Kevin Hart Leads Top Comedians Social Media Ranking After Oscars Controversy
The chart ranks the most popular comedians based on data from Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and Google Plus.
Kevin Hart’s acceptance of the role of 2019 Academy Awards host — and his subsequent stepping-down from the post — lands him a glut of social media engagement that allows the comedian to hold the No. 1 spot on The Hollywood Reporter’s Top Comedians chart dated Dec. 19.
The Top Comedians chart is a ranking of the most popular comedians on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and Google Plus, with global data provided by social media analytics company MVPindex. The chart's methodology blends social engagement on the platforms along with weekly additions of followers/subscribers. The latest tracking week ended Dec. 11.
Hart — who vacated the Oscars hosting gig after homophobic tweets he made from 2009-2011 resurfaced online — received 154,000 comments on his Instagram posts in the Dec. 5-11 tracking week, up 284 percent, due in large part to his posts about the controversy. The comic announced he was stepping down from the role on Dec. 6, two days after revealing he had been tapped as the 2019 host.
Colleen Ballinger rises from No. 3 to No. 2 on the Dec. 19-dated tally to slot in behind Hart after having her first child, a son, on Dec. 10.
See the full top 10 below, and for more charts on The Hollywood Reporter, check out the Top Actors and Top TV Personalities charts.
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10. D.L. Hughley
Last week: 9
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9. Jessica Robin Moore
Last week: 6
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8. Kathy Griffin
Last week: -
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7. Tommy Chong
Last week: 5
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6. Ricky Gervais
Last week: 10
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5. Rickey Smiley
Last week: 7
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4. Trevor Noah
Last week: 2
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3. Joe Rogan
Last week: 4
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2. Colleen Ballinger
Last week: 3
“He’s perfect,” Ballinger tweeted Dec. 11 after her first child, a son, was born Dec. 10. The comedian and vlogger racked up 871,000 likes on Twitter from her posts, which included a photo of her in the delivery room, holding a coffee and her phone, writing, “Here we go!”
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1. Kevin Hart
Last week: 1
Hart was mentioned 115,000 times on Twitter, up 1,848 percent, in a week that saw the comedian accept and then step down from the role of host of the 2019 Academy Awards after homophobic tweets on his account from 2009-11 resurfaced online.