Kevin Hart Says Pushback to Anti-Gay Jokes was 'Necessary and Needed'

Comedian Kevin Hart Source: Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP

Perhaps because of its long annual tradition, or perhaps because of its prominent place in the culture, the Oscars has drawn its share of controversies – including offering a hosting gig to comedian Kevin Hart, only for that not to happen when an old joke surfaced in which Hart made light of trying to ensure his son wouldn't be gay.

The backlash prompted Hart to bow out of hosting the 2018 Oscars. Now, People Magazine relayed, Hart has realized the controversy was a "come to Jesus" moment – a saying that means something that shifts a person's perspective and opens their eyes to something to which they were previously blind.

"I have nothing against gay people," Hart said in the offending comic routine from 2010, eight years before he would have the opportunity to host the Oscars. "Be happy, do what you wanna do."

"But me being a heterosexual male, if I can prevent my son from being gay, I will."

Hart sought to apologize at the time for his years-old words, tweeting that he was "sorry" and his words were "insensitive."

But those apologies did little to calm the storm of pushback – and it took the funnyman some time to see why there were those who didn't find any humor in the joke.

Hart was speaking to the Wall Street Journal Magazine for its spring fashion issue when the topic came up. Hart was philosophical about the long-ago lost opportunity. "Sometimes it's okay to take a step back and to be educated," Hart told the magazine of the 2018 flap. "I got a crash course. It was one that was necessary and needed."

Aside from the simple fact that LGBTQ+ people cannot be "prevented" from being who they are – and neither can they be "turned" LGBTQ+ or "cured" from it – Hart didn't grasp at the time that it wasn't mere identity politics driving the backlash.

As Cracked recalled, Hart explained to Men's Health in an interview four years ago, "there was a big gap between what I thought the problem was versus what the problem really was" – namely, "it was his refusal to condemn real violence directed at the subject of his jokes" that fueled the controversy, Cracked noted.

"It wasn't until close friends like Wanda Sykes, Lee Daniels, and Ellen talked to me and explained what they didn't hear me say that I understood," Hart told Men's Health. "Then I was like, 'Oh, shit – I did fuck up.'"

While Hart might have lost the gig, he didn't lose the lesson. What's more, his career has burgeoned even as he's become better acquainted with what LGBTQ+ people have to face.

"Hart has continued on in his standup comedy career in the years since," People Magazine said, "and he's racked up big movie roles in 'Jumanji: The Next Level' and several Netflix films like 'Lift,' 'Me Time,' and 'Fatherhood.'"