Nick Cannon has seemingly come to the defence of Kevin Hart after the actor stepped down from hosting the Oscars following a backlash over resurfaced homophobic tweets.
Rather than mention Hart by name, Cannon reposted previous tweets from female comics in which they used derogatory language.
“Interesting I wonder if there was any backlash here,” Cannon wrote in a tweet, embedding a 2010 message by Chelsea Handler stating: “This is what a f** bird likes like when he flexes.”
Next, the comedian and actor reposted a 2010 message from Sarah Silverman reading: "I dont mean this in a hateful way but the new bachelorette's a f****t." Alongside the tweet, Cannon wrote “And I f**king love Wreck-It Ralph,” a reference to Silverman's role as the voice of Vanellope in the animation.
Finally, Cannon resurfaced a 2012 tweet from Amy Schumer reading, “Enjoy skyfall f***. I'm bout to get knee deep in Helen Hunt #thesessions.” He added the message: "I’m just saying... should we keep going?"
Hart stepped down from hosting the Oscars after refusing to apologise for resurfaced jokes in which he uses homophobic slurs. These included a series of tweets posted between 2009-11, with one reading: “Yo if my son comes home & try’s 2 play with my daughters doll house I’m going 2 break it over his head & say n my voice ‘stop that’s gay’.”
During a stand-up show, he previously said: “One of my biggest fears is my son growing up and being gay,” he said. ”That’s a fear. Keep in mind, I’m not homophobic, I have nothing against gay people, be happy. Do what you want to do. But me, being a heterosexual male, if I can prevent my son from being gay, I will. Now with that being said, I don’t know if I handled my son’s first gay moment correctly. Every kid has a gay moment but when it happens, you’ve got to nip it in the bud!”
After walking away from the Oscars, Hart apologised to those people who may have been offended, saying: “I sincerely apologize to the LGBTQ community for my insensitive words from my past ... I'm sorry that I hurt people. I am evolving and want to continue to do so.” GLAAD issued a statement on the incident, saying Hart "shouldn’t have stepped down; he should have stepped up."
