Comedian Kevin Hart stepped down on Thursday from hosting the 2019 Oscar ceremony after “insensitive words” about gays he tweeted in the past resurfaced online.
The 39-year-old comedian and “Ride Along” actor had announced on Tuesday that he would host the Academy Awards, the film industry’s highest honors.
“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,” Hart said in a tweet late on Thursday.
“I sincerely apologize to the LGBTQ community for my insensitive words from my past,” he tweeted.
In one of the old tweets, Hart described an actor’s picture as a “gay billboard for AIDS”. In another he said if his son were playing with a doll’s house, he would break it over his head and tell him to stop being gay.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which organizes the Oscars, was not immediately available for comment.
