In an hour-long interview on Ellen DeGeneres’s chatshow, Hart said he was considering his options following a confused episode in which the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences reportedly asked him to apologise for past homophobic tweets and standup routines or to step down from the role.

Hart stood down, claiming he had already apologised, but then offered an apology anyway. A month on, no new host has been announced.

In DeGeneres, an openly gay two-times Oscars host held in huge public affection, Hart has a formidable champion. On the show, sections of which were released by DeGeneres ahead of the full broadcast on Monday, she says she has been in touch with the Academy to back Hart, that she suspects they hope he will return, and that she is “praying for that to happen”.

Should Hart return, she promises audiences would see “sophistication, class, hilarity and [Hart] growing as a person”.