Saturday, March 28, 2009

Is one of the "Kings of Comedy" a fraud?


I get e-mails from friends and readers all the time turning me on unjust things that have happened to different people in these divided states of A-merry-ca. (Like the story on my sidebar about the Scott sisters. And I am still waiting to hear from Abilene Christian University after hearing from the former African American head of their student body, Daniel Paul Watkins, who was, in his words, removed from his position without good cause) One such e-mail was from Tracy Carson, whose mother, Sharon P. Carson, recently wrote a book about African American relationships. Problem is, the famous comedian Steve Harvey just wrote a book that is very similar, not only in title but in content. So in the words of another famous comedian: it makes me want to go hmmmm.

Here is Ms. Carson's press release:

"FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRLog (Press Release) – Mar 01, 2009 – Did Steve Harvey copy the book title Act Like A Lady Think Like A Man And theme from an earlier book? Book with same title & theme copyrighted and published by Sharon P. Carson in 2003 CHICAGO, IL – Sharon P. Carson the author of the original title; Act Like A Lady –Think Like A Man, watched the February 27th episode of the Ophra [sic] show on which Steve Harvey was promoting his book of the same title. She was hoping that Steve would reveal to Oprah where he got the title and the theme for the book. It just seemed odd to her that his book had the same title and theme as her book that was copyrighted in 2003. Thinking of all the self - published poets and authors like herself who have a hard time finding publishers for their materials, she was hoping for perhaps some recognition that the idea for the book might have come from her, especially since upon subsequently purchasing the book, she found some interesting parallels. But then she thought that it was not unusual for a high profiled person to take a great title and theme, rewrite a book and use their celebrity to sell it. This she says happens too often to the unsung poets, authors and entrepreneurs of the world. Steve wrote in his book that his hope was to “empower you with a wide-open look into the minds of men”. Sharon P. Carson wrote in her book in 2003 that women need to gain some insight into how men think in terms of relationships. Sharon also noted that in chapter 8 of Steve Harvey’s book titled “Why Men Cheat” he came to the same conclusion that she did in chapter 37 of her book, titled “Why would a man cheat”; “because they can”.

Sharon actively promoted her book before the release in January 2009 of Steve Harvey’s book and would not like to see her promotion efforts hindered. She feels that her book has much to offer from a woman’s perspective and seeks empower women to practice self love and tough love in relationships. Before the publication of Steve Harvey’s book of the same title, Sharon bought the domain name; http://www.actlikealadythinklikeaman.com/ from which she has been selling her book. She has also held seminars with women at a Chicago University in promotion of her book and can be viewed on the following youtube clip as she was being interviewed on a cable television program about her book in 2007 ; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxVVQX15X2Y. Sharon hopes that her earlier book with the same title will finally receive the recognition it deserves and is currently consulting with attorneys regarding her options."

Ms. Carson, if it is in fact true that Steve Harvey got his idea for his book from you, it is not right and you should be compensated. Personally, I really hope that Steve Harvey knew nothing about Ms. Carson's book before he wrote his own. (I hear a movie might even be in the works) But here is hoping that if he did get his ideas from Ms. Carson he will come clean.
As a blogger who encourages independent publishing, it would be disappointing to see someone use their celebrity to take advantage of the hard work that someone else did.
Oprah has already been duped once on her show, I would hate to see it happen to Ms. Thing again.




51 comments:

  1. Anonymous7:56 PM

    I must say that I was intrigued that Harvey wrote such a book. I thought to myself, "I didn't know Harvey had that much depth."

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  2. Anonymous8:58 PM

    LOL, I am laughing after reading the first comment. I am under the belief that Steve Harvey did not write the book himself. I really had no interest in reading a relationship as they tend to be based more on their personal relationships and it is stuff we already know. If he copied that woman's book, then she should compensated. I think it's ironic Harvey would write about men who cheat as it appears he may done some cheating himself with possibly copying another person's work.

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  3. Robert:

    I see what you mean. The image suggest that she works in the field and is a mere field hand, and that the President of France wife is a loose woman. So the Murdoch wants to play games. Makes me think about the gift given to President Obama, a slave pen.

