Kevin Hart stirred up another online firestorm after tweeting a quote on Friday from Martin Luther King Jr. about how moments of crisis test the measure of a man — but his fans and critics just weren’t having it.
“You’re quoting Martin? Finally, you’re making me laugh!” one commenter wrote.
“What you’re going through is very comparable to what Martin Luther King Jr battled. How brave of you, Kevin,” another wrote, while a third offered: “Dude it’s the Oscars not Selma.”
Hart appeared to want to take the high road following his announcement as the 2019 Academy Awards host was derailed after dozens of his old anti-gay tweets resurfaced. The comedian offered an apology for the old tweets, and deleted many, but only after he twice insisted he would not apologize because he had already “moved on.”
In a Friday morning tweet after his Oscar-hosting dreams unraveled, he quoted the civil rights legend King: “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”
The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. Martin Luther King, Jr.
— Kevin Hart (@KevinHart4real) December 7, 2018
But commenters were quick to find fault.
Ira Madison, the former Daily Beast critic and host of the Crooked Media pop culture podcast “Keep It!” noted that Hart left off the second half of King’s original statement: “The true neighbor will risk his position, his prestige, and even his life for the welfare of others. In dangerous valleys and hazardous pathways, he will lift some bruised and beaten brother to a higher and more noble life.”
Madison added, “That’s what happens when you google a quote to make a point but haven’t actually read it before.”