Just a few days after being tapped to host the 91st Academy Awards, comedian Kevin Hart is stepping down from the role after backlash to his past homophobic tweets and stand-up. We also discuss a bill that would require a social media check for gun license applicants; examine the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund; and more.
Kevin Hart steps down from Oscars hosting gig. We talk the Academy, track records and apologies
Just a few days after being tapped to host the 91st Academy Awards, comedian Kevin Hart is stepping down from the role after backlash to his past homophobic tweets and stand-up.
After the hosting announcement, online outrage started gathering around the Academy’s choice. Online users posted example of Hart’s old tweets, as well as stand-up in which he expressed homophobic sentiment and said he wouldn’t want his son to be gay.
Kevin Hart posted a video reacting to the backlash with frustration. He then received a call from the Academy requesting an apology for his homophobic tweets, which Hart refused to give, saying he had already addressed and righted those wrongs.
Shortly after, he stepped down from the Oscar’s and apologized to the LGBT community.
I have made the choice to step down from hosting this year's Oscar's....this is because I do not want to be a distraction on a night that should be celebrated by so many amazing talented artists. I sincerely apologize to the LGBTQ community for my insensitive words from my past.
— Kevin Hart (@KevinHart4real)
I have made the choice to step down from hosting this year's Oscar's....this is because I do not want to be a distraction on a night that should be celebrated by so many amazing talented artists. I sincerely apologize to the LGBTQ community for my insensitive words from my past.
— Kevin Hart (@KevinHart4real) December 7, 2018
What do you think of the online backlash and how Kevin Hart handled the situation? What was the Academy’s responsibility in all this? How should offensive statements from one’s past affect future prospects? Should Hart’s previous apologies been enough, and if not, what kind of apology would have been appropriate?
Guest:
Elahe Izadi, pop culture reporter for the Washington Post; she tweets
Time’s Up brings #MeToo legal defense to the masses, but how far can $22 million really go?
Wildfires. Hurricanes. Mass shootings. GoFundMe has a multitude of fundraisers, but the one seeing the most success?
Time’s Up.
The Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund was launched last year in December 2017. Since then, it has set a historical record for money raised by a single, GoFundMe fundraiser -- over $22 million.
It’s run by the National Women’s Law Center, and was started by a number of successful women in the entertainment industry, including Shonda Rhimes, Reese Witherspoon and Universal Pictures chief Donna Langley. It serves as a resource for sexual assault victims looking to be connected with legal assistance and potential money to help mitigate lawyers’ fees.
Time’s Up has also inspired a plethora of other sexual assault GoFundMe accounts. These fundraisers are created by individuals looking for donations for anything from legal fees to therapy costs.
We discuss details regarding how the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund works, as well as whether smaller, personal GoFundMe’s are seeing as much success.
Guests:
Sharyn Tejani, director of the TIME’S UP Legal Defense Fund at the National Women’s Law Center
Jessica Testa, national reporter for BuzzFeed News; she recently wrote about how much the Time’s Up movement has raised via GoFundMe
Should a social media check be required for aspiring gun owners?
A New York lawmaker has introduced a bill that would require police to check the social media and online searches of handgun license applicants, and disqualify those who publish violent or hate-filled posts.
The bill, S9191, would require handgun applicants to turn over login information to allow investigators to look at three years’ worth of Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter and Instagram posts. Google, Yahoo and Bing searches over the previous year also would be checked.
Licenses could be denied if investigators uncover threats of violence or terrorism or the use of racial or ethnic slurs.
Would this be constitutional? We discuss.
With files from the Associated Press
Guests:
Josh Blackman, associate professor of law at South Texas College of Law Houston; he tweets
Kyleanne Hunter, vice president of programs for Brady Campaign and Center to Prevent Gun Violence; she tweets
FilmWeek: ‘Vox Lux,’ ‘Mary Queen of Scots,’ ‘Ben is Back’ and more
Larry Mantle and KPCC film critics Claudia Puig and Justin Chang review this weekend’s new movie releases.
- "Vox Lux" at ArcLight Hollywood & AMC Century City
- "Mary Queen of Scots" at Arclight Hollywood & The Landmark Theatre
- John Horn, host of "The Frame" interviewed the film's director, Josie Rourke, earlier this week about directing her first feature film. You can listen to that interview here.
- "Ben is Back" at The Landmark & ArcLight Hollywood
- "Divide and Conquer:The Story of Roger Ailes" at Nuart Theatre
- Earlier this week on "The Frame" host John Horn spoke with "Divide and Conquer" director Alexis Bloom, to listen to that interview click here.
- "Write When You Get Work" at Laemmle's NoHo
- "Dumplin'" at iPic Westwood and streaming on Netflix
- "The Bostonians" at Laemmle's Royal Theater
- "Schindler's List" in select theaters (check local listings)
CRITICS' HITS:
Claudia: "Mary Queen of Scots," "The Bostonians" & "Schindler's List"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnqjSgMU36U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcjIJ1YKQJU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxphAlJID9U
Justin: "Vox Lux" & "Divide and Conquer: The Story of Roger Ailes"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-y4ti900jog
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoQ5dZkMETs
MIXED FEELINGS:
Claudia: "Write When You Get Work"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6pJo0DyG8c
Justin: "Ben is Back"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXM1MSmWJLA&t=
MISSES:
Claudia: "Dumplin'"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k86KDFh_q6E
Guests:
Claudia Puig, film critic for KPCC and president of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association; she tweets
Justin Chang, film critic for KPCC and the Los Angeles Times; he tweets
On the 25th anniversary of Schindler’s List, revisiting the controversial portrayal of the Holocaust and the challenges of dramatizing historical tragedies
Steven Spielberg’s 1993 historical period drama “Schindler’s List” turns 25 this year and the highly-acclaimed and highly-controversial film is receiving a 4K restoration to mark the historic event.
While the film garnered critical notoriety from all corners of the filmmaking world after its release, there were still those who took issue with the film’s dramatization and portrayal of the events of the Holocaust and those who were impacted by it. One of the biggest questions surrounding the film was whether Spielberg thought that he was making the one big Holocaust film, something beyond critique or even reproach. Some still argue that Claude Lanzmann’s nine-and-a-half hour documentary “Shoah” comprised of interviews with survivors, is the definitive Holocaust film.
But even a quarter century after it first released, “Schindler’s List” is still scrutinized and debated, which speaks to a larger discussion about how historical atrocities like the Holocaust are portrayed in works of dramatization or historical fiction and whether events like it can even be accurately dramatized while still paying respect and doing justice to the horrors of the event itself and those who were directly affected by it.
On its 25th anniversary, FilmWeek critics Justin Chang, Claudia Puig and Peter Rainer along with special guest Akiva Gottlieb revisit the film and its portrayal of the Holocaust, consider why the film is still so relevant today and discuss the way Hollywood portrays historical tragedies and the overall idea of dramatizing an atrocity like the Holocaust.
Guests:
Claudia Puig, film critic for KPCC and president of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association; she tweets
Justin Chang, film critic for KPCC and the Los Angeles Times; he tweets
Akiva Gottlieb, contributing writer to the Los Angeles Times; his latest piece is “Why ‘Schindler’s List’ remains brilliant and troubling 25 years after its release’
Peter Rainer, film critic for KPCC and the Christian Science Monitor; he wrote an essay for the L.A. Times after the film’s release in 1993 responding to the backlash against it