Steve Harvey is coming under fire for making what some people believe was a racially charged remark when he called players on the Golden State Warriors ‘gorillas’ during a recent appearance on ESPN.
Harvey was guest on the network Wednesday night to discuss Game three of the NBA finals. The television host and comedian made the comments when commentator Stephen A Smith asked Harvey what his hometown team, Cleveland Cavaliers, could do to come back against the Warriors.
The Cavaliers have yet to win a game in the finals and are at risk of being eliminated.
‘You can’t stop them,’ Harvey responded. ‘You gotta outscore them. You can’t stop all them boys. They’ve got too many gorillas on the team. They coming to play, man. They got 800-pound gorillas on their team.’
Steve Harvey is under fire for calling Golden State warrior players ‘gorillas’ during an appearance on ESPN Wednesday night
At first, Harvey’s comments did not draw any criticism. Sports analyst Clay Travis, however, was quick to point out the lack of outrage tweeting that former ESPN host Doug Adler was fired by the network two days after he used the term ‘guerrilla effect’ to describe how Venus Williams was playing tennis.
‘ESPN fired Doug Adler for using the phrase ‘guerrilla effect’ during a Venus Williams tennis match. Well, Steve Harvey just called the entire Golden State Warrior team gorillas on Cavs-Warriors pregame,’ Travis tweeted.
‘Clearly I don’t believe Steve Harvey should be fired for this. What I’m pointing out is the insane double standard and lack of context applied in our modern era. If a white comedian had been on ESPN & said the exact same thing his show would probably be canceled & mob would form.
Doug Adler didn’t even compare a black athlete to a gorilla, which Steve Harvey clearly did here, and Adler got fired. Hell, he didn’t even use the same word as Harvey. Absolute madness.’
In a column Thursday on Outkick the Coverage, Travis asked why no one, besides himself, was outraged by Harvey’s remarks when Adler and actress Roseanne Barr were fired for similar incidents.
Roseanne’s namesake sitcom was canceled on ABC, which is owned by The Walt Disney Company, last week after she tweeted that former Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett was the product of ‘Planet of the Apes’ and ‘muslim brotherhood’.
Harvey was on the show to discuss Game 3 of the NBA finals when the Cleveland Cavaliers played against the Warriors
While responding to a question, Harvey replied, in part: ‘They’ve got too many gorillas on the team. They coming to play, man. They got 800-pound gorillas on their team’
While some people have been criticizing Harvey, others are defending the comedian tweeting that he meant the remark as a compliment to the team
‘So how is it that Harvey can come on ESPN and compare an entire team of majority black athletes to gorillas and no one else in the mainstream sports media even takes note other than me?’ Travis wrote. ‘That’s especially the case when you consider the recent contretemps involving Roseanne being fired from Disney/ABC, the very network that will air Family Feud starring Steve Harvey, for comparing a black person to an ape on Twitter.’
Travis tweeted that it was a double standard and ‘Disney, ESPN and particularly (Disney chairman and CEO) Robert Iger have proven that their standards for speech is based on what your race & politics are.’
‘Liberal & black? You can say anything. White and conservative: You’re fired,’ he added.
Ousted ESPN tennis commentator Doug Adler, who was fired last year and has repeatedly said he used the word ‘guerrilla’ not ‘gorilla’, also commented on Harvey’s remark tweeting that there is ‘clearly’ a double standard.
‘I can honestly say I’ll do my best to not let this bs bother me anymore,’ he wrote. ‘I’m grateful to have survived their bogus accusations.’
Dozens of social media users have responded to Adler and Travis with some defending Harvey and others slamming the comedian.
Sports analyst Clay Travis said it was a double standard that Adler was fired and Harvey was not facing any backlash
Travis said Harvey shouldn’t be fired but said it a white comedian had made the same comments ‘his show would probably be canceled & mob would form’
Adler was fired last year when he called Venus Williams’ playing style ‘guerrilla effect’
One Twitter user named Adrian Jimenez tweeted to Travis saying Harvey’s comment about the Warriors, which includes players Steph Curry, Kevin Durant and Nick Young, was a compliment.
‘He meant gorillas like big strong guys don’t blow this out of proportion you f***ing d****e,’ one Twitter user named Adrian Jimenez tweeted to Travis.
‘C’mon clay, totally different you’re reaching now,’ another user named Brandon Watson wrote.
Others, however, called for the ‘Steve Harvey’ talk show host to be disciplined just as Adler was.
‘Double standard. how can Steve Harvey say this (comparing basketball players to PRIMATES) with no ramifications yet Doug Adler gets fired from ESPN for comparing a PLAY STYLE of a tennis player to a type of war schematic (gorilla vs guerilla),’ Twitter user Golf cb posted.
Harvey was also criticized earlier this year for saying a joke about ‘three little black dudes’ during a New Years Eve broadcast.
He has yet to comment on the latest controversy.