Steve Harvey Mocks Flint Resident: 'Enjoy Your Nice Brown Glass Of Water'
Steve Harvey Mocks Flint Resident: 'Enjoy Your Nice Brown Glass Of Water'
Photo by Monica Schipper for Getty Images

Steve Harvey Mocks Flint Resident: 'Enjoy Your Nice Brown Glass Of Water'

Photo by Monica Schipper for Getty Images

Steve Harvey is facing criticism following remarks he made to a Flint resident.

During his "The Steve Harvey Morning Show" the comedian and Family Feud host took a call from someone in Flint, Michigan, who told Harvey that Cleveland didn't "deserve jack" following the Cavaliers' NBA Finals loss to the Golden State Warriors.

Harvey, who lived in Cleveland at one point growing up and is a Cavaliers fan, took offense to the comment and allegedly began attacking the caller's city.

READ: Michigan Officials Charged With Involuntary Manslaughter For Flint Water Crisis

"You from Flint? That's why y'all ain't even got clean water," Harvey said. "When was the last time you touched water and it didn't have lead in it?"

After his co-hosts told him to "reel it in" Harvey attempted to double down on his remarks. "I wasn't talking about the city of Flint, I was talking about him," Harvey said. "He going to call in, say Cleveland don't deserve jack, and he over there bathing in all that silver water."

The caller stayed on the line but right before he hung up, Harvey said "one more thing...Enjoy your nice brown glass of water."

READ: Black-Owned Business To Help Replace 18,000 Contaminated Water Pipes In Flint

Since then, Harvey has offered a statement on the incident, saying:

This morning callers and I were cracking jokes about the Cleveland Cavaliers loss to the Golden State Warriors. I'm a huge Cavs fan. The caller and I were talking trash about our teams and cities. Simply trash talking about sports. I made a joke directed at him, as he is from Flint, a city for which I have great affection and respect. So much so that I devoted a full hour on my daytime talk show to raising awareness for the Flint water crisis. I also pressed then candidate, Hilary Clinton, to offer solutions to what I called one of the great catastrophes of modern times. The and the caller laughed as my joke was taken in the context it was offered.

Flint Mayor Karen Weaver sent a letter to Harvey asking that he publicly apologize for his remarks. "As Mayor of the City of Flint, and someone who has been on your show and spoken with you personally about the Flint Water Crisis, I was deeply saddened by your comments about our city. While I feel it was not meant to be an intentional hurt or insult against the citizens of this community, it was," Weaver said. "To make a joke out of a tragedy such as this was in very poor taste, especially coming from someone of your stature."

Source: DetroitFreePress.com

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