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Kevin Hart appeared on Good Morning America on Wednesday to address the Oscars controversy for what he claims is the last time.
“I’m done with it. It gets no more energy from me,” he told anchor Michael Strahan. “That’s why I said, for the last time, I’m addressing this. There’s no more conversation about it. I’m literally—I’m over that. I’m over the moment, and I’m about today. So, if it’s accepted great, If not, it’s nothing I can control. Some things are left out of your hands. So, I’m done with it. I’m over it. That’s where I’m personally at.”
Strahan continued to question Hart about stepping down from hosting this year’s Academy Awards after he was caught deleting past homophobic tweets. However, the comedian stayed firm. When asked how he’s evolved since making the offensive remarks, Hart argued he’s “already explained how I’ve evolved.”
“I’m not saying how I changed anymore,” he said. “I’m not saying what I’ve done and what the new me is. I’m not giving no more explanation of who I am. I’ve done it. I’ve done it several times. I’ve tweeted it. I’ve talked about it when I went on Ellen. I said it on my radio show. I’m just done. So you have to come to a point where you know that you’ve given all that you possibly can. And if that’s received, then great—then that means we’ve achieved something. If it’s not, there’s nothing I can do. So, I do this now [shrugs].”
Hart has talked about the controversy quite a bit over the past month. After the old tweets resurfaced, Hart addressed the backlash in an Instagram Stories video, asking people to “please take your negative energy and put it into something constructive.” He then revealed the Academy had threatened to revoke his hosting duties unless he apologized for his past comments. However, Hart refused to do so, arguing he’d already “addressed it several times.” So, he stepped down from the job and issued an apology.
“I have made the choice to step down from hosting this year’s Oscar’s….this is because I do not want to be a distraction on a night that should be celebrated by so many amazing talented artists. I sincerely apologize to the LGBTQ community for my insensitive words from my past,” he tweeted. “I’m sorry that I hurt people.. I am evolving and want to continue to do so. My goal is to bring people together not tear us apart. Much love & appreciation to the Academy. I hope we can meet again.”
Hart also addressed the controversy on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and apologized “once again” on his SiriusXM show Straight From the Hart.
Still, Strahan asked Hart if he could understand how the LGBTQ community felt about his words.
“I have an understanding that I’ve addressed it, and I’ve said everything that I can possibly say. So, I’m over it,” he replied “You will not hear me saying anything else about it. You’re not ever going to hear me say anything else about it. I’ve done all that I can do. So, that was done within hopes that people can hear and understand how heartfelt and authentic it was. If you didn’t, then I don’t know what to tell you or do. I don’ know what you’re looking for. So, I’m over it.”
Hart argued that he’s a “good person” who inspires, motivates, brings positive energy and “loves to love.”
“If you don’t see that, then that’s a problem with you,” he added. “If you can’t realize that, then that means it’s you. I have nothing else to prove or do—nothing else.”
Hart also hammered his point home after Strahan asked him about how fathers can talk to their children who are gay or other young members of the LGBTQ community.
“Here’s what you say: Are you a monster, Mike? No. People see you on this show every day. It’s safe to say that you got good energy. It’s safe to say that you’re a loving person. Why would I assume anything different?…Why do you have to prove you’re a loving individual? You know who you are. People close to you know who you are. You shouldn’t have to prove that. You shouldn’t have to justify that. That’s the position I’m in,” he said. “I shouldn’t have to prove who I am. I shouldn’t have to prove the level of love that I’m capable of giving. If anybody out there wants to believe that Kevin Hart is that much of a monster that he wouldn’t love somebody because of their choice in life, then all power to them. Feel and choose to think how you think. I’m not addressing it. I’m not over-delivering it, over-proving myself. Because no matter what you do, it may still not be received. You’ll find yourself in a position where you go, ‘What else do you want? You want blood? You want my arms?'”
Pressing on, Strahan asked Hart about the backlash DeGeneres received after she encouraged him to still host the Oscars.
“It shows me that there is no ending to it,” he replied. “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 shows that it’s endless. So, I’m not shutting down the questions. I hear everything you’re saying, but I want everybody to know I’m done with it. It’s a choice that I personally made to say I’m not addressing it anymore. That’s not from an angry place. It’s just from a place of it’s never going to really end. I’m done with it. So if people continue to let it grow, then do what you got to do.”
Hart also reiterated he’s not hosting the Oscars this year, noting he now didn’t the time with his new projects, like his Jumanji sequel, coming up. However, he didn’t rule out hosting the award show in the future and suggested he had no bad blood with the Academy.
“It’s hard to predict what’s can happen,” he said. “I don’t want people to think there’s a thing between me and the academy because there isn’t. The academy they’re amazing people. The offer was made, it was received, I was excited, things happened, it didn’t work out the way that it should have.”
In the end, Hart didn’t seem nervous about the future.
“It’s not in God’s plan right now. What God has for me, it’s going to happen. It’s already predetermined. So I’m not worried; I’m not shaken; ‘m not upset,” he said. “I understand life and in life you have ups and downs. Within those ups and downs , you learn, you educate, and you grow and you move forward. So, hopefully people can look at me in the situations that I’ve been in in life and understand there’s always growth. You mature. You change and when that happens you become better and that’s in all facets of life all over. So. with that being said, when you know you’re part of that individual you accept you for you. I’m so good with me.”
Watch the video to see his full interview.