Boy, did the Motion Picture Academy blow it. With less than six weeks until the Oscar telecast, no one has stepped forward to host, and the guy they lost, comedian Kevin Hart, is currently starring in America’s number one box office hit.
The Upside is not only the box office’s top movie; it defied all expectations to take that crown. Early projections were for an $11 million opening weekend and third place finish. By the time Monday rolled around, though, The Upside, which co-stars Bryan Cranston, knocked Aquaman off of his throne with a $20 million haul.
When’s the last time an Oscar host slid into that spot just a few weeks after his or her movie topped the box office? Billy Crystal in 1989? Steve Martin in 2001?
Regardless, this will go down as one of Oscar’s biggest self-inflicted wounds.
The Academy Awards has not been hosted by a box office draw in nearly two decades. Meanwhile, Hart has been a bankable star since he helped drive 2014’s Ride Along to a $135 million smash.
What’s more, Hart has had two — count them, two — number one hits inside four months. It was just at the end of September when his Night School opened to numero uno with $27 million. Prior to that, his Jumanji reboot grossed an astonishing $404 million domestic; Kevin Hart: What Now? (2016) became the fifth highest-grossing stand-up comedy movie in history; Central Intelligence (2016) grossed $157 million, Ride Along 2 (2016) $91 million, and Get Hard (2015) $90 million.
Keep in mind that Hart is accomplishing this while the genre of the Hollywood comedy sinks into the abyss. He is the one person keeping this genre alive, and he is doing so because he is a rarity in pop culture: a talented, charismatic, and mostly apolitical star. He’s not divisive or terribly political or alienating. In other words…
Kevin Hart is the perfect Oscar host, the perfect guy to bring the telecast back from the dead, from record-low ratings, but…
The spineless blacklisters who run the Academy blew it.
Because Hart tweaked and satirized everyone seven or eight years ago (including black people, himself, and homosexuals), because he did not inoculate homosexuals from satire, those who practice Woke McCarthyism reported him to the Academy for his JokeCrime after it was announced in December he would host the Oscars.
Rather than tell the Woke Fascists to go to hell if they can’t take a joke, the blacklisters in the Academy demanded Hart apologize — for jokes.
Even though Hart had already addressed these tweets in previous years, the Academy demanded an apology. To his credit, Hart was principled enough to tell the Academy to go pound sand.
And now, Kevin Hart is an even bigger movie and comedy star, has earned the respect of the vast majority of American who loathe political correctness, has the number one movie in America (again), and with that February 24 deadline approaching fast, the Academy has no host.
In one quick and cowardly move, the Academy turned one of the most prestigious jobs in show business into the most toxic.
In front of the whole world, the very institution that should have been standing up for artistic and personal expression served up their own guy to the fascist lions, and now they’re screwed.
I don’t know about y’all, but I cannot wait to not watch the Oscars this year.
Follow John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC. Follow his Facebook Page here.
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