Everyone makes mistakes. Even though Steve Harvey made a major blunder when he announced the wrong winner during the live Miss Universe telecast on Sunday, December 20, he’s welcome to host the show again next year.
Mark Shapiro, the chief content officer of WME IMG (the company that owns the Miss Universe Organization), told the Jim Rome Show that he’d love to have the Family Feud host back next year.
“He was funny, he was informative, he’s high energy, he’s got a great following,” Shapiro said of the 58-year-old comedian. “I definitely want him back, and I would hate to see him not come back. He’s going to want a shot to redeem himself.”
Harvey misread the results card during the pageant’s live show, and mistakenly announced Miss Colombia Ariadna Gutierrez as the winner before giving the crown to rightful champ Miss Philippines Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach.
“The world forgives, the world forgets,” the exec added. “It could happen to the best of us. He was so well intended, and he’s such a good guy, and it was really such a mistake that I hope people don’t hold this over him other than for just a good laugh and let it pass.”
One person who has already let it pass is Miss Universe judge Perez Hilton. The gossip blogger originally had strong criticism for Harvey, but told Us Weekly in an exclusive interview that he’d like to see the actor return to host again. “They need to bring Steve Harvey back again next year,” he said, noting, “I understand how he messed it up because of how [the card] was printed.”
The comedian was quick to apologize after his gaffe. In a video posted to the official Instagram page for Miss Philippines, the host bowed to Wurtzbach and said, “I wanted to fix it. I wanted to do the right thing.”