Steve Harvey is tired.
That’s the message he delivered on his syndicated radio program, The Steve Harvey Morning Show, on Sept. 11. It came after rumors surfaced accusing his wife, Marjorie Harvey, of having an affair on him with an individual working for him, which he publicly called false in August. But his latest comments were spurred most by a leaked conversation from one of the personalities on his morning show team, Shirley Strawberry, who was heard making some comments about the couple to her husband. At the time of the conversation, and to this day, Strawberry’s husband, Earnest Williams, was incarcerated. He was arrested last year and had been in jail for some time on fraud and child pornography charges, and was later charged with felony possession of a weapon, which he was sentenced to more than 20 years in prison for. During the period of time that she was attempting to stand by Williams, during a taped conversation, she claimed Steve was “scared” of Marjorie and that Marjorie looks at his radio show crew as “the help.”
So on Monday, the time that would be used for Strawberry’s “Strawberry letter” segment was focused on addressing the controversy. She apologized, noting, “It was not me trying to add to what you and Marjorie already have going on in your lives right now. But the fact that these tapes were released, it does seem that everyone is coming for you, including me. But in reality, the tapes have nothing to do with what you and Marjorie have going on. It was just me running my mouth in what I thought was a private conversation. I apologize. I feel terrible.”
She added, “I was just trying to make conversation with him. Trying to get him to think about something other than where he was.”
Strawberry hasn’t spoken to him in some time she shared, revealing that divorce proceedings were underway. Harvey seemed to accept her apology wholeheartedly, instead directing any ire towards those who leaked the audio and bloggers who’ve been piling on his wife through rumors and Strawberry’s leaked chat. In response, he shared a list of facts about his wife and their relationship.
“My wife asked me not to do it. Because she said, ‘Steve all those haters are going to do is flip anything you say in reverse.’ Well you’re doing it anyway and you’re out there lying on my girl. You’re tearing away at her character,” he said, sharing that she was trying to focus on welcoming another grandchild amid this onslaught of negativity. “I’m tired. But she’s got to be tired. The woman I married is the best thing that’s every happened to me. She’s God-fearing, she’s loyal, she’s faithful. And she’s a kind and loving person.”
He also decided to take on rumors that he was cheating on his last wife, Mary Shackelford, with Marjorie.
“And quit talking about she was in my other marriage and ruined it,” he said emphatically. “I got divorced in 2005. My marriage was over when Kings of Comedy came out. Y’all didn’t know that.”
He went on to say that by the time he left his second marriage, he was broke. He’d lost his radio show at the time and a TV program. When he encountered Marjorie again and they started dating in 2006, she stood by him while he tried to pick himself back up financially.
“We had nothing. She didn’t marry into no lap of riches. I had nothing,” he said. According to Steve, it took a few years of trying to get things together for him to get Family Feud, release Think Like a Man, get his talk show in 2012 in addition to taking his radio show to the next level.
“This woman got in the hole and built this with me. She didn’t steal nothing! And I’m tired of y’all talking about my girl because my girl is one of the best women I’ve ever met,” he said before wrapping up, making it known that detractors who though they could plant a seed to break the couple up had failed. “We are a tighter two-handed circle. Thanks for doing that. You’re not going to split us up! We’re not going nowhere and she is none of what you said she is. She’s the best chick I know. Now I’m defending her, and you can feel how you want to feel about that.”