Steve Harvey Draws Backlash for Video Explaining His Relationship With Women

Steve Harvey is being roasted on social media for a resurfaced video where he explains that he is “incapable” of having female friends. The clip comes from a 2010 interview with CNN, where he promoted the release of his book Straight Talk, No Chaser. In it, Harvey claimed that friendship between genders is just “a myth.”

“I don’t have female friends,” Harvey said bluntly in the video, which is making the rounds thanks to TikTok user helenerison. “I don’t; I’m incapable of that. Because, you know, come on… Well, because I have a wife, and — Okay, let’s get rid of this myth right here. You’re an attractive woman, okay? There’s some guy somewhere saying ‘yeah, we’re friends,’ that’s not true.

“We remain your friends in hopes that one day there’ll be a crack in the door, a chink in the armor,” Harvey went on, apparently speaking for all men. “Trust and believe that that guy that you think is just your buddy — he will slide in that crack the moment he gets the opportunity. Because we’re guys!” Asked if he was sure that all men really thought this way, Harvey said: “99.9 percent of us think that way.”

The resurrection of this old clip was enough to land Harvey in hot water on social media this week, where many critics are calling his commentary misogynistic and even concerning. However, others think the host should have a chance to rescind his words a decade after the fact. Here’s a look at what Twitter at large is saying about Harvey’s opinion.

Creep

Many critics thought that Harvey was revealing more about himself personally than about men in general in this interview. They joked that Harvey was revealing himself to be a creep without realizing it.

No Surprise

Many had previous problems with Harvey and his public commentary, and they thought the rest of the world was being slow on the uptake.

Realization

Some spared a thought to imagine Harvey finding out he was trending for a decade-old interview. They tried to guess how the host would feel about it all these years later.

Age

Some chalked up Harvey’s viewpoint to his age — 64 years old — believing this was why he had so many out-of-touch quotes to his name.

Contrary Experience

Many, many users posted their own experiences that have been contrary to Harvey’s opinion. They challenged men like him to expand their worldview and meet more people.

Scoreboard

Some also wondered why Harvey felt so comfortable giving relationship advice since he has personally been divorced three times. They said they would opt not to take relationship advice from him.

Growth

Finally, many fans wanted to give Harvey the benefit of assuming he has grown since the time of this interview in 2010. So far however, the host himself has not responded to the backlash.