Kevin Hart Might Host the Oscars After All, Thanks to Ellen DeGeneres

Well, that was fast. On Friday, in what Variety describes as an in-depth forthcoming interview on Ellen, Kevin Hart sat down with Ellen DeGeneres to reveal that he’s still considering hosting the 2019 Oscars, after a few of his homophobic tweets resurfaced. Hart was offered the hosting gig on December 5, 2018. Within hours, his tweets made the rounds online, resulting in his stepping down just two days later. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Academy gave him an ultimatum: apologize or quit. Hart chose the latter, but says he now regrets his decision.

It’s a job no one wants, so it makes sense that the Academy would re-up their offer to Hart—especially after receiving a call from Ellen herself. In clips from the upcoming episode, DeGeneres says she called the Academy to vouch for Hart. “I called them, I said, ‘Kevin’s on, I have no idea if he wants to come back and host, but what are your thoughts?’ And they were like, ‘Oh my God, we want him to host! We feel like that maybe he misunderstood or it was handled wrong. Maybe we said the wrong thing but we want him to host. Whatever we can do we would be thrilled. And he should host the Oscars,” she says, later referring to him as “this year’s Oscar host.”

She continues:

“What we’re going to get to see on stage with you hosting the Oscars is sophistication, class, hilarity and you growing as a person… Whatever is going on in the internet, don’t pay attention to them. That’s a small group of people being very, very loud. We are a huge group of people who love you and want to see you host the Oscars.”

Hart responds, “Leaving here, I promise you I’m evaluating this conversation. This is a conversation I needed to have. I’m glad I had it here. I’m glad it’s as authentic and real as I could’ve hoped it would be.”

The 2019 Academy Awards air February 24 on ABC, with or without Kevin Hart—most likely the former.