Steve Harvey says NBC exec threatened to take his ‘whole TV career’ after he refused network demand

The comedian says his refusal to move “Celebrity Family Feud” from ABC to NBC sparked a bitter fallout — but ultimately worked in his favor.

Comedian and TV host Steve Harvey is revisiting his contentious departure from NBC.

During a recent conversation on his daughter Brandi Harvey’s podcast, “The Vault Talk Show,” the 69-year-old alleged that former NBC executive Paul Telegdy threatened to take his “whole TV career.”

NBC canceled Harvey’s daytime talk show “Steve” in 2019 and “Little Big Shots” in 2020. The “Family Feud” host alleges that Telegdy was spurned by his refusal to move “Celebrity Family Feud” from ABC to NBC.

“So Paul Telegdy came back to me and said, ‘Hey man, we made a mistake. Can you switch this show from ABC to NBC?’” Harvey tells his daughter. “I said, ‘No man, that ain’t right.’ I said, ‘They believed in it, and gave me a crack. I’m gonna stay with them.’ He said, ‘We’ll pay you whatever you’re making.’ I said, ‘No.’ And that moment right there, I saw in his eyes, he hated me. That white man could not believe I told him no.”

According to Harvey, the tension with NBC continued after he turned down the offer. He recalled that the network did not send him a Christmas or birthday gift that year, despite previously doing so.

Then, Harvey says, Telegdy followed through on his threat.

“In May, they made the announcement and he said out of his mouth, ‘I’ll show him. I’ll take his whole TV career,’” Harvey recalled.

Harvey said he was advised by one of his executive producers to sit down with Telegdy and negotiate, potentially agreeing to make changes that could keep his shows on the network. But Harvey chose to stand on business.

“I’m not going to beg nobody for nothing,” Harvey said. “Why I got to beg him? He didn’t give me this career.”

Harvey said losing his NBC shows ultimately gave him an opportunity to pursue projects on his own terms. “Well, now you done freed me up,” he recalled thinking after his shows were canceled.

Harvey went on to create “Judge Steve Harvey,” a reality court show that premiered on ABC in 2022. Unlike his NBC programs, Harvey said he owned the judge show—and that ownership ultimately proved lucrative.

“I was making more on that ‘Judge’ show than I was making on [‘Steve’ and ‘Little Big Shots’] combined,” Harvey said.

He also said the production schedule gave him considerably more freedom. According to Harvey, he could tape four episodes in a single day and completed filming the show in about three weeks.

“I was making more money than I was making on both those shows,” he said. “So I recovered from that real nicely.”

Harvey ultimately credited his faith for helping him remain confident that his career would continue despite the fallout with NBC.

“He didn’t give me this career,” Harvey said of Telegdy. “My career came from a higher power and … he going to take care of me and he did.”