Steve Harvey Blasts Cancel Culture: 'Political Correctness Has Killed Comedy'

Actor, comedian, and talk show host Steve Harvey is furious at the cancel culture, which he says “has killed comedy,” and the fact that “every joke now, it hurts somebody’s feelings.”

The host of the new Judge Steve Harvey series told the media Tuesday that he feels imprisoned by the cancel culture.

“We’re in the cancel culture now,” Harvey told a Television Critics Association press tour panel, according to the Hollywood Reporter. “Nobody can say anything he wants to — Chris Rock can’t, Kevin Hart can’t, Cedric the Entertainer can’t, D. L. Hugeley can’t. I can go down the list. The only person that can say what they want to say on stage is Dave Chappelle because he’s not sponsored-driven. He’s subscription.”

Harvey went on to say that his career as a standup is seriously hampered by the Hollywood left today.

“If I had tried to continue as a stand-up, there’s no way I could maintain it because political correctness has killed comedy, has killed it,” he added. “Every joke now, it hurts somebody’s feelings. What people don’t understand about comedians is that a joke has to be about something. It has to be about somebody. We can’t write jokes about puppies all the time. The joke can’t be about bushes all the time. Some of these jokes have to be about people — because that’s the most interesting topic. So if I come back, I have to wait until I’m done [with my TV career]. And I’m not done. I’d have to call it This Is It or something like that.”

(Maury Phillips/Getty Images for BET)

However, standup is on hold, Harvey noted, after his wife informed him that “God was about to do something — I had no idea what he’s going to do — he was going to give me this [new show], and it turned out to be the best thing that happened to me.”

Harvey’s latest show sets him up as a judge presiding over a small claims court, in the vein of ground breakers such as Judge Joseph Wapner and Judge Judy Sheindlin.

Small claims cases suit Harvey just fine. Violence and criminal cases just aren’t his speed, he noted.

“Every law is not a correct law. We have a law in this country that everybody has the right to bear arms. But everybody shouldn’t bear arms. Everybody shouldn’t have a gun. That’s clear to me. Every stand your ground [law]— everybody shouldn’t be told to stand their ground. That’s why I’m glad [my show is] not that type of court,” de said during the panel.

Harvey’s new show premiered on Jan. 4 and is seen on ABC affiliates, Tuesdays, during prime time.

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