Steve Harvey Accuses "America's Got Talent" Of Copying His Show Concept

BYHayley Hynes17.6K Views
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Steve Harvey
"Steve Harvey's Big Time Challenge" ran for two seasons on the WB back in the '90s.

Steve Harvey has had an undoubtedly amazing career, but in his most recent interview, the West Virginia-born entertainer opened up about some regrets he has about not understanding the industry better when he was younger.

"In the '90s, I created a show on the WB called Steve Harvey's Big Time," the 65-year-old shared during his stint on the Earn Your Leisure podcast. "Do you know what Steve Harvey's Big Time was? Because they didn't believe me when I told them, 'Y'all oughta take showtime and put it on mainstream TV, instead of having me come on here at 1 o'clock in the morning.'"

Steve Harvey Accuses "America's Got Talent" Of Copying His Show Concept
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Harvey told the hosts that network executives continued to reject his plea for a better time slot. "So I said, 'Well let me give them a version of it.' Along comes a show called America's Got Talent, and you know what America's Got Talent is?"

"Shows come from all over the world, different acts, and they've got three judges, and they've got a star. Well, guess what? That's my IP! That's my concept. That's my whole thought, but I ain't have no business for it."

Harvey revealed that on the first season of AGT, the acts that performed and competed were allegedly all from his WB series, which ran for just two seasons. "And they took all the producers I had from Steve Harvey's Big Time and gave them jobs."


"If I understood my business, America's Got Talent would belong to me," the Family Feud host asserted.

In other news, earlier this month we shared a story about Steve Harvey admitting it would be "hard" for him to give Black Panther actor Michael B. Jordan his approval to marry his step-daughter, Lori Harvey – read more about that here, and look out for the new episode of Earn Your Leisure, dropping later tonight.


About The Author
Hayley Hynes is the former Weekend Managing Editor of HotNewHipHop, she stepped down after two years in 2024 to pursue other creative opportunities but remains on staff part-time to cover music, gossip, and pop culture news. Currently, she contributes similar content on Blavity and 21Ninety, as well as on her personal blog where she also offers tarot/astrology services. Hayley resides on the western side of Canada, previously spending a year in Vancouver to study Fashion Marketing at Blanche Macdonald Centre and Journalism at Mount Royal University in Calgary before that. She's passionate about helping others heal through storytelling, and shares much more about her life on Instagram @hayleyhynes.
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