Steve Harvey's ex-wife goes on video tirade

The ex-wife of comedian and author Steve Harvey has taken to YouTube to accuse him of infidelity during their marriage, estranging her from their son and leaving her in financial straits.

In three videos totaling a bit over 26 minutes, Mary Shackelford Harvey says the family-friendly comedian and "Family Feud" host "turned my son against me, had me evicted from our house. . . . He manipulated the courts, everything, against me. . . . I woke up and everything was gone."

She said the couple began living together in 1989, and were married from 1996 until divorcing in 2005. She described the harrowing 1997 birth of their son, Wynton, who almost died during delivery. And she recalled inadvertently receiving a package containing a letter from Marjorie Bridges, whom Harvey would marry in 2007, detailing his infidelity.

In the videos, she claims Harvey is suing her "because in Steve's opinion I was responsible when Oprah did not give him a TV show." She had filed a 2007 lawsuit against him alleging an unfair divorce settlement due to both parties having used the same lawyer, whom she says favored him.

Steve Harvey's attorney, Bobbie Edmonds, said in a statement the videos "and other fabricated documents . . . contained false . . . and slanderous information about Mr. Harvey, his current wife and others," and that she "is fully aware of the court's current orders and permanent injunctions which prohibit either party, their lawyers or representatives from discussing and releasing information on the Internet and to the media. We are taking the necessary legal steps to rectify this matter to the full extent of the law. . . . "

Edmonds added, "Mr. Harvey cannot personally respond to these assertions, documents and videos due to the existing court gag orders."

Harvey has written two books on women and relationships. The first, a best-seller, "Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man: What Men Really Think About Love, Relationships, Intimacy, and Commitment," was released in 2009. The thrice-married author released his second, "Straight Talk, No Chaser: How to Find, Keep, and Understand a Man," in December.