Judge Steve Harvey may not be a real judge, but that doesn’t mean the cases he tries are fake, too. As the former comedian told TV Insider, “We had two sisters suing one another for $6,000, which is substantial. I found out the truth of why they were there, and it wasn’t just about money.” Likewise, “There was a son who sued his mother. As he was standing there, you could see the people in the gallery turning on him.”
Participants are paid to appear, though, per a casting website, which lists a $1,000 fee for the use of each litigant’s likeness. Anything rewarded as a result of Harvey’s ruling, meanwhile, is paid for by production, while “no case is too big or too small.” Harvey’s decisions are likely legally binding, similar to “Judge Judy,” which required litigants to sign documentation agreeing to be bound by whatever she decided (via Attorney Docs).
On what makes him ideally suited to be a TV judge, Harvey told TV Insider, “I’m going to dig up the story behind why people came to court versus what they’re in court for. I lean on decades of experience dealing with all types of situations and people, and I rely on my street savvy, common sense and humor to get it done.”
As TB News Watch points out, these aren’t tough legal cases, but “simple arguments that require a cool head and some common sense to solve.”
