Steve Harvey sat down with Kris Fade and did not hold back about why Hollywood never really fit him and why he made the choice to walk away from it entirely.
For someone who has built one of the most recognizable brands in entertainment, Harvey is surprisingly unbothered by the Hollywood scene. He is not at the parties. He is not on every red carpet. Family Feud does not even film in Los Angeles anymore.
They moved production to Atlanta and Harvey has no plans to go back. “I’m not the Hollywood type. I was out there trying to make it. I did a lot of TV in Hollywood but I never fit into the Hollywood mode.”
He explained that his mindset shifted when he started thinking about business differently. The awards stopped mattering to him once he realized what was actually on the other side of the work. “I kind of started looking at business in terms of rewards instead of awards. I don’t care that they invite me to the awards show. Just give me my check. I just want the reward and then I’ll figure it out.”
That shift paid off in a way he did not even anticipate. “By the grace of God I became globally famous. I’m more of a global factor than a Hollywood factor now.” He travels the world and his name means something everywhere he goes. Hollywood became the smaller piece of a much bigger picture.
But the real reason he stays away goes deeper than business strategy. Harvey sees Hollywood as a trap for your brand and your family. Social media already makes it hard enough to control your narrative and adding the Hollywood machine on top of that is something he was never willing to do. “If you participate in Hollywood they gonna destroy your brand. Social media is such the devil’s playground. They don’t care nothing about truth. They don’t care nothing about facts. They just care about clicks and views and they’ll do anything to get a click and view even at the demise of your family.”
He credits his father for planting that seed early. “My father used to always say don’t give them a pin to stick you with. So if you play in the Hollywood game you gonna give them the pin to stick you with. If you’re at all of the Hollywood parties they gonna take your picture in an uncompromising position even at the wrong angle and they gonna put a caption with it.”
Harvey has always positioned himself as a family man first and everything else second. Staying out of Hollywood was never about arrogance. It was about protection. “My brand was different. I’m a family guy. I love my family. I haven’t been the best all of the time but I still loved them.”
That kind of self awareness is rare in this industry and Harvey has been moving on his own terms long enough to prove it works.
Steve Harvey says if you participate in Hollywood, they’re going to destroy your brand, calls social media the devil’s playground, and explains why he doesn’t attend Hollywood parties.
(🎥 One on One with Kris Fade/Youtube) pic.twitter.com/cilx9JeR89
— The Art Of Dialogue (@ArtOfDialogue_) May 23, 2026
