American comedian and actor Kevin Hart has sensationally stepped down from hosting the upcoming Academy Awards ceremony because of homophobic tweets he made in the past.

It was only announced two days ago that Kevin Hart had landed what he himself was even calling himself his "dream gig".

But Kevin Hart has now revealed that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences had given him an ultimatum of choosing between apologising for his offensive comments or stepping down as host.

Even though he last night offered an apology on Twitter, he decided to give the Academy Awards the two fingers and step down as host anyway.

Deciding on the latter, he has said in a video posted one Instagram: "I chose to pass on the apology. The reason why I passed is because I've addressed this several times. I've said who I am now versus who I was then. I've done it. I'm not going to continue to go back and tap into the days of old when I've moved on and I'm in a completely different place in my life."

But he did apologise to the LGBTQ community on Twitter for his "insensitive words from my past".

"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 and appreciation to the Academy. I hope we can meet again," Kevin Hart said.

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

You can watch the full video clip here:

View this post on Instagram

Stop looking for reasons to be negative...Stop searching for reasons to be angry....I swear I wish you guys could see/feel/understand the mental place that I am in. I am truly happy people....there is nothing that you can do to change that...NOTHING. I work hard on a daily basis to spread positivity to all....with that being said. If u want to search my history or past and anger yourselves with what u find that is fine with me. I’m almost 40 years old and I’m in love with the man that I am becoming. You LIVE and YOU LEARN & YOU GROW & YOU MATURE. I live to Love....Please take your negative energy and put it into something constructive. Please....What’s understood should never have to be said. I LOVE EVERYBODY.....ONCE AGAIN EVERYBODY. If you choose to not believe me then that’s on you....Have a beautiful day

A post shared by Kevin Hart (@kevinhart4real) on Dec 6, 2018 at 3:20pm PST