Steve Harvey's Joke-Stealing Controversy With Mark Curry, Explained

If imitation is the highest form of flattery, comedian Mark Curry has made it clear that he's done receiving compliments from fellow comic-turned-television host Steve Harvey. The two comics have had a long-standing feud that appears to have started with a cardboard box — a joke about a cardboard box, that is. 

Curry accused Harvey of stealing a joke in which Curry describes having to wear a brown box for Halloween each year because his parents couldn't afford new costumes. In a video posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, a 1999 clip of Curry telling his Halloween joke onstage was spliced with a 2015 clip of Harvey repeating the same joke on his talk show, seemingly from a first-person perspective.

Curry reiterated his accusations against Harvey on a 2019 episode of "The Mike & Donny Show," saying, "I know he didn't think of [the Halloween joke]. This was true stuff that really happened to me. And my thing is, you don't have to do that homeboy."

According to Celebrity Net Worth, Steve Harvey's net worth exceeds Mark Curry's net worth by over $190 million. Curry didn't shy away from this fact on "The Mike & Donny Show," telling the hosts the fact that Harvey had "made it" but was still plagiarizing material from a lesser-known comic made the situation even more infuriating. Curry considered it a huge professional disrespect worthy of confronting Harvey — even in front of a national audience.

Curry explained to TV hosts Mike Hill and Donny Harrell that he confronted Harvey while onstage at the 2017 "Def Comedy Jam 25" special. In a TikTok video posted by @itsthashark, the two comedians can be seen behind a large group of their contemporaries. While Dave Chapelle speaks in the foreground, Curry walks over to Harvey and starts talking to him. Although it's impossible to know what Curry was saying to Harvey, the "Family Feud" host's scowling face starkly contrasts the smiling faces around him.

Curry was tight-lipped about the specifics of this televised conversation, but he certainly didn't mince words while speaking to Hill and Harrell. "You made enough money, b****a***," Curry said on the show. "You did enough. Why are you on my material? What's that about? He's there. You're on TV, you paid, you did your thing. Are you f***ing with me? Are you disrespecting me? I don't understand."

The decades-long feud between Mark Curry and Steve Harvey was resurfaced by fellow comedian Katt Williams' salacious "Club Shay Shay" podcast interview in January 2024. Williams famously held no punches when describing other comedians, including Harvey, who he said was "a country bumpkin Black dude that can't talk good and look like Mr. Potato Head." The "Norbit" actor accused Harvey of stealing not only material but entire comic personas.

Williams told "Club Shay Shay" host Shannon Sharpe that he believed Harvey based his "The Steve Harvey Show" character on Curry's role in the 1990s ABC sitcom "Hanging' with Mr. Cooper." Harvey, for his part, attempted to take the high road after being dissed by Williams, addressing the controversy to a "Family Feud" audience in between filming. "The only reason you have haters is because you're effective," Harvey said in a clip posted to his X account. "You ain't got to tell nobody nothing. All you gotta do is be it."

Despite their long-standing differences, it would appear that Curry is following that same "ignore the haters and keep working" approach. While speaking to TMZ in February 2024, Curry said that Harvey could continue stealing his 20-year-old jokes — adding that he was positive Harvey was still plagiarizing his old routines — because he's been busy touring and writing new material.