The Aftermath Of Steve Harvey's Famous Miss Universe Mix-Up Was More Serious Than We Knew

The year was 2015, and Colombia and the Philippines were involved in a rivalry so contentious that it spurred an onslaught of death threats, bomb threats, and a need for round-the-clock armed security. No, we're not talking about a global conflict — we're talking about the time that TV personality Steve Harvey infamously mixed up the winners of the Miss Universe competition.

If this scandalous mid-aughts flub slipped your mind, allow us to remind you. As the emcee for the Miss Universe pageant, Harvey was tasked with announcing the overall winner. Instead of crowning the actual winner Miss Philippines (Pia Wurtzbach), however, Harvey crowned Miss Colombia (Ariadna Gutiérrez), who was selected as the first runner-up.

What might've seemed like an overwhelmingly harmless slip of the tongue turned into quite the nightmare for Harvey. In fact, Harvey revealed that his mistake cost far more than a beauty queen's bruised ego. The mix-up resulted in Harvey requiring 24/7 security at his home and a self-imposed avoidance of Colombia as a vacation destination.

Steve Harvey told Cigar Aficionado in April 2017 that he knew the consequences of his Miss Universe flub were dire when people began leaving threatening items on his private, dead-end street. "It got real when things started coming over the gate," Harvey said. "Empty boxes with bows and pictures of bombs. And these with death threats on social media that would pop up from fake IP addresses. I wound up with 24-hour armed security at my house" (via US Weekly).

Harvey told the magazine he still keeps two guards on his property at all times in case of any intruders. He also said that his unfortunate gaff has put a damper on any plans to visit the South American country of Colombia. Harvey recalled leaving his hotel after the Miss Universe pageant and a crowd of angry Colombians upset over the TV host's mistake swarming him. The comedian joked that he was cursed at in Spanish so much that he even knows a few key Spanish cuss words — but hey, at least he's still welcome in the Philippines. 

Years later, in 2021, Harvey discussed the infamous incident again while on an episode of the "Comedy Gold Minds with Kevin Hart" podcast. Harvey recalled the night of the mix-up was rough. "I didn't know the pain I was in. I didn't know how bad the mistake was," he said. But in his own defense, Harvey also said that the error wasn't actually his fault.

Steve Harvey told Kevin Hart that while many blamed him for inadvertently announcing the wrong Miss Universe winner, he was only doing what the production team told him to do. The TV host explained that during the event rehearsal, Harvey only read the second runner-up and grand winner titles. At the last minute, the production crew told Harvey to read three titles onstage: second runner-up, first runner-up, and winner.

"Well, in the teleprompter after I announced the second runner-up, the teleprompter said, 'And the new 2015 Miss Universe is....,'" Harvey said, noting that the mistake wasn't his fault. "The dude in my ear said, 'Read the next name on the card, Steve. Hold, hold, hold.' I looked at the next card. I said, 'Miss Colombia.' ... I did what they told me in my ear, and I read that teleprompter."

Harvey ended up in hot water again after making controversial jokes that weren't received well while hosting the 2019 Miss Universe pageant. After Miss Colombia Gabriela Tafur jokingly brought up his 2015 error and assured Harvey he was forgiven, the comedian replied, "You've forgiven me, the cartel has not" (via HuffPost). Colombian audience members were once again angered at Harvey, this time for his association of their country with drug cartels — which might mean Harvey needs to avoid the tropical South American country for a little while longer.