Nick backs Hart over Oscars controversy

Nick Cannon

isn’t just defending his friend and fellow comedian Kevin Hart over the Oscars hosting controversy. He’s also going after the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Cannon was one of many cheering the decision to appoint Hart as host of the February 24 telecast but then with dismay watched as his friend voluntarily stepped down after an outcry over past homophobic tweets.

Cannon said he talked with Hart during the controversy, and said “I felt that the Academy could’ve handled it a different way.” He added that organisers should have done their research before offering Hart the gig.

He also said there’s an irony to this situation because he believes the Academy has its own skeletons when it comes to both racism and a lack of diversity.

He recalled that as recently as 2014, the 6,000 or so Oscar voters were nearly 94 percent white and 77 percent male. “But things are changing. We’ve allowed them to grow. So why can’t we allow the people that the Academy employs or empowers to grow?”

Cannon also noted how when actress Hattie Mcdaniel became the first Africanamerican woman to win an Academy Award in 1940 for

Gone With the Wind, she had to sit in the back corner of the venue alone because it had a strict no-blacks policy. “Did anybody receive an apology for that?” Cannon asked.

Cannon also showed support for Hart on Twitter by reposting old tweets from Amy Schumer, Sarah Silverman and Chelsea Handler that also contained LGBTQ slurs and derogatory terms.

Cannon said he wanted to highlight “great artists” who he respects. “Again, there’s clearly a double standard in Hollywood.” He added: “I just wanted to show it doesn’t matter what your race, your gender or even your perspective truly is. We all make mistakes – myself included.”