Updated with video.
As the host of Family Feud, Steve Harvey is known for his hilarious reactions to some of the contestants’ dumbest answers, even causing him to scream and throw his card at times. Harvey, however, is not without his own on-screen blunders, and likely the most infamous of mistakes in his career came in the 2015 Miss Universe Pageant, when Harvey declared the wrong winner. Looking back at the fiasco eight years later, Harvey pinpointed what exactly he did wrong that night, and he called out T.J. Holmes for the part he played in the backlash against him.
Steve Harvey Admits One Mistake In Miss Universe Snafu
Steve Harvey didn’t hold back when talking about the Miss Universe brouhaha on Shannon Sharpe’s Club Shay Shay podcast, where he defended his actions on the night that Miss Colombia was mistakenly named the pageant winner, rather than Miss Philippines. Harvey maintained that he read what was on his card and the teleprompter, as well as following the directions given to him in his earpiece. His mistake came after, he said, when he chose to try to fix the mistake on live TV. When he was informed of the error, he explained:
I said, ‘All right, I’m gonna go back out here and fix it.' Dude said, ‘Where are you going?’ I said, ‘I’m gonna go out here and fix it.’ He said, ‘No, we’ll fix it tomorrow in the newspaper.’ [I said] ‘Fuck that, we live, I’m gonna go fix this shit now.’ Stupidest shit I ever did. I should’ve let them fix it in the newspaper. My stupid ass walked right out there and took the full hit, man. I took it dead in the teeth, like it was all my fault, and it wasn’t.
Had Steve Harvey not chosen to rectify the situation in that moment, it’s likely he wouldn’t have turned into the face of the controversy. Instead, however, he returned to the stage and fell on the sword, saying:
Listen, folks, let me just take control of this. This is exactly what’s on the card. I will take responsibility for this. It was my mistake. It was on the card. Horrible mistake, but the right thing… the first runner-up is Colombia.
Steve Harvey went on to explain that, despite reports at the time that he had not rehearsed that portion of the show, they had rehearsed all week reading the second runner-up and then announcing the winner. However, one of the staffers didn’t agree with the decision to not announce the first runner-up, and wrote that contestant's name on the card, which Harvey said led to the error.
Steve Harvey Calls Out T.J. Holmes For Criticism Following Pageant Debacle
Steve Harvey said he had no idea how bad the fallout would be for taking ownership of the on-air gaffe. He said he and his children had to turn off their social media, the family had bricks thrown over the gate at their house with messages attached, and he said because of the drug cartel, he has armed guards outside his house 24/7 to this day. He said people he thought were his friends also turned on him, and he specifically called out former GMA3 host T.J. Holmes, saying:
I was the lead story of everything. I’d never been ridiculed. A dude, man, that I really liked on CNN — I ain’t gonna say his name, T.J. Holmes — tore my ass, man. I’m cool with the bro. When he first came down here to Atlanta, man, I took him around, hanging with him, we cool. I’m watching CNN, this dude is roasting me: ‘How could he? Oh my God! That’s got to be the most absurd thing. What was he thinking?’ I’m sitting there going, ‘Damn T.J.’
T.J. Holmes, who recently parted ways with ABC News after his relationship with GMA3 co-host Amy Robach was exposed, left CNN in 2011 before returning briefly in 2013. So whether he made a guest appearance on the cable news network in 2015 following the pageant faux-pas or Steve Harvey named the wrong network, it’s clear that he was affected by Holmes’ reaction.
Eight years may have passed since the Miss Universe mix-up, but it’s clearly still a sore subject for the Family Feud host, who didn’t realize the impact the mistake would have. However, he did point out some silver linings, including the increase of his global brand, a Super Bowl commercial that resulted from it and the respect of many around the world for his honesty in the moment.
Steve Harvey will continue to share his honest opinions when he returns with Season 2 of Judge Steve Harvey, which is set to premiere at 9 p.m. ET Tuesday, May 9, on ABC. See what other premieres are coming soon with our 2023 TV schedule.
