Before he stepped down from his previously announced Oscars hosting gig, Kevin Hart said he wouldn’t comment on or apologize for the homophobic jokes he’s tweeted in the past, but he’s seemingly spending the week doing both, in this case on his SiriusXM show Straight From the Hart. “Once again, Kevin Hart apologizes for his remarks that hurt members of the LGBTQ community,â€Â the comedian said in the third person. “I apologize.â€
In addition to apologizing, Hart sort of doubled down on the whole “it was just a joke†of it all by taking a deep dive into the bits themselves, one of which described the comedian breaking a dollhouse over his son’s head should he ever find his kid playing with his sister’s toys in a since-deleted tweet. (Hart also riffed on his fear of his son being gay in a similar joke in his 2010 stand-up special Seriously Funny.) “I want to say that I have no problem with gay people,†the comedian explained during the Monday evening episode, paraphrasing himself. “I don’t have a homophobic bone in my body. I want you to be happy, be gay, be happy. And then I say as a heterosexual male, if I can do something to stop my son … that’s where the joke starts!â€
“I really had to dive into the whole thing, even the tweets,†Hart said, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “These weren’t words that I said to gay individuals. I didn’t say these words to people, at the time, this was our dumb asses on Twitter going back and forth with each other. We thought it was okay to talk like that, because that’s how we talked to one another. In that, you go, fuck! This is wrong now.â€
In the end, the comedian eventually cycles back to his recent mantra about learning and growth. “If the fight from the LGBTQ community is equality, that’s the fight. The fight is the will and want for equality. I’m riding with you guys. I understand you,†Hart says. “But in the fight for equality, that means that there has to be an acceptance for change.†Insists the comedian, “If you don’t want to accept people for their change, then where are you trying to get to the equal part? Where does the equality part come in?†And if that still leaves you unsatisfied, don’t worry: Kevin Hart is a guest on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert this Wednesday, and he’ll probably pick things up again there.