Ellen DeGeneres defends Kevin Hart & tries to win him back his Oscars hosting gig

After facing huge backlash over homophobic tweets last year, Kevin Hart stepped down as the Oscars host. Now Ellen is defending him and trying to win him the hosting gig back.

Last year, Kevin Hart faced massive backlash over old homophobic Tweets he had made. The comedian refused to apologize for his offensive words.

However, a few hours after refusing to apologize, Hart announced he would be stepping down as host for the 91st Academy Awards. He took to Twitter to explain that he doesn’t want his troubles to distract from the Oscars. He also finally apologized to the LGBTQ community.

Now, he made an emotional, hourlong appearance on Ellen. In the episode that will air on Friday, Hart says he is "evaluating" reclaiming his role as the 2019 Oscars host.

His announcement came after Ellen revealed she had been in touch with the Academy. DeGeneres wanted to learn whether the organization was open to having Hart step back into the hosting role she also decided to vouch for him.

The comedian's remarks come almost a month after Hart stepped down. Hart had been the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' initial choice for the hosting position.

Due to his controversial past tweets, the Academy presented him with an ultimatum. He could either apologize for those remarks or leave the post.

At first, Hart refused to apologize. Instead, he decided to pass on the gig before eventually expressing that he regretted his remarks.

DeGeneres is a former Academy Awards host. She revealed that she called the Academy on Thursday because she wanted Hart to host the next ones

"I called them, I said, 'Kevin’s on, I have no idea if he wants to come back and host, but what are your thoughts?' And 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." said Ellen

Hart revealed during his interview with DeGeneres saying, "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."

DeGeneres defended Hart earlier in the program. She told him that she understood that he made the comments because he had "not been educated on the subject, not realizing how dangerous those words are, not realizing how many kids are killed for being gay or beaten up every day."

"You have grown, you have apologized, you are apologizing again right now. You’re done it. Don’t let those people win — host the Oscars.” said Ellen to Hart

In his eventual apology, Hart said, "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. My goal is to bring people together not tear us apart. Much love & appreciation to the Academy. I hope we can meet again."