Were Ellen’s efforts all for naught? Deadline is reporting that Kevin Hart has, once and for all, turned down the Academy Awards hosting gig. In the end, Hart is reported to be concerned about drawing attention away from the people being honored on the night, as well as having a lack of time to prepare. The Academy (apparently) has decided that if they can’t have Hart, they want no one. No one, I tell you! Deadline says the gig is “thankless,” and implies that anyone who would actually want to put themselves under this level of scrutiny must be insane. Yet there are plenty of people who would take the job, and have not been asked. Rhea Butcher (who looks great in a tux), and Busy Philipps (who serves good aghast face) have both volunteered, as has Vulture’s own Hunter Harris. I’d even watch an Academy Awards hosted by the guy who directed the Oscars last year and proposed during the Emmys. But, no. The Academy wants to cry at its own party, which is a right Lesley Gore fought valiantly to protect. In all likelihood, we would cry too if it happened to us.