    You would think that adults would grow up and become adults, but I guess not in some cases. Murdoch has already lost half of his fortune, I guess, he wants to lose the other half.

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  4. Smh, on the Steve Harvey deal. Lord, what's next?

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  5. Robert, Granny

    Hmm, I actually like that picture. Call me Naive, but she looks hard working, strong and capable. I am actually quite proud of that picture. Maybe it's because I come from a family of farmers. I get a smile on my face when i see people doing hard work like that.
    But I see why it could be disrespectful.
    Ok, back to the shadows I go.

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  6. I refuse to take "relationship advice" from a man who has been divorced twice and married 3 times...Now if Sam Jackson or Denzel was giving advice, then I'd listen, at least they have been married to the SAME woman for over twenty years!!!

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  7. I forgot to add, this does not surprise me that Steve could have possibly jacked someone elses idea...Ya know he tried to take Oceans 11 from Bernie Mack? He and his agent called the producers for the movie and tried to steal Bernies part...It hurt Bernie soo much he talked about it on Oprah. He never named Steve personally but those in the "know", knew he was speaking of Steve.

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  8. Now it makes sense, something didn't fit right in the first place (as a woman I would never take relationship advice from the likes of Steve Harvey) what does Harvey know? I'm more willing to believe Carson's story.

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  9. browngrl77:

    "Now if Sam Jackson or Denzel was giving advice, then I'd listen, at least they have been married to the SAME woman for over twenty years!!!"

    You smart! I don't blame you, no woman or man who don't have a husband or wife or who don't know how to maintain a stable relationship once they do get married, definitely, are not the ones single people should be asking for advice. Your momma raised you well.

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  10. Robert M, no problem that's a jack for a good cause. And thanks for the link.

    browngrl77, thanks for that little tid bit about Mr. Harvey and Ocean's 11. Wow! You never know.

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  11. Steve Harvey has fidelity issues from what I understand, so I find it difficult to take him seriously as fra as relationships are concerned. I did find him quite entertaining on Oprah's show and I admit that I do occasionally listen to him on the radio.

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  12. Denise10:51 PM

    Hasn't Clear Channel dropped the Tom Joyner's show for Steve Harvey in some urban markets?

    Uhm, I can't put my finger on it, but something about that dude...

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  13. Anonymous11:06 PM

    i think it's a great photo of the first lady!

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  14. Anonymous11:25 PM

    Finally something I can join in on...just like a riot...
    Steve Harvey is funny as S*** in fact, the only comedians I really find funny are Afro-Americans...bought Richard Pryor's "Bicentennial Nigger" when I was 13...Listened to Bill Cosby's stuff before that (Remember the "Noah" bit?) Chris Rock, Eddie Murphy (Oh man, when he does that "Gay Siren" routine...) shoot, only White comedians are that lame ass "Blue Collar Comedy Tour" and Jerry Seinfeld...

    OK, Andy Kaufman was funny,

    Frank

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  15. Anonymous11:57 PM

    Frank Drackman said...

    You know who is the best comedians in the world? David "Small Dick" Duke, Hal "I'm retarded" Turner, Strom "I Love Black women" Thurmond. And who can forget the classics like General Robert E. Lee aka Little Dick.
    White Racist comedians are way more funnier to me for some reason. :)

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  16. I hope Steve did not steal that woman's book. I listen to Harvey's show in the mornings sometimes and he does give good relationship advice...

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  17. Anonymous12:01 AM

    She looks like an American Woman to me. Women in this country helped build it brick by brick, and other than in the sick society of the Antebellum South, dug and planted the gardens, fixed the leaky roof, and a million other things.

    Euros look at us like country bumpkins...

    Fuck 'em.

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  18. Anonymous12:43 AM

    Boring. Ideas are not infringement. A plot maybe. Titles probably are. i'm not correctred byou. just commenting

    szpork

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  19. Find out who wrote the book for Steve Harvey (Steve knows lots of professional writers), & ask that person if the idea was stolen from sharon Carson.

