Happy holidays from snowy Spokane! Vacation so far has treated me very well as I am really enjoying my time out west with my family. Today I feel like I need to briefly touch on the Miss Universe/Steve Harvey catastrophe.
Well, right from the start I should probably backtrack. What happened last night wasn’t a catastrophe. I mean let’s be honest here. We face many more significant problems in this world besides a pageant snafu. It was embarrassing and unfortunate but hundreds of worse things occurred across the globe yesterday. In fact, one event that caused much more tragedy and distress occurred right outside of where the Miss Universe Pageant took place when a woman smashed her car into numerous people walking the Las Vegas strip.
I didn’t watch the pageant last night. However, I was perusing Twitter when the announcement of the winner (s) was made. I engulfed myself in the outcry as it happened live on social media. I watched the Vines and GIFs of the botched announcement and the reaction from Steve Harvey. However, I didn’t watch the program on television. And even though I had the opportunity to do so as the pageant was re-aired on the west coast, I decided to do other things with my time. I want to be transparent about this.
Despite not watching Miss Universe on television, based on what I saw online I want to say this directly regarding the conclusion of the Miss Universe Pageant: I respect how Steve Harvey responded to his mistake.
Not only did the man sincerely apologize in front of the contestants and Planet Hollywood crowd, he did it on live television. But he went even further than saying he was sorry. Steve Harvey took 100% responsibility for the regrettable mistake. We all know it is possible to apologize for something while still casting blame away from oneself but Harvey unequivocally put the whole incident squarely on his shoulders. In front of millions of people he undoubtedly said that the whole mess started and stopped with him.
Of course his unfortunate tweet after the pageant where he misspelled the names of both countries involved in the controversy didn’t win him additional sympathizers, I must say that we should all still cut him some slack. Sure he messed up big time. However, I think he served as a terrific example to our society, especially the younger generation, on what to do when we make a mistake. He owned up immediately and made absolutely no excuses.
Mr. Steve Harvey, I feel bad for you. That blunder could have happened to anyone. The fact that it happened to you on such a magnificent stage was brutal. But maybe it was meant to happen to someone like you because of the grace and humility you showed. Steve, you are alright in my book. Don’t Blink.