Katt Williams has previously taken aim at his fellow comedians in interviews. But none were as charged as his interview this week on “Club Shay Shay.”
Like a well-written stand-up routine, during its 35 minute sit with former NFL star Shannon Sharpe, the Emmy-winning comedian and actor shot frank revelations on a long list of prominent figures, including Steve Harvey, Kevin Hart, Chris Tucker And Diddyaddressing the recent sexual assault allegations against the rap mogul.
Yet his claim that Cedric the artist had stolen his “best joke” more than two decades ago is the one that has gotten the most attention. Williams first made the allegation on a radio show in 2021. When Cédric was a guest on “Shay Shay” in November 2021, the accusation was brought up, with Cédric calling it “ridiculous.”
Williams acknowledged that the Cedric interview was one of the reasons he agreed to appear on “Shay Shay.”
“He thought I was just a no-name comedian and he could take this joke and no one would know,” Williams told Sharpe.
The joke in question comes from Williams' 1998 stand-up on the BET the show “Comic View”, while he was still performing under the name Katt 'N Da Hatt. It was one of Williams' first big breakthroughs. For the moment, which fellow comedian Mark Curry helped him write, Williams recreated someone driving a convertible while aggressively playing his music. Williams claimed that Cedric covered the joke in 2000 for Spike Lee's stand-up film.The Original Kings of Comedy”, which also included sets by Harvey, Bernie Mac and DL Hughley.
“It’s not just a random joke – it’s my best joke,” Williams told Sharpe, explaining that he used the joke as a conclusion. He said he did it twice on the BET show, prompting the network to use the joke in its commercials.
“I make this joke, it's on 'Comic View,' Cedric comes to the Comedy Store,” Williams continued in his recollection. “(Cédric) looks at me in the audience, he comes backstage, he tells me what a great job I did and how much he loves the joke – two years later he does that as his last joke on the 'Kings of Comedy”, and he does it verbatim, he just turned my car into a spaceship.
Williams first made the allegation against Cedric in 2021 while he was a guest on “The Morning Hustle” radio show. He accused Cedric for stealing the joke, which he said had “crushed” him at the time, because Cédric “was already bigger and more famous than me”.
“The reason it hit so badly was because I was in the theater,” he said in 2021, referring to filming “The Original Kings of Comedy” at Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, England. North Carolina. “I paid my money to go see 'Kings of Comedy,' and to see my joke be there and not me was as disrespectful as it can be in our profession, and I took it very personally with Cédric the artist at that time.
Cédric's joke was widely seen as “Kings” enjoyed success at the box office and with critics. The film is available to rent on YouTube, AppleTV and Prime. Yet few traces of Williams' original joke exist.
After Williams' interview, online observers and sleuths managed to uncover a grainy recording from the 1998 “Comic View” joke. When Huffington Post editor Philip Lewis set the original bit alongside Cédric now popular joke in a tweet Wednesday afternoon, the post office garnered over 2 million views and further fanned the flames between the two.
Cedric dismissed Williams' claim as “revisionist history” in a comment under a Instagram post by “Club Shay Shay” highlighting the podcast’s viral moment.
“Regardless of Katts' opinion, my career cannot be reduced to a joke that Katt Williams claims to be his own,” wrote Cedric the Entertainer. “I've seen over 40 films, my specials and my brand say a lot about me.”
In 2021, when Williams first made these allegations, Cedric denied the claim in an Instagram video, stating, “I don't know what this bro is talking about – this joke is over 30 years old,” adding that he had made the joke. six or seven years before Williams' 1998 special.
In this week's interview, Williams also criticized Cedric's alleged lack of success in Hollywood and made a joke about Cedric's weight. He also said that Cedric and even Harvey apologized to Williams for allegedly using the joke, contradicting Cedric's earlier claim that Williams never personally spoke to him about it.
“Why did I give you a pass if you just wanted to lie?” » Williams said.
Representatives for Cedric the Entertainer and Williams did not immediately respond to The Times' requests for comment.