these things happen

Steve Harvey Explains His Nightmare Miss Universe Gaffe Step-by-Terrible-Step

While 2016 has been a roiling cauldron of horrors for most people, Steve Harvey experienced his own private four-minute-long sneak preview of 2016 while hosting the Miss Universe pageant in December of last year. As you might recall, the Family Feud host famously crowned Miss Colombia, Ariadna Gutiérrez, the winner by mistake, subsequently shambling back out onto the stage and declaring Miss Philippines, Pia Wurtzbach, the rightful winner instead.

In Steve Harvey’s dynamic retelling of the fateful night on The Tonight Show, he casts himself as a hapless victim (Harvey was fed confusing information through his earpiece) who stepped up to the role of hero (Harvey opted to correct the gaffe in the spot himself), all the while knowing the terrible consequences of his actions (everyone in the world was going to meme him the next day). While president of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte has voiced his objection to Harvey hosting this year’s pageant, Steve Harvey has shown the exact amount of grace, compassion, and strength of character you’d want in your Miss Universe host, and frankly, in your Miss Universe. If Steve Harvey accidentally reads his own name this year, honestly, we should be so lucky.

Steve Harvey Explains His Miss Universe Flub