DeGeneres Wants Hart to Host Oscars.
BERMAN: Brand-new this morning, Ellen DeGeneres is pushing for comedian and actor Kevin Hart to host the Oscars, or at least recommit to hosting the Oscars. Hart bowed out one month ago after past homophobic comments on Twitter and in his comedy act resurfaced. But during an interview on her show, this is what Ellen DeGeneres said.</s>ELLEN DEGENERES, HOST, "THE ELLEN DEGENERES SHOW": I called the Academy today because I really want you to host the Oscars. I think that -- I was so excited when I heard that they asked you. 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 or 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.</s>BERMAN: Joining us now, CNN chief media correspondent, host of "Reliable Sources," Brian Stelter, and journalist LZ Granderson. He's a CNN opinion writer. First of all, LZ, I haven't seen you in ages. Great to have you on with us. Thanks so much.</s>CAMEROTA: You look well.</s>BERMAN: You look terrific, albeit in a small box.</s>LZ GRANDERSON, CNN OPINION WRITER: Thank you very much.</s>BERMAN: Brian, just remind us --</s>GRANDERSON: I should say the same, but I can't see you.</s>BERMAN: I promise you, Alisyn looks great. Me, another story.</s>CAMEROTA: True.</s>BERMAN: How'd we get here? What's going on?</s>BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: This is such a strange situation because the Academy hired Kevin Hart and then, of course, two days later he quit. The Academy has not filled the job. It's been a month now and the Academy has not filled the job.</s>CAMEROTA: Isn't that remarkable, they didn't fill the job.</s>STELTER: Normally this is a really exciting job. One of the best jobs in Hollywood. You get to hose the biggest night of the year. But lately there's been fewer people that actually want the job. It's tireless. You get a lot of critics. Kevin Hart took the job. He said it was his dream come true. It is so strange that within the course of two days he quit amid this online outcry about past homophobic tweets and comments. And, look, what he had said in the past was very ugly and I think he is still, in some ways, sounding like he's the victim a little bit, blaming people for going through his old tweets, a little bit unhappy with that. But I do think he's trying to show an evolution here. And he -- there's clearly a pathway for him to go back to the Oscars.</s>CAMEROTA: LZ, here is what Kevin Hart said about his reasoning for why he pulled out to begin with.</s>KEVIN HART, COMEDIAN: I was given an ultimatum. I was given an ultimatum. Kevin, apologize or we're going to find another host. When I was given that ultimatum, this is now -- it's now becoming like a cloud. It was once the brightest star and brightest light ever just got real dark. I don't want to step on that stage and make that night about me and my past when you got people that have worked hard to step on that stage for the first time and receive an award. And I felt like it was a conversation that was just going to continue and continue and continue. I would much rather say I'm sorry again and walk away.</s>CAMEROTA: LZ, what's so demanding about apologize and you can still host? Why is that a rough ultimatum?</s>GRANDERSON: I don't know. You're going to have to ask Kevin that question. I -- it sounds to me as if he's getting bad advice because that simply means that's an opportunity for you to go on that stage, apologize again and explain to an international audience why the comments you said in the past were so damaging to the LBGTQ community. It feels like it was more of his ego that is preventing him from apologizing more than anything. And I think that's the offense is that he allowed his ego to interfere with what could have been a great, teachable moment for everyone. But with all that being said, I'm on Ellen's side. I would like to see him host. And this is why. I personally was involved in a very public battle with a -- with a former college at ESPN who was not LGBTQ friendly. I was all over the Internet. It was all over television. And I personally called our president and said, don't suspend him. That we need to have this space in order for us to have these kind of conversations wide open. Progress isn't made because things are easy.</s>BERMAN: So Kevin Hart told Ellen that he has apologized for this in the past and says he doesn't have a homophobic bone in his body. Listen.</s>HART: I know I don't have a homophobic bone in my body. I know that I've addressed it. I know that I've apologized. I know that within my apologies, I've taken ten years to put my apology to work. I've yet to go back to that version of an immature comedian I once was.</s>BERMAN: LZ, is that enough?</s>GRANDERSON: I mean it's enough for me. But, at the end of the day, it is enough for Kevin, because an apology is only sincere if it means something to the person giving the apology. And the acceptance of the apology only matters if the person who hears the apology believes in its sincerity. I do believe he has set that part of his comedic act in the past. It's very difficult to be a successful actor/comedian in Hollywood and harbor those sort of thoughts so publically for so long, especially now. So I don't believe he's the same person that did that act ten years ago. But with that being said, I'm not -- I'm not completely convinced that he understands how painful his words were and how damage they could be for a young person and their family and that's the part that I want him to get. Not that it's not cool to say it, but that understanding why it's not cool to say it, I think that's a connection that he's missing.</s>CAMEROTA: And that could be the teachable moment, right? I mean I understand. I think -- I appreciate that he says he doesn't want the Oscars to be about him and his controversy. Good. Good start. But you can dispense with it by coming out and having a little monologue saying what you've learned and then moving on and hosting the Oscars. I mean, I think, Brian, this is also about the tyranny of Twitter. About how much of a pound of flesh do we demand from people and how far back, OK? So, obviously, the world has evolved in the past ten years. If I believe Kevin Hart, he's evolved in the past 10 years. But he's letting Twitter keep him from his dream come true. The Oscars want him. Ellen wants him. LZ wants him. Isn't it time to sort of silence the haters and do it?</s>STELTER: Well, I think what's going to happen is exactly what you described, some kind of monologue, some kind of comment on stage that wraps this up that hopefully makes the best of an awkward situation. We're kind of seeing how Hollywood works, right? In Hollywood, you go on stage with one of the most famous</s>BERMAN: Maybe someone will watch the Oscars now --</s>STELTER: Hey.</s>BERMAN: Is the upside of this.</s>CAMEROTA: Bingo!</s>BERMAN: All right, Brian Stelter, LZ Granderson. LZ, great to see you. Thanks so much for being with us.</s>GRANDERSON: Thanks, guys. Any time.</s>CAMEROTA: All right, President Trump will meet with congressional leaders soon. Will the president and Democrats end the shutdown today? More on that, next.