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Steve Harvey has taken his star power to new heights as the deadpan reaction-doling host of Family Feud. The big gig meant leaving professional stand-up comedy behind, and some whispers of loose ends — which he addressed on Tuesday (October 22).
Harvey was one of The Original Kings of Comedy, the iconic Spike Lee-directed 2000 stand-up special which also included the late Bernie Mac, Cedric The Entertainer, and D.L. Hughley. But rumors of bad blood between Harvey and Mac, who died in 2008, have long circulated.
In a 2003 interview with GQ magazine, Mac lobbed wild accusations at Harvey, including trying to sabotage him from booking movie roles. “I was upset at first because it just wasn’t true,” Harvey responded during BET’s Conversations with Ed Gordon in 2010. “Me and Bernie had a lot of good times together and then this article in GQ came out and put all this vicious stuff in there.”
Katt Williams fueled the theory during a bombastic January 2024 appearance on Club Shay Shay, claiming he was offered a spot on The Original Kings of Comedy but turned it down because the group “sh** on Bernie.”
On the premiere episode of Black Comedy in America — a 10-part Vice docuseries celebrating the impact of Black comics, films, and TV shows — the Kings were reunited for their first on-air interview in 15 years. It also came 16 years after Mac’s death.
The trio touched on many topics, including Mac’s legacy, and Harvey took the time to state his piece.
“Bernie was a special dude, man,” the Family Feud host said. “So, you know, when I hear stuff about us and I hear stuff about the dissension, I don’t really know what they talking about.”
He continued: “The thing about Bernie was, Bernie was a man’s man. So when somebody say, ‘They treated Bernie like sh**’ That was impossible. This dude, right here, was Chicago South Side to his core and blood. You mistreat this dude right here? You know the problem you’re going to have instantly? That was an impossibility. That was a man’s man.”
Elsewhere, Harvey seemed to call out Katt Williams’ recent podcast comments specifically: “I know they’re lying about you online. I know that podcast is bulls**t,” he said. “Just because you can talk smooth… it [doesn’t] mean that you ain’t lying. I [sit] up here looking at these podcasts, or these other comedians that’s… talking about other comedians. Hold up, dog, where did that s**t come from? When did we become that? When did we get into the ‘tearing each other down’ business?”
During Williams’ podcast appearance in January, he said, in part: “I know the truth. You think I’m gonna let you sh*t on Bernie and then come get me?” alluding to the claim that the Kings were going to replace Bernie with Williams. “I’m the next King? F**k you. Why? Because the whole time Bernie was here you was acting like you was funnier than him.”
Other comics have accused Harvey of stealing material. The accusations, while never substantiated, have become tricky territory in the comedy world, and regularly creep back into discourse about the game show host on social media with a few cursor scrolls.
Of course, the one glaring omission from the Vice reunion was Mac himself, with the Kings never able to truly reunite again.
Black Comedy in America, Tuesdays, 10/9c, Vice TV
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