Kevin Hart continued his damage control efforts with an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, where it was revealed that she encouraged the Academy to rehire him after he lost the Oscars hosting job over homophobic jokes and tweets from his past.

Hart was reluctant to offer a full-throated apology at first, citing earlier apologies as sufficient. That disagreement on how to handle the controversy resulted in his stepping down from the gig, despite it being a goal on his vision board.

DeGeneres encouraged him to reconsider, claiming the Academy is ready to have him back. He said he would consider it.

While Hart clearly appreciated the support from his pal Ellen, there are plenty who were less than pleased, seeing her actions as something of a betrayal to the LGBTQ community. Many are unhappy that she chose to characterize those who brought up concerns at Hart's hiring as simply "haters," letting him off the hook for true self-reflection.

(2) …mob of people out to get Kevin Hart. It was a group of people who wanted to understand Hart's thinking about those hurtful tweets & his stand-up jokes.

Second, in his Ellen interview, Hart referenced apologizing for his past during the GET HARD junket. Well…

— Adam B. Vary (@adambvary) January 4, 2019