At the beginning of May 2024, a paid Facebook post spread the rumor that Steve Harvey had been fired as host of “Family Feud.” The ad said that he was leaving the game show after almost 14 years. “Tensions Erupt After His On-Air Slip-Up,” the ad said. “Steve Harvey Abruptly Fired From ‘Family Feud,’” it said.
It turned out to be false, though. Harvey wasn’t “booted off of Family Feud,” and Oprah Winfrey hadn’t recently talked to him (see picture below). Also, the ad led to a scam that said Harvey had supported a product called Canna Labs CBD Gummies when he hadn’t. He never said that any kind of CBD candies were good. When we searched Google for more information about Canna Labs CBD Gummies, we mostly found fake web pages and videos.
People who clicked on the ad were taken to a fake CNN story on pastadibern.pro. The headline read, “Steve Harvey Fired from ‘Family Feud’ After Shocking On-Air Confession to Oprah Winfrey.” (It wasn’t possible for us to make a link to an old version of the page.)
The fake CNN story was on pastadibern.pro, not cnn.com.
The fake and dishonest story had a fake post on X that was said to be from Harvey’s account (@IAmSteveHarvey).
This fake post was never seen on Harvey’s X account.
This is how the fake CNN story on pastadibern.pro started:
Chris Dungey, CEO of ABC Entertainment, said this morning at TCA that Steve Harvey’s offensive comedy had “absolutely nothing to do with” him being fired from hosting “Family Feud.”Harvey wrote after being fired from “Family Feud” that he was “stunned and blindsided by the show I called home for the last 14 years.”Steve, 67, is famous for hosting the hit daytime show “Family Feud.” He thinks that ABC is firing him because of something he said in an interview with Oprah Winfrey.Harvey went off script last week during the interview and talked about his fight with ED and how he finally got better. Oprah Winfrey stated her point of view: “I just think those kinds of conversations have their place, and my show isn’t one of them.”She then said, “I’m glad Steve found a solution or something to his problem ‘downstairs,’ but it was rude, and because it was a family event, his hosting job should be canceled.”Harvey didn’t agree and asked, “Why the bad reputation?! ED is something that most guys have trouble with as they age. There ARE real answers, so why hide them? I was in too much pain for too long to keep the truth a secret. Canna Labs CBD Gummies helped me.
The rest of the fake news story had fake quotes and pictures of Harvey’s wife Marjorie and Dr. Phil McGraw from the old talk show “Dr. Phil.”
This rumor about Harvey and CBD goods was first written about by Snopes in 2022. We also disproved other claims that were similar, such as stories that described scams involving Winfrey, Mayim Bialik (former “Jeopardy” host), and many others.