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  20. i would not pay to see dr phil do a stand up act... so i cannot bring myself to think about what steve harvey has got to say about relationships...
    he has been working on his image (am not sure he should be exposing his belly like that though.. *shudder*..) for over a year now and this maybe all part of it....if he is a fraud he should be called out for it...

    on the michelle photo.. the first ladies of both the usa and france have been de contextualised - a picture of them at state affairs like the others would have been much more appropriate...
    mind you, maybe the other premiers wives have no life outside of their husbands??

    oh and field.. umm.. that run...
    it is officially summer time now... are you waiting for president obama's first 100 days to be over??

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  21. Field, this will mark the third time, if true, that Oprah has been rooked by some writer.

    The first was James Frey.

    The second was just last year: about a Holocaust survivor who was in love with the little girl who later became his wife and helped him to survive while in the camps. This was a lie. Holocaust scholars and historians proved that it never happened and he had to come clean. I think this was before he was about to appear on her show.

    Like I said, if this story is true, Steve Harvey is through as an kind of public figure or entertainer.

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  22. "..oh and field.. umm.. that run...
    it is officially summer time now... are you waiting for president obama's first 100 days to be over??"

    It's still a little cool here :)

    Kim, Steve actually gives good relationship advice? Who would have "thunk" it.

    I think most people would agree with La~Ingognita when it comes to Harvey and relationship advice.

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  23. Steve needs to stick to comedy, even though he really was never that funny. If he wrote a book geared towards men, then I'd give him more credit. But he's not saying anything new. Some people are so desperate to find a new 'bible' to grasp on to, for it to solve their problems, which is why the books are flying off the shelves. And since he's become Oprah's new prodigal son, he has a whole new fan based of women who lack melanin. I'm sure him & his 3rd wife are sitting back counting the $$$ and laughing at the irony of if it all. So he gave up the zoot suits & spray on flat top, and now he's peddling his 'advice' for $24.95.

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  24. Great post. I wrote one just like it two days ago over at FieldHillbilly.com.

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  25. I busted a student for plagiarism recently--it doesn't have to be word for word copying for it to be theft. I am not going to read either book, but it sounds as if there is a possible case of plagiarism which is illegal. I have a friend who is a professor of English and creative writing who was called on to testify as an expert witness in a plagiarism case. the famous author had clearly ripped off (stolen) another writer's copyrighted material. IF this woman lives in Chicago, she ought to be able to get a copy of her book to Oprah's folks with relevant sections highlighted.

    my captcha word is "fables"

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  26. I also heard about Steve Harvey trying to steal Bernie Mac's part in Ocean's 11. It was in a GQ magazine interview and he named Harvey specifically.

    Sharon also noted that in chapter 8 of Steve Harvey’s book titled “Why Men Cheat” he came to the same conclusion that she did in chapter 37 of her book, titled “Why would a man cheat”; “because they can”.

    This is not a particularly startling or new revelation.

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  27. Anonymous1:23 PM

    Who would take the advice of Steve Harvey? He's suppose to be a comedian but isn't even funny. So now, he's supposed to be giving "relationship" advice? Yeah, right. He's not funny, nor is he a counselor. Now, not to take anything away from Ms. Carson -- because she may have some worthy advice -- but her
    so-called "press release" is so replete with errors, grammatical infractions, and misconstructions that I question the authenticity of anything she says.

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  28. Anonymous1:24 PM

    Who would take the advice of Steve Harvey? He's suppose to be a comedian but isn't even funny. So now, he's supposed to be giving "relationship" advice? Yeah, right. He's not funny, nor is he a counselor. Now, not to take anything away from Ms. Carson -- because she may have some worthy advice -- but her
    so-called "press release" is so replete with errors, grammatical infractions, and misconstructions that I question the authenticity of anything she says.

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  29. DuchessDee2:00 PM

    Wow, I hope it isnt true but I am no longer surprised by anything anyone does anymore. lol. And already many have convicted Steve in a matter of hours.

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  30. Anonymous2:23 PM

    Does anyone know whether or not Steve Harvey has responded to these allegations? Has he said anything on his radio show?

