Steve Harvey has finally revealed the real reason he stepped away from stand-up comedy over a decade ago. The Family Feud host, now 68, admitted that cancel culture played a major role in his decision to retire from the stage.
Appearing on Tuesday’s episode of The Pivot Podcast, Harvey was asked about what types of jokes comedians can still make in today’s cancel culture era.
Podcast host Channing Chowder noted, “I even see you on ‘Family Feud,’ sometimes, I can see the clock working where you got a joke, but you’re not allowed to say that joke.”
Harvey agreed, responding: “I got it. And see, it’s very hard. But that’s why I left stand-up in 2012, 2015, one of them. I left stand-up then because I had so many shows. I had built such a catalog of work. I was making money. I had to let something go.”
The comedian, who is also a father of seven, added that family was another reason he left the stage. “And if I tour on the weekends, I wouldn’t even have a family. So I let stand-up go because I saw the change coming.”
Harvey explained that he recognized the cultural shift early on: “Change is inevitable. You got to react or participate. So my participation was to get away from it because the cancel culture started becoming everywhere. Comedy is too hard to do right now. And all you got to do is look now the way the cancel culture works.”
He also offered encouragement to the podcast hosts, saying: “Y’all got a podcast and you’re doing it brilliantly. Please don’t stop doing the way you do. The problem with people is, they get something that’s working and then they wanna find something that works better. You ain’t gotta fix it if it ain’t broke.”
Harvey’s final stand-up performance was at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas in August 2012. The two-hour farewell show was broadcast live on pay-per-view television, marking the end of an era for one of comedy’s most iconic voices.
