets of his resurfaced. He reiterated his apology, but also expressed frustration that it hasn’t been accepted because it wasn’t done the “right” way.
In an advance clip of the program obtained by ABC Radio, Hart says, speaking in the third person, “I will say this, and I want to make this very clear….once again, Kevin Hart apologizes for his remarks that hurt members of the LGBTQ community. I apologize.”
Hart goes on to explain that he realizes why what he said is inappropriate.
“We thought it was okay to talk like that, because that’s how we talked to one another. [But then] you go ‘F**k. This is wrong now.’ Because now we’re in a space where I’m around people of the LGBTQ community, and I’m now aware of how these words make them feel,” the comedian says.
“So then we say, ‘Hey, man, as a group, let’s erase this s**t. We don’t talk like this no more.’ [And] within my comedy act, I’m going to make sure that I don’t do anything else offensive,'” he continues.
But according to Hart, that doesn’t seem to be enough for the LGBTQ community.
“If the fight from the LGBTQ community is equality…I’m riding with you guys. I understand it,” he says. “But in the fight for equality, that means that there has to be an acceptance for change. If you don’t want to accept people for their change, then…where does the equality part come in?”
Hart then claims that when the community wants people to change, and those people — including him — apologize, the community responds by saying, “But you didn’t say it right.”
“‘No, wait, guys, I just said “I’m sorry!”‘ ‘Not the way you should have!'”
And now, according to Hart, the LGBTQ community is “bullying” him.
As he puts it, “Now that I said what I said the way that I would say it — because I’m me — you’re now trying to change me into becoming what version of me you want me to be.”
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