Lil Nas X took Kevin Hart to task about his decision to come out publicly in a new episode of HBO’s The Shop.
Kevin, 40, had a pretty big reaction to Lil Nas, 20, talking about his sexuality during the preview clip that was released on Wednesday, September 4.
“And with all that early success, you thought it was important to make an announcement,” marketing executive Paul Rivera said to the “Panini” rapper about him coming out in the beginning stages of his career.
“He said he was gay, so what?” Kevin said after Paul asked Lil Nas the question. “Why did he feel it was necessary, it’s not about who cares, that was actually my question, why did he feel it was necessary to come out and say that?”
“It’s not like it’s like being forced, it’s just like knowing like growing up, I’m growing up to hate this s**t,” Nas responded. “I’m not supposed to…”
“Grow up to hate, hate what?” the Night School actor interrupted with. “Hate what?”
“Homosexuality,” Lil Nas told him. “Gay people.”
“Why?” Kevin responded in bewilderment. “if you’re doing this while you’re at the top, you know it’s for real and it’s like showing that it doesn’t really matter I guess,” the VMA winner said.
Lil Nas came out on the last day of Pride month in June 2019 when his song “Old Town Road” was at the top of the charts. His decision has been met with a ton of support by fans and celebs like Cardi B and Dennis Rodman as a result.
Kevin, who filmed this episode way before his horrible car accident took place on Sunday, September 1, is known for his past language that many have deemed as homophobic.
Tweets that were dug up from 2009, where he talked about how he would break a dollhouse over his son’s head if he was caught playing with it, was enough for him to resign from hosting the 2019 Academy Awards after an immense backlash from the LGBTQ community. The show went on without a host in February.