In powerful commentary, CNN’s Don Lemon says many of the things to Kevin Hart that perhaps Ellen should have

There has been tremendous backlash against Ellen DeGeneres and Kevin Hart over a clearly disastrous attempt this week to get Hart re-instated as Oscars host. He lost the gig over past homophobic tweets and stand-up material.

Last night, openly gay CNN anchor Don Lemon addressed the spectacle of Hart’s Thursday appearance on Ellen’s show which has widely been criticized in press and on social media for Hart’s perceived victimhood over backlash and DeGeneres’ emphatic support of his return to the Oscar job.

“Someone like Kevin Hart, with one of the biggest megaphones in the entire world, he can be a leader … he can help change homophobia in the black community, something Kevin’s old twitter jokes addressed but in the wrong way,” Lemon said.

He then referenced an old tweet from Hart about theoretically disciplining his son for playing with a dollhouse.

“That was a joke to Kevin. The truth is, that is a reality for many little boys in the United States … somewhere a black dad is beating his black son,” Lemon said.

He then referenced the real-life tale of his friend Lee Daniels who in his series Empire, scripted a real-life moment when his own father threw him into a garbage can as a little boy for wearing a pair of high heels.

“For many in the gay community, especially in the black community, the Twitter apologies on ‘Ellen’ have fallen flat,” Lemon continued, noting reactions calling the talk show moment “insincere” and that Hart “somehow turns himself into a victim instead of acknowledging the real victims of violent and sometimes deadly homophobia.”

Watch the powerful commentary below: