Family Feud's Steve Harvey Hilariously Apologizes For Dropping F-Bomb On Camera

steve harvey family feud screenshot

Celebrity Family Feud host Steve Harvey has made his fair share of flubs on camera over the years of his career, not the least of which was when he accidentally declared the wrong Miss Universe winner (and then had a teleprompter fail at the same event a few years later). His latest slip of the tongue in front of the cameras happened on Family Feud, when he dropped an accidental F-bomb, and the results were hilarious. Harvey wasted no time in apologizing, but the apology just made the whole thing funnier.

Let's start with what caused the Family Feud host to forget himself and have a pure, unfiltered "WTF?" reaction. The latest episode of Celebrity Family Feud featured big names from the NFL Player's Association, with the Hall of Famers battling it out against the Rising Stars. The Rising Stars were ahead of the Hall of Famers when it came to the Fast Money round, and former Buffalo Bills defensive end Bruce Smith gave such a bizarre reaction that Harvey dropped his F-bomb.

The question was: "If Captain Hook was moonlighting as a handyman, he might replace his hook with what tool?" Unfortunately for Bruce Smith, his first instinct was "hammer," but that answer had already been claimed by the Rising Stars. Put on the spot, Smith dropped the answer that short-circuited Steve Harvey: "A penis." The picture of professionalism, Harvey went ahead to the next question and got halfway through before Smith's answer registered, and there was only one way for Harvey to react:

What the fuck did he say?

Of course, just like Andy Cohen when he said "mustache ride" on the Real Housewives episode of Celebrity Family Feud, Steve Harvey was bleeped in the video. On the set, Bruce Smith was the first to crack up, but the other Hall of Famers were right behind him, and the audience was right there with them. There was no sign that the Fast Money round would get back on track, and the timer actually had to stop. The Rising Stars almost looked more confused than entertained while Steve Harvey recovered.

When Steve Harvey did process what Bruce Smith had said and that he himself had dropped an F-bomb, he made his hilarious apology, partly directed at Smith himself:

I’m sorry. I swear I’m sorry. That just came out. I don’t even know where that came from. I was reading the question, and then I said to him, ‘What the fuck?’ I’m sorry. Can we start over? I’m sorry. Your ass going on YouTube, though. You gonna be on YouTube! You gonna be the greatest clip ever played, because Captain Hook replaced his hook with a penis.

Steve Harvey wasn't wrong! The clip of Bruce Smith coming up with a very... creative response to what Captain Hook might replace his hook with as a handyman did indeed make it onto YouTube, and the comments are packed with people commenting on Harvey's F-bomb rather than the rest of the video. All these considered, the entire five-minute clip is worth watching, even beyond Steve Harvey's reaction to Bruce Smith's answer.

Prepare for some silliness and take a look:

I'm not sure what my favorite part of the video is, but it might be all the Hall of Famers absolutely losing it once they figured out what happened. It looked like they didn't all catch it right away, but Bruce Smith was on the verge of tears from laughing so hard. The young players' more confused reactions only made it better. That said, there are also smaller moments that are worth laughs.

Steve Harvey judging Bruce Smith for saying that four-year-olds are too old for teddy bears, Harvey laughing that of course football players had named other football players when the question was about being hit by something, and the fact that four of the people polled for answers didn't say that checkers were either black or red. All things considered, the video is worth five minutes. Or ten, really, since I'd say it's worth a rewatch. If only Harvey was wearing that pink hat!

New episodes of Celebrity Family Feud with Steve Harvey air on Sunday nights at 8 p.m. ET on ABC. For more of what you can watch now and in the not-too-distant future, check out our 2020 summer TV premiere schedule!

Laura Hurley
Senior Content Producer

Laura turned a lifelong love of television into a valid reason to write and think about TV on a daily basis. She's not a doctor, lawyer, or detective, but watches a lot of them in primetime. CinemaBlend's resident expert and interviewer for One Chicago, the galaxy far, far away, and a variety of other primetime television. Will not time travel and can cite multiple TV shows to explain why. She does, however, want to believe that she can sneak references to The X-Files into daily conversation (and author bios).