*Kevin Hart may be invited back as Oscars host less than a month after he stepped down from the gig for refusing to apologize for his past homophobic comments, a source tells PEOPLE.
“There has been a steady stream of buzz that things might work out between Kevin and the Academy,” the source explained.
“The Academy never really axed him — they wanted him to apologize — he wouldn’t, and then he was the one to drop out.”
When Hart later offered an apology, the insider says it left “a lot of people at the Academy scratching their heads because he did what they wanted him to do so really he didn’t need to quit in that case.”
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I’m sorry that I hurt people.. I am evolving and want to continue to do so. My goal is to bring people together not tear us apart. Much love & appreciation to the Academy. I hope we can meet again.
— Kevin Hart (@KevinHart4real) December 7, 2018
“Everyone has noticed that it’s not like the Academy just pivoted to someone else; Kevin is clearly well aware that the job is still wide open. But meanwhile, he has needed to do his own clean-up work in terms of his image after all of this,” the insider continued.
Hart, meanwhile, has kicked off an apology tour starting with the “Ellen” show, and the talk show host even revealed that she called the Academy in effort to get the “Night School” star back as Oscars host.
“It’s all they ever wanted him to do, and he’s doing it in spades. So now he should be able to come back on his own terms,” the source tells PEOPLE.
“It all hinges on how well he does these apologies,” the insider explained;. “In the end, if the shows are good, it’s pretty much his to take again, if he wants it.”
Ellen tweeted news about Kevin’s appearance on Thursday night and revealed she was airing the episode early.
“I had an incredible and honest conversation with @KevinHart4real about hosting the #Oscars,” DeGeneres tweeted. “It was supposed to air on Monday. I don’t want you to have to wait, so now it’s gonna air tomorrow.”
Hart called the interview “the most raw/honest & authentic interview that I have ever done.”
After their chat aired on Friday, fellow comedian Rob Schneider blasted the Academy for being “a shameful organization.”
“If the Academy Awards doesn’t do this, then they should be shunned by every comedian,” Schnieder, 55, said on Los Angeles news outlet KTLA. “If he doesn’t host the Oscars, then the Oscars is a shameful organization.”
“I think the Academy Awards is just such a sucky ‘blow with the wind’ organization and they’ve always been that way … It’s all promotion,” he added.
Schnieder, who was promoting his Netflix show “Real Rob,” also took to Twitter to praise Ellen and Kevin’s conversation. The talk show host has been hit with criticism for using the entire hour of her show to dish with Hart.
“I support @TheEllenShow supporting @KevinHart4real,” Schneider tweeted on Friday. “Comics are the ones who are supposed to say the horrible things we all think but don’t.”
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