MaxWilder wrote
But people with their calendars set to 2018 are very aware of Kevin Hart. He's already hosted and presented at award shows, less than tastefully. A 'background check' wasn't necessary. The Academy gambled that a ratings boost would be worth some bad press in the meantime. This was so easily avoidable.
I personally think it's smug to suggest "Oh, 2012. That was a different time." But it was. Additionally, the audience watching the MTV Video Music Awards is a different audience. But I really don't think that the Academy gambled that a ratings boost would be worth some bad press. I honestly don't. I think they're a version of incompetent. Maybe out of touch is a little more kind. Definitely stuck in the past. I think they had no idea.
Italiano wrote
This must be clear. And then, again I don't know what this guy wrote, so I can't say if his remarks were actually homophobic or if he was just making fun of homophobes, which of course would be a different matter. Guess I will never know and I don't really care. But tolerance is a value which should be carefully preserved, especially these days, so even old statements should be considered and, if not carefully explained, not forgiven. Definitely not.
1) He has a comedy routine (from back in 2010) where he said, as a father, he was terrified of having a gay son. The routine goes onto detail his fears of having a gay son, but I'd argue the bit goes a little farther than simply articulating anxieties into worse territory. Even within the context of its time. But you could debate that.
2) His Twitter feed has comments where he calls people F** and F***** on a couple of occasions (maybe more if the've been deleted that have already been circulated, indicating this was more than a routine.
3) He turned down being cast in Tropic Thunder in the Alpa Chino role because he didn't want people to think he was gay.
His argument is that he already apologized for this (well, #1 and #2) back in 2015, which is why he became confrontational. It wasn't a great apology.
Italiano wrote
Still, there's something I read in this thread which I can't ignore - though, needless to say, you all did. Something which is philosophically, morally wrong and dangerous: the idea that he should have "deleted" his posts. Now, I hope you all understand that this American idea that we should DELETE something we have publicly written or expressed in the past (and which by the way has been already read and commented on by so many) is an act of hypocrisy which in my opinion would make things MUCH worse rather than better.
I am European. As a European, I know even too well that our past can't and shouldn't be deleted. We must face it, rather than conveniently edit it. We must confront our past mistakes, not hide them. We must explain them, come to terms with them, apologize for them and sometimes pay for them. This is what a civilized culture should be based on. Deleting - even just suggesting it - is coward, hypocritical, and morally wrong. Someone had to say this.
Right now, this country has no idea how to forgive.
I mean, my thinking is that before forgiveness, there must be acknowledgement. And I don't think we know how to acknowledge either. In the case of Kevin Hart, I think there's a really good reason why he wasn't forgiven when he first apologized: he says there's nothing homophobic about him... I disagree. I think he probably was. His constant refrain is that he's growing as a person. He said it back in 2015 and he said it again recently. If that was his way of acknowledging, then it wasn't clear. Or maybe it simply wasn't good enough.
Which means he was probably never a good fit for this awards show. This is going to hurt his career.