‘I stand with Jussie Smollett’ Kevin Hart responds to MORE backlash
Kevin Hart has been forced to defend himself yet again after he sent prayers to Jussie Smollet, the Empire actor who experienced a recent horrific racist and homophobic attack.
The 35-year-old singer and actor was hospitalised after a savage attack in which a noose was put around his neck and bleach was poured on him, with the assailants shouting 'This is MAGA country' in a racially-motivated attack.
The homophobic and racist hate crime sparked anger all over America, with celebrities tweeting their support for the actor. Kevin Hart sent the actor prayers through his social media accounts, with the 39-year-old tweeting;
Sending prayers your way @jussiesmollett ….This is unbelievably sad. Why are we going backwards….this is disgusting. We as people have to do better. WTF is going on the world???? Why… https://t.co/G6vCnKPEhf
— (@KevinHart4real) January 30, 2019
"Sending prayers your way Jussie Smollett ….This is unbelievably sad. Why are we going backwards….this is disgusting. We as people have to do better. WTF is going on the world?"
"Why are we falling in love with hate? God damn it people….Choose love…I repeat…Choose love. I will forever choose love and I will continue to teach my kids how to do the same. Stand strong brother," he concluded.
The tweet sparked yet more backlash online, following the controversy which lead to him stepping down from hosting the 2019 Oscars. A series of homophobic tweets were uncovered from the past, featuring jokes about beating up a gay son.
One social media user responded: "Do you see why the “jokes” weren’t funny now?”, while another replied with one of Kevin’s polarising past tweets reading:
‘”Yo if my son comes home and tries to play with my daughters doll house I’m going to break it over his head and say 'stop that’s gay.'”
Podcaster and writer Ira Madison quote-tweeted Kevin’s tweet about Jussie and wrote: "Your funniest joke congrats." This was the final straw for Hart, who responded with a tweet of his own.
I stand with a man in his time of hurt and need by giving him heart felt support and u take the time to harp on my 10yr past that I have apologized about and moved on from by being a better person. Do you want change? If so I am an example of what u want people to do…CHANGE! https://t.co/Ybbo8OYKTt
— (@KevinHart4real) January 30, 2019
"I stand with a man in his time of hurt and need by giving him heart felt support and u take the time to harp on my ten year past that I have apologised about and moved on from by being a better person. Do you want change? If so I am an example of what u want people to do…CHANGE!" he wrote.
Ira replied, saying;
"I 'harp' because my community of black queer people face violence 365 days in America and when we tried to tell you that we weren’t trolling you but wanted to educate how your jokes lead to actions like what happened to Jussie, you went on Ellen to talk about your wheelchair movie."
Fans of Kevin Hart chose to defend him, saying that he has shown remorse for his past actions and praising him for his support of Jussie.
Hart refused to host the Oscars after the controversy, and Ellen DeGeneres gave him a platform to speak about his past homophobic actions.
The Chicago Police Department have just released CCTV images of two persons of interest in the Smollett case. Nine days ago, he was sent a letter in the post to Fox Studios which read: ‘You will die black f*ggot".
He has received negative attention from racist and homophobic people in America as a result of his role in Empire, where he portrays a rising gay, black singer in the music industry.