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  31. I had heard about this book from Soulfull & when I checked it out online, I got the impression Harvey wrote it because of the relationship questions he has fielded on his radio show.

    I'm hoping that he knew nothing of the other book. The truth will eventually come out.

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  32. Anonymous5:01 PM

    If Steve and his co-author are true to what they've done they'll be able to write a second book, something I suggest in this open letter to him.

    An open letter to Steve Harvey about his book.

    The themes in his book are things women need to hear, but they're also common sense. What he needs to do is write a book to men.

    I hope this lady's book gets some notice as well.

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  33. Field--

    First, I guess I agree with RobertM re: Times G20 photos. Michelle outshines all of those heiffers.

    Second, as to Steve Harvey, he's a star b/c of this wave of bammafication that has overtaken Black America, from southern hip hop to Tyler Perry to talk, dress, Atlanta-centrism. Now that that curtain's been pulled back, we see there was a reason for the Great Migration to the civilized North, and perhaps Sgt. Waters in A Soldier's Story had a point. hahaha

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  34. I would like for Steve's to write a book geared to men, staying committed to your families etc...... He will never do it because men will not buy that sh*t, also why is it that woman must "do" something in order to get a man or keep a man? I have yet to see any book
    telling men what to do in order to get a woman

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  35. innercityrose8:49 PM

    Hello everyone..I would justlike to state that the book is not so much about relationships but more about what women and how they need to raise their standards etc to week out the bad men from the good ones. One of the things he states is that women complain that chilvary is dead but it isn't and some men behave that way because "some" women don't require that they be treated like a lady. It's more for women on how men think and last time I checked Steve was man..maybe not a good one to the women in his life but nonetheless a man. The original author needs to go after him. Neverless regardless of who wrote it, its not a bad read. Some of the advice he gives women is on point. Some common sense stuff and somethings that make you go hmmm.. Just my opinion.

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  36. innercityrose8:50 PM

    Oh and let me state for the record that I am no Steve Harvey fan. :)

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  37. Elizabeth9:14 PM

    Let me preface by acknowledging that I have not read the book but I was flipping channels and saw him promoting the book on the Tyra show the other day and I was so enraged/disgusted by his ridiculously blatant and disgusting sexism/misogyny. I was SO hoping this was going to be a post on that. I don't think anyone should be proud to claim the shit being put out in that book.

    -Elizabeth

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  38. I think Steve Harvey has a lot of nerve telling women how to "act" to get a man. If I listened to that kind of crap, I wouldn't have a shred of self-esteem and men would be walking all over me whether they are boys, men or senior citizens.

    He needs to come back to Cleveland and talk to some of these masochistic men that nobody in their right minds would marry. He's just like every one of the slick Thieveland hustlers I know. They don't really have a set of morals or integrity that tempers everything they do. Just whores for cash is all they are. The atmosphere is so racist and desperate around here, it breeds a bunch of con artists that aren't serious about anything unless it involves making money.

    Steve Harvey is one of THEM. I believe he did plagiarize that woman's book and he probably has no shame about it. I can also believe he would try to steal Bernie's part. And every time I see his latest wife, she looks pissed off and unhappy.

    I am glad he quit wearing those loud suits and that outdated flattop. His clothes are so typical of those old sugar daddies that hang out in the club trying to pick up girls. Ironically, the young folks dress very well here. He's a freak in purple gators.

    (end of anti-Steve Harvey rant. sorry, but I cant stand him) :D

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  40. I noticed that of all the "Kings of Comedy", three of them are, or were, in the case of Bernie Mac, married to the same woman for ten years or more (DL and Bernie married to their wives for more than 20 years), and all three blew up after the Concert tour, while Harvey WENT DOWN.

    Methinks brothaman is jealous because DL, Bernie and Cedric all went on to either movies or television shows (even though DL's got cancelled by CNN a few weeks ago), so it wouldn't surprise me one bit that he stole a woman's book and turned it into his own.

    And, as was stated above, I wouldn't take advice from a man with fidelity issues - I don't go by his marital track record, although all the marriages broke up because he couldn't stay faithful, so there you go.

