Last night at the 2019 Oscars, stars rose and stars fell (literally), people showed up in their Sunday best, and things went pretty much the same way that they always have.
Except, there was no host.
Why would a show that relies on a host to keep the segments moving throughout the night completely ditch the position altogether? Well, this year, they didn’t have much of a choice.
The controversy
Originally in December, the Academy announced that comedian Kevin Hart would be the one to host the awards. His comedic timing and appeal to a wide audience made him the perfect choice. That is, until someone uncovered a number of homophobic tweets that the comedian had written years ago.
In response to the tweets coming out, Hart made an Instagram post, claiming that he wasn’t the same person who wrote those things all those years ago. However, the video was more defensive than apologetic.
“The same energy put into finding those old tweets could be the same energy put into finding a response to questions that have been asked year after year,” he said in the video. “We feed internet trolls and reward them. I’m not going to do it.”
His video wasn’t enough to satisfy the public and Hart eventually stepped down from the position, claiming that he didn’t want to be a distraction on a night that should focus on the talent of the actors.
Ellen DeGeneres
In a last ditch effort to try to get Hart back on America’s good side, he appeared on the show hosted by America’s sweetheart, Ellen DeGeneres.
DeGeneres was a heavy supporter of Hart reclaiming the role of Oscar’s host. She even called the Academy on his behalf.
“I called them, I said, ‘Kevin’s on, I have no idea if he wants to come back and host, but what are your thoughts?’” she recalled on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. “And they were like, ‘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.’”
DeGeneres also tweeted a clip of Hart on her show with the caption
“I believe in forgiveness. I believe in second chances. And I believe in @KevinHart4real.”
Unfortunately, the rest of the country was having a hard time accepting his apology.
On Jan. 7th, Hart tried again.
“I understand why people are hurt, I understand what these words mean, I’m sorry,” he said on Straight From the Hart. “This is wrong now because now … I’m around people of the LGBTQ community and I’m now aware of how those words make them feel. … And more importantly, within my comedy act, I’m gonna make sure that I don’t do anything else offensive.”
By the time he appeared on Good Morning America, he was over apologizing.
“I’ve addressed it, and I’ve said everything I can possibly say … I’ve done all I can do,” he said on the show. “If [my apology’s] accepted, great; if it’s not, it’s nothing I can control. … I’m done with it.”
He claimed that he ultimately decided not to host the Oscar’s this year because he had no time.
“I don’t have the time,” the comedian told Michael Strahan. “I would like to call myself a perfectionist. If I do something, I want to give it my
The 2019 Oscars
Despite not having a host for the first time since 1989, the show went off without a hitch. The show was actually able to move along more quickly without a host there to slow things down with groan worthy sketches and forced comedic timing.
Will the success of this year’s Oscars, cause the Academy to reconsider using hosts in the future? Only time will tell.
Read more: What’s in the $100,000 Oscar’s Gift Bags?
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