Kevin Hart Apologizes "Once Again" to the LGBTQ Community

The comedian also defended himself on his SiriusXM show

Kevin Hart is apologizing to the LGBTQ community for his past homophobic tweets.

The comedian issued the apology on Monday's episode of his SiriusXM show, Straight From the Hart. 

"I will say this, and I want to make this very clear. And I'm going to say it just in case you guys try to take this s--t and chop it up, I will rebuttal with this f--king piece right here," he said. "Once again, Kevin Hart apologizes for his remarks that hurt members of the LGBTQ community. I apologize."

The apology came about a month after Hart's Oscars scandal. While the comedy star was originally scheduled to host the 2019 award show, he stepped down from the job after coming under fire for deleting past homophobic tweets.

The comedy star claimed the Academy had already threatened to revoke his hosting duties unless he apologized for his past derogatory comments. However, Hart refused to do so, arguing he's already "addressed it several times."

"I have made the choice to step down from hosting this year's Oscar's....this is because I do not want to be a distraction on a night that should be celebrated by so many amazing talented artists. I sincerely apologize to the LGBTQ community for my insensitive words from my past," he tweeted. "I'm sorry that I hurt people.. I am evolving and want to continue to do so. My goal is to bring people together not tear us apart. Much love & appreciation to the Academy. I hope we can meet again."

One of the comments that came under fire stemmed from his 2010 stand-up special Seriously Funny. During that routine, The Upside actor told the audience one of his "biggest fears is my son growing up and being gay."

"Keep in mind, I'm not homophobic... Be happy. Do what you want to do," he said at the time. "But me, as a heterosexual male, if I can prevent my son from being gay, I will."

Hart addressed the comment during his SiriusXM show and seemed to defend himself. 

"Here is how the joke starts off: 'I want to say that I have no problem with gay people. I don't have a homophobic bone in my body. I want you to be happy. If you want to be gay, be gay. Be happy.' This is in the f--king joke," Hart said. "Listen to me! Listen to me! It's in the f--king joke. And then I say, 'As a heterosexual male, if I can do something to stop my son'…that's where the joke starts! The only clip that I have seen all over the media are the clips where I go, 'Stop! That's gay!'"

He then argued that "these weren't words that I said to gay individuals" but rather comments "our dumbasses" were making "on Twitter going back and forth."

"We thought it was OK to talk like that because that's how we talked to one another," he said. "In that, you go, 'F--k! This is wrong now.'"

Hart then said he has since learned from his mistakes.

"Because now we're in a space where I'm around people of the LGBTQ community and I'm now aware of how these words make them feel and why they say, 'That s--t hurt because of what I've been through,'" Hart said. "So then we say, 'Ay man, as a group, let's erase this s--t. We don't talk like this no more. Let's not do this. We don't post this s--t on social media and, more importantly, within my comedy act, I'm going to make sure that I don't do anything else offensive because I talked to some friends of mine.'"

Near the end of the conversation, Hart reiterated his remarks were "wrong" and opened up about "an acceptance for change." 

"I'm not debating right from wrong. I've already stated it's wrong. There is no question of what it was," he said. "But, the other side of it is this: If the fight from the LGBTQ community is equality, that's the fight. The fight is the will and want for equality. I'm riding with you guys. I understand you. But in the fight for equality, that means that there has to be an acceptance for change. If you don't want to accept people for their change, then where are you trying to get to the equal part? Where does the equality part come in? Because all of the people that have done wrong are the people that—you want their attention to say 'This is why we want you to change, so we don't feel the way that we feel.' And those people go 'S--t. I used to f--king be this way, guys, I'm not anymore. I'm sorry.' But then they go 'But you didn't say it right. Saying I'm sorry, You didn't say sorry, sorry, sorry.' 'But no, wait, guys, I just said I'm sorry.' 'Not the way you should have! What does that mean?' And then they break down the way things should be said. And now it turns into, you're bullying them because now, now that I said what I said the way that I would say it because I'm me, you're now trying to change me into becoming what version of me you want me to be."

Hart also opened up about his past tweets on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and host Ellen DeGeneres encouraged the actor to reconsider hosting the Oscars. However, it seems like Hart is no longer considering that option.

"Would I ever do it? No, it's done. It's done," Hart told Variety. "The moment came and it was a blessing and I was excited at the opportunity and I still am. In my mind I got the job, it was a dream job, and things came up that simply prohibited it from happening. But I don't believe in going backwards."