The beef between Steve Harvey and Bernie Mac did not start with stolen jokes. It did not start over someone blocking the other from getting a role in a big film. According to one of the men behind “Def Comedy Jam,” the two started to have issues over a woman. Sort of.
In a resurfaced July 2024 interview on “The Art of Dialogue,” Bob Sumner, who helped launch “Def Comedy Jam” with Russell Simmons, explained that the rivalry escalated when Harvey started getting his suits from Chicago-based designer Barbara Bates, who had already been working with Mac.
“Well, I can say this to you: Bernie and Steve had already been in the game, OK? They had already had that little rivalry going on before ‘Def Comedy Jam,’ you hear me? Before Kings of Comedy and all that. So, that was just like something that was happening,” Sumner recalled.
Bates opened her boutique, Bates Designs, in 1986 in Chicago’s South Loop.
She quickly became one of the city’s most in-demand bespoke tailors, known for blending leather, python, crocodile, and fine fabrics into eye-catching suits. Her designs featured pleated leather accents, signature pockets, and bold color palettes — perfect for comics trying to stand out on stage.
“But I think that what really used to drive them nuts was when Steve started getting a couple dollars, right? Steve got turned on to this lady in Chicago by the name of Barbara Bates. … And Bernie had already been down with her because she was from Chicago, you know what I’m saying?” Sumner continued.
Sumner added that their competition wasn’t just about material. It was symbolic.
“So now it used to be like … they used to have the battle in the suits, man,” he said. “And I really feel that their rivalry or whatever you want to call it started more with their attire than anything else, man, you know? And it’s crazy because they weren’t wearing suits at first; Bill Bellamy was the guy wearing the suits.”
Once “The Art of Dialogue” and TLYoungboss reposted the interview, fans chimed in with their takes.
One user wrote, “That is some old skool stuff right there.”
Another added, “Yeah Chicago dudes don’t play about niggas tryna shop at they store.”
A third posted, “Hahaha it can’t be that! I think it’s also the girl not just the suits.”
Another simply joked, “Sounds more like the suit maker than the suits lol.”
While Bates’ suits may have sparked the feud, other issues surfaced over the years.
In April 2024, former radio host Ed Lover claimed Mac once told him that Harvey tried to take his part in “Ocean’s Eleven.”
“All I can say is what Bernie told me,” Lover said on “The Culture Club.” “And he was upset with Steve because he said Steve tried to get him taken off of Ocean’s — the Ocean’s movie he did … and tried to vie for his part after he already got hired. And, uh, Bernie never lied to me. That’s all I’m going to say. He was my friend. I loved him.”
The friction was visible during the 2000 Original Kings of Comedy tour with Cedric the Entertainer and D.L. Hughley.
Cedric addressed the tension during a 2022 appearance on “Club Shay Shay”: “They both alpha males. They both … they just saw it different. But at the end of the day, they was able to get through it.”
A resurfaced clip from a 2000 radio interview during the tour’s press run showed Mac cracking a joke in a Charlotte station’s studio as Harvey sat off to the side with what many called a funky expression while Cedric laughed and Hughley seemed to be thinking about the joke.
Despite everything, Harvey has tried to show respect to Mac in recent years. In 2016, he dedicated an episode of “The Steve Harvey Show” to honor the late comedian, featuring Mac’s family, Cedric, Hughley, Guy Torry, and Mike Epps. When Mac’s widow Rhonda, spoke about his legacy and the continued love from fans, Harvey grew emotional, tearing up on air. Some viewers, after hearing the rumors for so long, still question if the display was genuine.
Mac, born Bernard Jeffrey McCullough, passed away in 2008 at age 50 after a long battle with sarcoidosis. His legacy still lives on through his hefty body of work across television and film.
