Steve Harvey Says Miss Universe Mistake Was ‘The Worst Week’ Of His Career

Steve Harvey says his 2015 Miss Universe mistake was “the worst week” of his career. 

Harvey, 64, is a comedy legend known for always making us laugh and entertaining as a host on shows like Family Feud, The Steve Harvey Show, and more. But, in 2015, Harvey felt many were laughing at him instead of with him when he fumbled announcing the wrong winner of the 2015 Miss Universe pageant. Harvey sat down with fellow comedian Kevin Hart on Hart’s podcast Comedy Gold Minds with Kevin Hart and opened up about the moment. 

The entertainer said that after the show, people were throwing rocks with “puta” (an offensive word in Spanish) written as a message on them over the gate of his home in Atlanta, according to a press release obtained by Baller Alert. 

“They said, we’ll announce the second runner up, and then we’ll have standing there the first runner up, and Miss Universe, and we’ll do it that way. Well, the lady that did the show when Trump owned it, she decided on the night of, after two days of rehearsal, I’m putting the third name on there, and they printed it on the card,” he explained. “Well, in the teleprompter after I announced the second runner up, the teleprompter said, ‘and the new 2015 Miss Universe is…’ The dude in my ear said, ‘read the next name on the card, Steve. Hold, hold, hold.’ I looked at the next card. I said, ‘Miss Colombia!’ That white boy said, ‘good job, Steve, go to the back.'” 

That’s when one of his entourage members told him he’d said the wrong name. “I go all the way in the back. I’m sitting there. And the black dude that I have doing all my shows came to me and said, ‘Big dog, you said the wrong name.'”

“I said, ‘man, the f*ck you talking about? I didn’t say the wrong name, I read the name that was on the f*cking card.’ He said, ‘man, they put a third name on the card.’ I said, ‘Bitch, ain’t nobody told me! Hold up, hold up. No, dog.’ I’m really back there cussing. So I said, ‘I’m going to go out here and fix it.’ They said, ‘no, Steve we’ll straighten it out tomorrow morning in the newspaper.’ I said, ‘that’s bullsh*t, dog. This lady deserves her crown.’ I took my stupid ass back out there. I should have let them announce it the next day in the newspaper. I wouldn’t have caught none of the hell I caught,” Harvey said.

He said after the ordeal, the attacks came flying. “When I woke up the next morning, it was everywhere. It was the headline in every country. And it was the worst week of my life, man, in show business. I mean, man, them boys was driving by my house. I lived in Atlanta, had a little gate in front of my house. They was throwing rocks over the gate with notes on it. You know, it was calling me names. I don’t know Spanish, but I know ‘puta,’ they call you ‘puta’ a lot of times. I know that ain’t good because it was ‘puta’ in all the notes and all the texts,” said Harvey.