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  41. The king of copying, lol

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  42. Lady-Cracker12:58 PM

    The title of both books was taken from a feminist saying of the 1970's. It was taped to a lot of "word processor" screens then.

    "Act like a woman (sometimes it was "lady"), think like a man and work like a dog."

    RE: The photo.

    I like the photo, I like the implication. Let all the old fusty aristocrats or whatever just stand and smile. Our First Lady is doing something. The attitude of being able to do hard work is one that that I admire and that I think is one of this country's strongest virtues. (Even if sometimes preached more practiced.)

    Do we really want to encourage the ultra refinement of the aristocrats of the old world? Yes we are country bumpkins compared to the old traditions and habits of some of the older countries. Let us be frankly who we are, even as we might enjoy some of the merits of the "old" world.

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  43. Lynne from Brooklyn3:29 PM

    here's another time that Oprah was duped. She had Jeryy Seinfeld's wife on her show promoting a book about putting healthy ingredients into children's meals. It later came out that another author had written and published a very similar book about a year earlier. That author is now suing Seinfeld's wife for plagiarism. Oprah's a sucker for celebrities.

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  44. The Christian Progressive Liberal

    I'm bet all the Kings of Comedy have fidelity issues..hmmm But folks throw me off, especially Christians saying that can't take someone advice because he did this or he did that, and I'm like.. ummm have you ever read the Bible....then there's silence.

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  45. pinksun4:37 PM

    Denene Millner is the co-writer of the book and she has a good rep and she and her husband have writen a few relationship books so going on what I know of her and her career as a writer I'm not sure if I can believe this story..but anything is possible.

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  46. Robert M.,

    I agree. They could have come up with a better picture than Michelle O working in the garden.

    It's especially incongruous when compared to the pictures of the other First Ladies in the Times' photo gallery. It's certainly not as if there aren't more appropriate pictures of her.

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  47. Ms. Carson needs to lawyer up, and ensure that her interests are protected.

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  48. You smart! I don't blame you, no woman or man who don't have a husband or wife or who don't know how to maintain a stable relationship once they do get married, definitely, are not the ones single people should be asking for advice. Your momma raised you well.

    Granny, your comment reminds me of an Ebony article years ago that featured two women who offered readers advice on how to get a man. The kicker was that they didn't know how to keep a man. Both of them had several failed marriages between them.

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  49. The second was just last year: about a Holocaust survivor who was in love with the little girl who later became his wife and helped him to survive while in the camps. This was a lie. Holocaust scholars and historians proved that it never happened and he had to come clean. I think this was before he was about to appear on her show.


    Actually, some years ago, Rosenblatt actually appeared on Oprah with his bogus story. The New Republic has several articles on how Rosenblatt's brother and friends who survived the camps were outraged at his story. Furthermore, his publicist tried silencing a professor at a university by contacting the professor's superiors.

    http://blogs.tnr.com/tnr/blogs/the_plank/archive/2008/12/27/publisher-cancels-rosenblat-memoir-after-tnr-exposes-hoax.aspx

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  50. I didn't catch the Harvey interview, but everything I've read about it makes me completely nauseated. I'm sorry that a divorced comedian doesn't think I have anything to offer a man beyond my vagina, er, "cookie", but that's his problem, not mine. Also, I strenuously object to the notion that every woman is dead set on marrying the man she's dating. They say a man will never buy the cow if he's getting the milk for free... but what if the cow isn't for sale? Ponder that.

    Steve Harvey wishes you weren't such a slut

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  51. Feel like I should comment because seemingly unlike most commenters here I have actually listned to his morning show with some regularity as it is the only Afr.-Am. oriented morning show in my market. Though it would not surprise me if it was proved Harvey is guilty of plagarism, I tend to give him the benefit of the doubt initially. His show hasn't been on long in my market (a few years maybe)but I can recall him often saying on air that he should write a book about this subject and that his fans often encouraged him to do so. Like a lot of morning shows his has a segment where they sound off about listener's letters asking for advice, and though he's not perfect he is often on point with his commentary.

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