*You can add Wendy Williams to the short list of names of celebrities who find comedian Steve Harvey deplorable.
The talk show host appeared on The Stern Show this week and slammed Harvey over the treatment of his employees.
You recall back in May when Harvey sent a memo to his staff telling them not to approach him.
“There will be no meetings in my dressing room. No stopping by or popping in. NO ONE. Do not come to my dressing room unless invited. Do not open my dressing room door. IF YOU OPEN MY DOOR, EXPECT TO BE REMOVED,” the memo read.
“My security team will stop everyone from standing at my door who have the intent to see or speak to me. I want all the ambushing to stop now. That includes TV staff. You must schedule an appointment. I have been taken advantage of by my lenient policy in the past. This ends now. NO MORE. Do not approach me while I’m in the makeup chair unless I ask to speak with you directly. Either knock or use the doorbell. I am seeking more free time for me throughout the day. Do not wait in any hallway to speak to me. I hate being ambushed. Please make an appointment. I promise you I will not entertain you in the hallway, and do not attempt to walk with me. If you’re reading this, yes, I mean you. Everyone, do not take offense to the new way of doing business. It is for the good of my personal life and enjoyment.”
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When Stern asked Wendy if she would ever handle her staff as Harvey did, she replied:
“I like Steve, but that whole thing with do not look at me and stuff, that is not the approach I take for my staff. And I have taken bits and pieces from people that I have admired — including Oprah, including you — but you know my mother and father, that’s the way they raised me,” she said.
The backlash from Harvey’s memo forced him to issue a statement in which he said, “I don’t apologize about the letter.”
“I could not find a way to walk from the stage to my dressing room, to sit in my makeup chair, to walk from my dressing room to the stage or to just sit and have lunch without somebody just walking in,” he told ET. “I’ve always had a policy where, you know, you can come and talk to me — so many people are great around here, but some of them just started taking advantage of it.”
He continued, “I’m in my makeup chair, they walk in the room. I’m having lunch, they walk in, they don’t knock. I’m in the hallway, I’m getting ambushed by people with friends that come to the show and having me sign this and do this. I just said, ‘Wait a minute.’ And in hindsight, I probably should’ve handled it a little bit differently.”
When it comes to handling a staff, whose approach do you prefer, Wendy’s personable style or Steve “cold fish” Harvey’s?
