Actor Kevin Hart will star in a six-part Netflix documentary series releasing later this month that follows the comedian’s life after homophobic tweets and skits from his past resurfaced at the end of last year, prompting him to bow out of hosting the 2019 Academy Awards.
Interviews with the North Philadelphia native’s friends and family will be featured throughout “Don’t F–k This Up,” which debuts Dec. 27, Hart announced in an Instagram video last week. The series follows Hart through his daily life and chronicles his career, marriage and the fallout surrounding the Oscars controversy.
“I’m excited about it,” Hart said in the video. “It’s a look into my life over the past year and a half, which has been a hell of a rollercoaster. Peaks, hills, valleys, ups, downs. It’s as real, as raw, as transparent as you can be. It’s something that I think people need to see.”
During a two-day period last December, Hart announced and withdrew his role as host for the awards show. The tweets that were dredged up, spanning 2009-11, contained offensive language pertaining to the LGBTQ community.
“Yo if my son comes home & try’s 2 play with my daughters doll house I’m going 2 break it over his head & say n my voice ‘stop that’s gay,’” read a 2011 tweet, which has since been deleted.
Another of Hart’s tweets said that actor Damien Wayans looked like “a gay billboard for AIDS.”
Following the Oscars debacle, Hart appeared on “The Ellen Show.” Out lesbian Ellen DeGeneres, who has hosted the Academy Awards twice, came under fire for backing Hart and seemingly “forgiving” him.
“Now, the slander on my name is all homophobia,” Hart said on “The Ellen Show.” “Now I’m a little upset. I know that I don’t have a homophobic bone in my body. I know that I’ve addressed it. I know that I apologized.”
But last year wasn’t the end of scrutiny surrounding Hart’s attitude toward the LGBTQ community.
In September, rapper Lil Nas X and Hart appeared together on HBO talk show “The Shop.” When the Billboard-topping rapper began to answer a question about recently coming out as gay, Hart interjected, “He said he was gay. So what?”
Lil Nas X explained he was always taught “to hate” being gay while growing up and that he wasn’t “supposed to ever like” it.
“Hate what?” Hart interrupted for a second time, prompting online allegations of gaslighting and dismissing the newly-out musician’s experience.
“Don’t F–k This Up” comes on the heels of Hart suffering major injuries in a September car crash, spurring a months-long road of rehab and recovery. In spring, Hart appeared in “Irresponsible,” another Netflix production that focused on his family and daily life.
“[I’m] always looking for ways to improve and progress,” Hart said in his “Don’t F–k This Up” announcement, “and this documentary is one of those ways that I’ve felt has put me into the position to do just that.”