Unofficial Academy Awards Discussion Board

Kevin Hart has officially stepped down as Oscar host.

OscarGuy wrote
If they want to appeal to younger audiences, then they could get someone like The Rock or even Justin Timberlake.

Dwayne Johnson was the first person I thought of when I was thinking about who should host. He's probably the biggest star in the world, he's got good enough comic timing, and he brings in a big audience.

That said, Kevin Hart recognizes the problem that he's facing. He's on social media trying to plead his case. I expect a donation to the Trevor Project any day now. I've gotten into a few conversations with some friends today about at what point do people forgive and move on. I think the answer is "When you believe the apology." Sure he apologized in 2015... did anybody buy it?

Bob Hope was a comedian. Johnny Carson was a comedian. Billy Crystal was a comedian. Whoopi Goldberg was a comedian. All of the considered-great hosts were comedians, mostly stand up. It was just a different era of stand up than today, not that Goldberg or Crystal are too far off from the recent batch of comedians-turned-actor, matter of fact, I would argue that they influenced the modern class of comedians one way or another.

As to non-comedians who could host: Denzel Washington could host and tie Old Hollywood glamor to modern audiences. He's still a box office draw, even at his age. If they want to appeal to younger audiences, then they could get someone like The Rock or even Justin Timberlake. Perhaps a Chris Pratt (problematic too) or another of the Marvel actors could give it a whirl, like Chris Evans. And if you also want an actor with comedic timing, you could pick Chris Hemsworth or Melissa McCarthy or Jeff Goldblum.

There are options, but someone will bitch about any of them.

Sabin wrote:There is no Hollywood royalty anymore. I cannot stress this enough. At least, not as you once knew it. People go to the movies not to see their favorite stars but to see their favorite characters.

e.g. look at the top ten box-office films so far this year on boxofficemojo.com. Every single one of them falls into the comic book/action/animated franchise category.

Big Magilla wrote
If they do fire him, who will want to come in and pick up the pieces? Why in the modern era do they always have to have a comedian, most of whom aren't funny anyway? They need to bring in the heavy hitters. They need Hollywood royalty of the likes of Tom Hanks and Meryl Strep to host, not just present.

Bringing in Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep will not bring in a bigger audience. It will announce to the world: "THE ACADEMY AWARDS! WE ARE FOR OLDS!"

There is no Hollywood royalty anymore. I cannot stress this enough. At least, not as you once knew it. People go to the movies not to see their favorite stars but to see their favorite characters. When they do go to the movies to see their favorite stars it's for people like Kevin Hart. On paper, he wasn't a terrible choice.

Also, not to be rude but what "modern era" are you talking about that you're nostalgic for? Almost every show has been hosted by a comedian. Like... a show hosted by a Jack Lemmon? Or like the 1970's where it was a bunch of celebrities? With the exception of Amy Poehler and Tina Fey, I am breaking out with hives at the notion of on-stage banter.

Yeesh, and Hart's most recent Instagram post is basically the equivalent of "haters gonna hate, I'm killing it anyway!" which seems so far from any kind of statement that shows he has any concept of why people are so upset or that he has changed as a person over the past decade.

Why doesn't the Academy vet these things?

If they do fire him, who will want to come in and pick up the pieces? Why in the modern era do they always have to have a comedian, most of whom aren't funny anyway? They need to bring in the heavy hitters. They need Hollywood royalty of the likes of Tom Hanks and Meryl Strep to host, not just present.

More from Queerty:

https://www.queerty.com/oscars-host-kev ... e-20181206

He really needs to go or be pushed out. One twitter listed a number of women of colour who can take over the host role - they all sound good to me.

One of the biggest challenges of producing this show is they desperately need bigger ratings but they have to do so in a way that won't alienate their existing audience. To be fair, alienating the people who watch the Oscars year after year is pretty much impossible. I'd like to congratulate the producers for finding the one way to do so. If they fire him, they're ensuring that the people who would tune in to watch Kevin Hart almost certainly won't tune in any way now. I mean, if they fire him what are they going to do? Hire another black comic? THAT'LL go over great.

I had posted a lengthy defense about the casting of Kevin Hart earlier but then deleted it. I hadn't heard about this baggage. This is worse than Brett Ratner producing the Oscars. His comment was off-the-cuff. For Kevin Hart, it's both off-the-cuff AND rehearsed. He got famous off of a homophobic routine. Beyond that, it appears he refused to act in Tropic Thunder for fear of being seen as gay. It's hard to make the case that he as a person is not a homophobe.

There's no way he can host. These producers are just idiots.

I haven't weighed in here previously, because, though I'd certainly heard of Kevin Hart (really, people: do you not even look at the top-grossing list every week?), I questioned how well suited he was to this job -- it seemed like yet another kowtow to the "Oscar must honor what's popular" narrative.

But I wasn't familiar with his apparently infamous tweets and club routines, and, honestly, it's hard to see how he survives this exposure. Brett Ratner got the boot for one ill-considered, thoughtless but almost assuredly not-serious quip. Hart seems genuinely homophobic-at-least-to-a-degree. If they keep him on the job, it's going to be the only thing people talk about right up to showtime.

As Mark Harris notes today, this Oscar season has been as botched from the start as any I've ever seen.

Hart should never have been selected to host by the Academy, given his baggage. Now that he has been he should be replaced ASAP.

flipp525 wrote:Kevin Hart is also homophobic which I know won’t be disqualifying for certain board members, but is disappointing nonetheless.

It matters to me. His "One of my biggest fears is my son growing up and being gay" bit is truly horrendous.

Kevin Hart is also homophobic which I know won’t be disqualifying for certain board members, but is disappointing nonetheless.

For all of us (including myself) who are unfamiliar with Kevin Hart:

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/d ... ing-matter

The only problem I have with Benjamin Lee's opinion piece is this statement:

"After two years of straight white host Jimmy Kimmel’s rather dull shtick and after an increased push to improve the diversity of voters, choosing an African American host is also a much-needed leap forward on stage."

Clearly he didn't know or care to research that Whoopi Goldberg, a black woman, hosted the show as far back as the 1990s.

"Those darn kids better get off my lawn!!!"