Kevin Hart says there’s absolutely no chance he will ever host the Oscars, labelling award show gigs as “very cold” and not “comedy friendly environments”.
The 44-year-old comedian and actor stepped down from hosting the 2019 Oscars after a series of old tweets emerged in which he’d used homophobic slurs.
Chat show host Ellen DeGeneres later campaigned for him to return to the role, without success.
Hart, who is currently starring in Netflix heist movie Lift, told Sky News: “Those gigs aren’t good gigs for comics. It’s no shot to the Oscars, no shot to the Globes or anything else. Those just aren’t comedy friendly environments anymore.
“I think they got it right one year where it was like just a bunch of personalities acting as the hosts and that’s a nice thing. It’s a collaborative thing, different people get to be responsible for act one, act two, act three, but you know, the days of it being a room for a comic, those days are done.”
No stranger to awards ceremonies, Hart has previously hosted the Bet Awards, the MTV Video Music awards and the MTV Movie Awards.
He went on to praise those who have pulled off fronting big shows: “Shout out to those that have cracked the code and done it right early on, you know, the Chris Rock‘s of the world, the Billy Crystal’s of the world, the girls we’ve had like Tina Fey, Amy Poehler. Ricky Gervais.
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“There’s a lot of people that understand that if you’re not an industry comic, meaning a comic that has the relationships of all [the guests], then those rooms are very cold. So, me doing it is, of course, at an advantage, because I know the room and for me, and familiar with so many. But, for others it’s not the same.”
He recently defended Golden Globes host Jo Koy after some of the comedian’s jokes fell flat at the ceremony earlier this week.
Hart goes on: “It’s not the gig that it was of old. It’s too much pressure on the idea of a comic and what’s jokes and not jokes. So, it’s tough.”
Hart – who rose to fame as a comic in the 2000s, later achieving acting success in Hollywood in blockbusters including Ride Along, Scary Movie and the Jumanji franchise – is modest about his venture into action movies.
His latest film Lift, which has plenty of fight scenes and James Bond-style chases, sees him play criminal mastermind Cyrus Whitaker who is racing to lift $500m (£393m) in gold from a passenger plane mid-flight, to save the world from the evils of a plotting terrorist network.
Hart jokes: “I’ve been acting in guest houses up till now, but I’m home now. Me, Tom Cruise, Harrison Ford, Bruce Willis – just a bunch of guys I relate to.
“When it comes clanking and banging, you know, doing things that others can’t do.”
Lift is streaming on Netflix now.
The 96th Academy Awards take place on Sunday 10 March in Los Angeles, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel
