Steve Harvey Not Such a Wife-Ruining Jerk, After All

Family Feud host fights back against ex wife's allegations he left her penniless and homeless

By Gina Serpe Feb 08, 2011 8:23 PMTags
 Steve Harvey, Mary HarveyFrederick M. Brown/Getty Images

Survey says: somebody was lying. And that somebody was not Steve Harvey.

After the lengthy, vitriolic YouTube-enabled smear campaign the funnyman's ex-wife ran against him last month (alleging he cheated on her, evicted her from their home, left her penniless and turned his son against her in the wake of their 10-year marriage), the Family Feud host nobly managed to hold his fire, promising instead that "the truth's gonna come out."

Well, guess what? It took a little while, but the truth has finally emerged. You see? It's behavior like this that gives vindictive ex wives a bad name.

As it happens, Harvey can thank the courts for helping clear his name, as they temporarily lifted a gag order on his divorce in order to allow him to tell his side of the story.

A District Court judge in Collin County, Texas, approved the release of a legal document that should, once and for all, clear Harvey's name of any less than gentlemanly behavior, and one by one disproved the allegations spewed forth by Mary Harvey.

In a 25-minute video tirade posted online, Mary let loose with accusation after accusation against Harvey, from whom she was divorced in 2005.

First up, the matter of money. According to Mary, she was rendered not only totally broke after their split, but homeless as well. Turns out? Not true!

Per the courts, Mary was paid the handsome sum of $40,000 per month from their divorce until March 2009, at which point she was given a one-time payment of $1.5 million.

As for the matter of a domicile, it appears as though that, too, was not totally accurate as she was awarded no fewer than three homes once all was said and done and their assets divided.

Mary, incidentally, was Steve's second wife. He married his third and current wife, Marjorie, in 2007, and denied Mary's allegations that any funny business was going on while he was still married.

The only cause cited in their 2005 divorce filing was irreconcilable differences, and Marjorie's name was never mentioned in any subsequent proceedings. Harvey also denied she played any part in the demise of their marriage, despite Mary's rant to the contrary.

Finally, as for the matter of their 13-year-old son, Broderick (Steve also has three children from a previous marriage), Steve denied any suggestion that he turned the boy against his mother, saying instead that Steve is the primary custodian of the boy and clarifying that—to add insult to injury—Mary willingly put their son on a plane to send him off to his father without so much as giving Steve the heads-up first.

So, Steve? Consider that name cleared. And Mary? You might want to think about better uses of your time than filming multipart rants against your ex. Just a thought.