Steve Harvey And Mo’nique Get Into Heated Debate On His Show, Twitter Responds

Twitter users call Steve Harvey a “coward” after a heated discussion with Mo’nique regarding race and gender roles on his show Wednesday.

The talk-show host and former stand-up comedian invited Mo’nique on his show to promote her upcoming Las Vegas residency and to address some of the headlines regarding her, according to E! News. The two have been longtime industry friends and Mo’nique expressed her disappointment on the show after discovering Harvey spoke negatively about her to the public.

She said the host was among one of the people in the industry that labeled she and her husband, Sidney Hicks, as being hard to work with. During the interview, she mentioned how Oprah Winfrey and directors Lee Daniels and Tyler Perry shut her out for not playing by their rules.

“We [she and Hicks] got labeled as difficult because I said one word and that was no. I said no to some very powerful people. I said no to Oprah Winfrey. I said no to Tyler Perry. I said no to Lee Daniels and I said no to Lionsgate,” she explained on Wednesday’s show.

“And the difficulty came in when people that looked like me—like Oprah, Tyler, Lee and I got to put my brother Steve on the list—you all knew I was not wrong.”

Harvey responded to Mo’nique stating he felt the way she addressed stars like Winfrey, Perry, and Daniels was a “disservice” to herself and she should’ve called him before deciding to speak out against them. He also said during the interview that the actress/comedian shouldn’t let her integrity run her career, insinuating because of her race, she doesn’t have the opportunity to show her true self and receive work.

Mo’nique disagreed with Harvey and felt her integrity was most important. The Oscar winner stands by her decision to speak out about being blackballed in Hollywood after refusing to promote Precious without additional pay. She said that while many people tried to silence her, she knew she had to stand up for her right to equality, even asking her fan base to boycott Netflix in 2018 for not honoring her the same pay as comedian Amy Schumer.

Twitter’s remarks to Harvey’s comments were abuzz shortly after the taping of the show. Many users considered the interview one of the talk-show hosts many controversial moments in regards to race and gender equality.

Steve Harvey doesn’t realize how “playing the game” has harmed generations of black folk. How that game has undervalued us from its outset. We have had to take shorts no one else would in order to provide a living for our families and what Mo’nique is saying is ENOUGH OF THAT!

— Ahmad K. Khan, Ph.D (@AhmadKhalilDC) February 13, 2019

Clearly, Steve Harvey is not a life coach. The value one places on their integrity is the exact cost it takes to be fake.

— Jackée Harry (@JackeeHarry) February 13, 2019

While social media may not be a fan of Harvey’s right now, Mo’Nique has no animosity towards him. She said on the show that while the two friends were having a disagreement, she still loves him.