Torrei Hart, who was Kevin Hart's childhood sweetheart and married to him for eight years before they divorced in 2011, spoke exclusively to Inside Edition about the backlash.
Kevin Hart's ex-wife, Torrei Hart, is speaking out about the uproar over homophobic tweets and comments that led him to quit his Oscars hosting gig just days after accepting it.
Torrei, who was Hart's childhood sweetheart and married to him for eight years before they divorced in 2011, spoke exclusively to Inside Edition about the backlash and vehemently defended him.
When Inside Edition's Jim Moret asked Torrei if her ex was homophobic, she responded, "No, not at all. ... He was just making a joke."
Torrei and Hart have two children together, 13-year-old Heaven and 11-year-old Hendrick. It was Hendrick that Hart was talking about when he said in his 2010 comedy special, "Seriously Funny," that one of his "biggest fears" is his "son growing up and being gay."
"Be happy. Do what you want to do. But me, as a heterosexual male, if I can prevent my son from being gay, I will," he continued.
Torrei and Hart share custody of their children and are on friendly terms. "I don't think he wants a gay son," Torrei said, adding Hart never meant to offend with the remark about Hendrick. "You want your son to be like you.
"If our son was to turn up gay ... I think he would love him the same," she continued.
After the controversy first erupted last week, Hart initially brushed it off, posting a defiant video saying, “I'm almost 40 years old. If you don’t believe people change, grow, evolve as they get older, I don’t know what to tell you.”
He eventually did apologize, announcing his decision to step aside as Oscars host and posting on Twitter: "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."
But Torrei doesn't think Hart should have had to say sorry. "I stand with him," she said. "I don't think he should have apologized."
Now, she laments the dream that Hart had to give up. "Come from the ghetto and we fight and fight and fight," she said. "... He would have been a great host."
RELATED STORIES
