Kevin Hart Defends Himself After Backlash Over Jussie Smollett Support

Kevin Hart is fielding off criticism after he posted a message of support to Jussie Smollett, who was attacked this week by two men.

The comedian is one of many celebrities who expressed well-wishes to Smollett, who stars on the FOX show Empire and is openly gay, after he was reportedly attacked by two masked men who hurled racist and homophobic slurs at him and tied a noose around his neck.

“Sending prayers your way @jussiesmollett ....This is unbelievably sad," Hart wrote in a caption of a photo of Smollett. "Why are we going backwards....this is disgusting,” he wrote on Twitter and Instagram on Wednesday. "We as people have to do better. WTF is going on the world?”

His comments did not go unnoticed by social media users, who felt that Hart’s comments weren’t genuine.

In December, Hart was selected to host the 91^st Academy Awards but stepped down after being criticized for anti-gay tweets he made in 2010 and 2011. The actor said he apologized in the past for the remarks but would not do so again, and instead opted to drop out of the show. He has since apologized to the LGBTQ community.

The host of the podcast Keep It, Ira Madison III, responded to Hart’s tweet saying, “your funniest joke congrats,” prompting The Upside star to reply.

“I stand with a man in his time of hurt and need by giving him heart felt support and u take the time to harp on my 10yr past that I have apologized about and moved on from by being a better person. Do you want change? If so I am an example of what u want people to do...CHANGE!,” he wrote.

“I ‘harp’ because my community of black queer people face violence 365 in America and when we tried to tell you that we weren’t trolling you but wanted to educate how your jokes lead to actions like what happened to Jussie, you went on Ellen to talk about your wheelchair movie,” said Madison.