Posted Jan. 11, 2008 - If you’ve ever been fortunate enough to attend a “Celebration of Gospel” taping, then you know that Steve Harvey is the man. What goes on behind the scenes is often funnier than what eventually makes the broadcast. (But now, you can watch it on BET OnBlast’s Steve Harvey Too Hot For TV) Harvey’s hosted all eight years of the special, which has gotten bigger every year, and he has made it his own.
These days, Harvey’s enjoying some big changes in his personal life, too. He’s a newlywed, very much in love and trying to make some positive changes in his life on the eve of his 51st birthday (on Jan. 17). He’s also more than a little annoyed with the blogs. So when he sits down to talk with BET.com, he has a lot to say, but not before he cracks on us for coming to interview him with a small digital recorder instead of a camera crew. “ I don’t know if BET’s on the end of some budget cuts or what,” he jokes. But that’s what happens when you talk to a comedian. They always got jokes.
BET: “Celebration of Gospel” seems to be your show. How have you been able to make it so special for you?
SH: When they bought me on originally, ’cause I was on TV nationally with the “Steve Harvey Show,” I think they just wanted to add some secular star power to the show so it wouldn’t be all gospel and might attract some more viewers. I think what they found out was that I really understood what they were doing because I grew up in church, and I had a real relationship with the audience of church people. Even though my brand of comedy is edgy, I know how to take the comedy up to a point and keep it funny. And I think they saw that I had a real affection for the spiritual side of my life, and that made it a good marriage. We’ve had a lot of great moments over the past eight years.
BET: Share one that stands out for you.
SH: The most emotional moment for me was when I was talking, and I looked on the front row, and this guy named Charlie Williams, who used to feed me in Augusta when I lived in a car, was there. He didn’t know I was homeless, but he used to pack my cooler with food. He didn’t know how he helped me then. And I was performing, and I looked out from the stage and I saw him and I started telling the people the story and I got caught up in emotion. I was just looking at myself, and I looked at where I was at and it just broke me down. That was probably the most emotional moment I’ve had on television.
Man, it’s been some great performances, man. Smokie Norful one year. Juanita Bynum one year. Donnie McClurkin and Yolanda Adams. It’s always big moments. Every show has them, you know.
BET: This has become such a franchise for you and BET. What you do enjoy most about hosting?
SH: My craft is I’m a standup, and I make no bones about it. You can dress what I do and call it whatever you want to call it, but that’s what I do. When I’m out there in front of those people, I have to do it in a certain way. You got to be squeaky clean, but at the same time, I’m an edgy person and I can’t stop doing what I do.
BET: People know you from so many things. But do you get a lot of response from people that is specific to “Celebration of Gospel?”
SH: Absolutely, because its so tied into the first 12 minutes of my morning show, where it’s completely inspirational. I give people encouragement to remember their relationship with God. And so I drive a lot of people to the [COG] show with the radio show. So it’s kind of a tie-in. But I’m not the perfect Christian. People keep saying that they’re loving the Lord and walking the walk. You out there trippin’ somewhere. You cold trippin’ just like everybody else. So quit frontin’ and flexin’ like you just all perfectly holy, white pure, halo wings, all that. Because you ain’t. I’m just a cat that’s more real with it than most people. So I think a lot of people respect that about me.
BET: Do you have people coming up to you in the street trying to get on you about the things you say?
SH: Oh, constantly. People email me. I get that conflict all the time but I’ve learned not to let that bother me. I’ve learned about Internet, gossip, blogs, all that. Have you ever noticed that people who are on these blogs and who gossip and these hate bloggers and all this here, they’re never significant people, they’re never decision-makers and they’re never shakers and movers. I used to be upset when people would write about me on these different gossip blogs. Why would they say that about me? And I discovered something: They’re never significant.
BET: But do we know that for sure? It could be some executives who don’t like you.
SH: No, we know for sure that they’re not. See what it is, is, you’re busy trying to build your career. So you do have time to sit there and read all that mess and type in? See, me, I ain’t got time for that. My job ain’t attached to that. The head of Coca-Cola’s job ain’t attached to that. The people that’s running Home Depot ain’t got nothin’ to do with that. The head of State Farm ain’t got nothin’ to do with that. The people that run Disney ain’t got time for that. You cannot be about the destruction of another person and be about the building up of yourself.
BET: I hear you, but you seem to be getting a lot of attention on those blogs.
SH: Here’s the deal. I’ve made the decision to do better – be a better person to do more for God. The Devil don’t like that decision, so he attacks. The Devil does not fight fair. This is not fair. The Devil is a liar, a deceiver, a cheater. My job is to not respond to that. I’m on the Internet recently and [it says] I’m facing jail time. For what? What am I facing jail time for? There are no charges nowhere on me. Somebody said I was abusive to my wife. I’ve been divorced for three years. That didn’t come up in the divorce. Why would somebody say that? Why would people say that I’m arrogant, or that I’m spending all my money, or that I’m facing financial ruin, or that my life is in shambles. I don’t even sound like my life is in shambles. You listen to me four hours a day on the radio. You cannot hear a person whose life is in shambles. I don’t defend myself from mediatakeout or anybody else. Because they cannot stop what God has for me no matter how hard they try. So when I leave here, I’m going to the hotel with my wife, and we’re going to go to dinner. Then I’m going home, and my kids will run to the door and hug me because I’m a fabulous father to my children. We sit around. We make fires; we fish; we bowl together; we play golf, watch movies together – all my kids. They think I’m the greatest thing since sliced bread. My kids think I’m wonderful. My wife loves me. I have a great life.
BET: On that positive note, tell me about the Dreamers Academy.
SH: The Dreamers Academy is part of the Steve Harvey mentoring program in conjunction with Disney. They found out about our mentoring program, and they wanted to tie them together. I sent out a call to listeners for them to come to the Dreamers Academy, which is designed to inspire young people. We’ve got some “A” students here. We’ve got some “F” students here. We have kids who have no parents. We have kids who have both parents. We’re taking them down there to expose them to Disney, because Disney has about every occupation you can think of in the confines of Disney World. So the kids can come down, explore their dreams and have fun but walk away knowing the principles of success. So these kids wrote letters saying why they should be one of the dreamers. Kids were writing letters like, “I don’t even have a dream, but maybe if I come down there, I can get one.” I picked him. That’s just another thing that I’m doing. I understand that God has blessed me to become a blessing. Even through my trials and challenges in my life as a famous person, I still wake up in the same spirit. Believe me, I know what they saying about me, but when they get through saying it, I’m still who I am. That’s the power that God has empowered me with. I wish I could sell that to people. If you keep on doing you, and doing the right thing, when those slings and arrows come, they gonna wind up shooting themselves. Any enemy I have ever had, He has handled them. At one point, I would go down there and find out who was printing that stuff and try to jump on somebody. Now I understand the power of God. I don’t have to do that no more.