Steve Harvey: 'I Don't Apologize' for Letter Telling Staff 'Do Not Approach Me'
Nope, this time Steve Harvey did not read the wrong card. He stands by the memo he sent to his staff at the "Steve Harvey" show, only seeming to regret that it was leaked and critiqued across the Internet.
Harvey is moving his revamped talk show to Los Angeles this fall, and the letter he wrote was directed to his staff in Chicago before the start of Season 5.
Here's what he wrote:
This email that Steve Harvey sent to his staff......https://t.co/GGsIow0Z3ipic.twitter.com/34l3SX4NEo
— Yashar (@yashar) May 10, 2017
Harvey talked to Entertainment Tonight about the letter, further expanding on his quest to just have some space as he worked. Apparently he had an open door policy that left him being "ambushed" and interrupted all day, so he chose this rather pointed way of getting the message across.
"I could not find a way to walk from the stage to my dressing room, to sit in my makeup chair, to walk from my dressing room to the stage or to just sit and have lunch without somebody just walking in," Harvey told ET's Kevin Frazier. "I've always had a policy where, you know, you can come and talk to me -- so many people are great around here, but some of them just started taking advantage of it. [...] I'm in the hallway, I'm getting ambushed by people with friends that come to the show and having me sign this and do this. I just said, 'Wait a minute.' And in hindsight, I probably should've handled it a little bit differently."
So he decided to send the letter asking everyone to respect his privacy. He continued to Frazier:
"I just didn't want to be in this prison anymore where I had to be in this little room, scared to go out and take a breath of fresh air without somebody approaching me, so I wrote the letter. I don't apologize about the letter, but it's kind of crazy what people who took this thing and ran, man. I appreciate you asking me."
Sources told Variety the memo may have been leaked by a former staff member, who may not have been invited to work on the show as it moved to L.A.
Fans seem mixed on how to react to Harvey's letter; many found it arrogant and condescending -- not a good way to speak to your own staff in the workplace -- while others empathized with his attempt to find a new balance after an open-door policy backfired.
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