Earlier this week, news broke that serial sleep avoider Steve Harvey had not one, but two gigs stripped from his weekly schedule: his eponymous talk show was set for cancellation, and his hosting gig for NBC’s Little Big Shots would go to another personality, thought to be “American Idol” winner Kelly Clarkson.
Harvey, who gained infamy by botching the announcement of a beauty pageant winner, has enjoyed long stints hosting game shows and talk shows across various time slots. He’s also been no stranger to controversy during his time juggling high-profile gigs. Harvey has poked fun at Flint’s unclean water and most recently talked over comedian Mo’Nique while mansplaining the road to Hollywood success on his talk show ... which recently taped its final episode.
“This the money game,” Harvey told Mo’Nique, his shoes as shiny as mirrors set to tap-dance in front of his adoring audience in February. “This ain’t the black man’s game, this ain’t the white man’s game, it’s the money game.”
Mo’Nique made it clear at the beginning of a video posted to YouTube that she had seen the numerous tags from fans and messy netizens in the days since Harvey’s Ls were administered.
During a livestream on her YouTube channel alongside husband Sidney Hicks, the Precious actress still came to Harvey’s defense.
“We do not celebrate what appears to be someone else’s demise,” she said, per Baller Alert. “We do not stand and applaud and say, ‘Yeah, look what’s happening.’ ‘That’s what you get.’ That’s not where we’re coming from. That’s not a stance we’ve ever taken,” she said.
Mo’Nique and Harvey sparred in February over her issues with Empire head Lee Daniels and one-woman media empire Oprah Winfrey. “Each one of you said to me, ‘Mo’Nique you’re not wrong,’” she told Harvey, “and when I heard you go on the air and you said that my sister done burned too many bridges and there’s nothing I can do for her now, Steve do you know how hurt I was?”
Mo’Nique and Hicks made the decision to take the high road, despite being prodded by the messy among us. While the case could be made that they missed the opportunity to crack a few memorable jokes, restraint further illustrates her point.
Harvey took the money and made it clear to the world that any other choice was a losing choice.
Now, he can’t seem to win for losing.