Kevin Hart reconsidering his decision to step down as Oscars host, Ellen DeGeneres voices support

After announcing last December that Kevin Hart was stepping down as the Oscars 2019 host, the actor-comedian is reconsidering his decision. This new development came after Hart taped an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, where Ellen herself showed full support to host the Oscars. A former Oscars host herself, Ellen told Hart on her show, “I really want you to host the Oscars,”. Ellen also went on to reveal she personally called the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to let them know she would support reinstating Hart as the host.

"...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'," DeGeneres said.

Hart told the talk show host that he would "assess" whether he was interested in reprising the role.

"Leaving here, I promise you, I'm evaluating this conversation. This is a conversation I needed to have, I'm glad that I had it here, and I'm glad that it was as authentic and real as I could have hoped that it would be. So let me assess, just to sit in this space and really think, and you and I will talk before anything else."

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Hart was announced as the Oscars 2019 host in December but later announced his stepping down just 48 hours later following old homophobic tweets that had resurfaced.

The comedian had initially refused to apologise for the resurfaced remarks, but later offered an apology to the LGBTQ community. Encouraging Hart to come back, DeGeneres said he would bring "sophistication, class and hilarity" on the Oscars stage.

She advised him not to pay attention to online criticism. "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 how the Oscars," she added.

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The Oscars are scheduled to take place on February 24.