Steve Harvey is loyal to Bill Cosby: 'When I'm your friend, I'm your friend'

Upon hearing that Bill Cosby had been accused of multiple drug-assisted sexual assaults against women, Steve Harvey picked up the phone.

"When I heard all the trouble he was in, I called and asked him how he was doing," Harvey told The Hollywood Reporter. "You know what he says to be? 'Hey man, I appreciate you calling, but just stay away from me right now. You don't need none of this on you. Whatever happens to me, happens to me, but don't you get none of this on you.' That's an amazing thing for a guy to say."

Although Harvey says he hasn't talked to Cosby in "a few months," "when I'm your friend, I'm your friend," he said. "Bill Cosby helped my sons at Morehouse [College], and he taught me how to do this business. He didn't even know me and taught me how to do this business."

Harvey did not elaborate in the interview about the grave allegations against Cosby, whose court case ended (for now) in a mistrial in June. More than 50 women have accused Cosby of sexually abusing or raping them over the past five decades.

Despite avoiding this topic, Harvey did, however, continue to weigh in on Cosby -- or, rather, Bill Huxtable, who was "a guy that was that likable on TV," Harvey said, adding that he stands by a past assertion that Hollywood is more racist than America itself.

"'Cause they don't get it," Harvey explained. "And it's not that they're racist. It's that they, the people who greenlight shows, sit in an office in Beverly Hills, Burbank, Studio City, and they make decisions about America and none of them live there. And they've got to put everything in a category. 'Blacks would like this. This is a black show.'"