Mark Curry has joined Katt Williams’ campaign against Steve Harvey, reigniting a nearly decade-old beef with the comedian and claiming, once again, that he stole some of his jokes.
The “Hanging with Mr. Cooper” actor not only stated how much he dislikes the “Family Feud” host but also offered insights into why he believes Harvey appropriated his material. According to Curry, the motivation behind Harvey’s actions goes beyond financial gain; he believes that Harvey’s desire to be like him is the real driving force behind the alleged joke theft.
The Oakland native sat down with rapper-turned-podcaster Willie D on his “Willie D Live” show to talk about his career and addressed his issues with Harvey during the last 30 minutes of the hour-and-a-half-long interview.
At first, he did not address the “Think Like A Man” author by his name and spoke about how many comedians are swiping jokes in his industry.
In the rap industry, he says, while the content is similar, many things clearly distinguish one artist from the other. Stand-up comics are different, and when people steal, it places people in a position where they have to either defend their originality or comfort the person who stole their material.
“I’mma step to you … if you stealing my s—t. F—k you,” he said. “I step to you. That doesn’t mean it has to be a physical [thing].”
Curry also told the host that as a “G,” he takes great pride in writing his jokes every day and writes differently than others in his field. He said he stayed away from COVID-19 jokes, Obama jokes, and other popular topics.
It is this unique fingerprint that helped him spot parts of his jokes in Harvey’s bits, which the talk show host denies.
“Take the Steve Harvey thing. It’s a b—ch move,” Curry said. “Maybe [he’s] not stealing my material, you know, I maybe give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe one of his writers did it, but they know, we all know, whose material it is.”
“I think it is ulterior motives,” he said, noting how rich Harvey is.
“It ain’t about the money,” he said. “[Harvey] got enough money… So, it looked like you want some of me. You want to be me. Therefore, you ain’t got enough money… I look at it like that’s alright, boy … I’m a G in the game. You want to be me. You want my style.”
Lately, videos have started to emerge that support what Curry and his friend Katt Williams have said about the Kings of Comedy, Cedric The Entertainer, and Harvey stealing jokes.
One clip shows Curry talking about Harvey stealing some of his Halloween jokes on his NBC show “Little Big Shots.” Other clips showed Curry performing in 1999 and then Harvey seemingly retelling Curry’s similar jokes six years later.
Harvey maintains that he has not stolen anything from Curry and, in 2020, told him that he needs to “grow up” and quit it with the accusations.
“Mark Curry needs to grow up,” Harvey said at the time. “Steve Harvey ain’t been on stage since 2015. … He doesn’t know what he’s talking about, he’s making stuff up so, I’m in peace.”
He added, “The only reason I’m commenting, is because he keeps running his mouth about, now grow up. Never stole a joke in 35 years. Come to like a man and tell me what the joke is.”
Curry is currently booked as a guest comedian on Williams’ Dark Tour. Since the comedians have been promoting the 40-date tour series, ticket prices have surged from $50+ to over $200. Notably, the initial three dates of the tour in Estero, Florida (1/14), Huntsville, Alabama (1/19), and Tupelo, Mississippi (1/26) are already sold out.
