Katt Williams (Photo via Instagram, @kattwilliams)
Comedian Katt Williams took center stage on “Club Shay Shay,” hosted by former NFL star turned podcast host Shannon Sharpe, in a candid and unfiltered interview on Jan. 3 that left viewers buzzing. Williams, never one to shy away from controversy, delved into Hollywood’s secrets, revealing surprising details about his career and interactions with fellow celebrities. Here are seven highlights from the interview that still has people shaking their heads.
Williams claimed to have taken a stand against a disturbing rape scene that was proposed for the 2002 film “Friday After Next.” According to the comedian, the original script featured a scene where his character, Money Mike, was subjected to sexual assault. Disturbed by the portrayal, Williams launched a campaign to have the scene removed, arguing that such content is never funny, regardless of the circumstances. His plea was successful, and the scene was respectfully eliminated from the final production.
“The truth of the matter is the Money Mike in the original script got raped in the bathroom,” Williams said. He decided “to take the risk in front of the studios and the cast and the powers that be” to ask for the scene to be “respectfully” removed.
“Rape is never funny no matter who it happens to or what the circumstances are,” Williams said in the interview.
“If you would allow me, to allow us to do this movie without a Black man getting raped in it, I promise you that it will be twice as funny as it would be without him getting raped,” he recalled during his plea for the scene to be omitted.
The film star and producer Ice Cube has come forth and said this was in fact true.
Williams asserted that fellow comedian Rickey Smiley wanted their roles in “Friday After Next” to be swapped. Williams claimed that both he and Smiley auditioned for the role of Money Mike, but Smiley, in a later response on his morning show, refuted these allegations. Despite the disagreement, Smiley acknowledged Williams’ impact on the role, adding a “pimp twist” during his audition.
Williams accused Cedric the Entertainer of stealing his jokes, particularly one performed on BET’s “Comic View.” Williams claimed that Cedric attended a show where he performed the joke, only to later include it in “The Kings of Comedy” tour. Cedric vehemently denied the allegations, dismissing them as baseless and even called it “ridiculous” during a previous appearance on Sharpe’s podcast in 2022.
“He thought I was just a no-name comedian and he could take this joke and nobody would know,” Williams said of Cedric the Entertainer, whom he described as “a walrus.” “The issue was that I had already done this particular joke on BET’s ‘Comic View’ twice. The joke ultimately landed in a commercial on the network.”
Williams also accused Steve Harvey of also stealing jokes from fellow comedians.
Williams questioned Steve Harvey’s narrative of overcoming homelessness, alleging that Harvey appropriated his own story. Williams, who experienced homelessness at a young age, accused Harvey of fabricating his struggle for fame. Harvey has not responded to these claims, BET reported.
“Steve Harvey telling people he used to be homeless– That’s my story. That’s not his story,” claimed Williams. “Steve Harvey was never homeless. Mark Curry was touring with him 25 years ago, he was making $3,000 a show in cash and doing five shows a week.”
Williams called Kevin Hart an “industry plant” because of how successful Hart has been throughout his career, Complex reported.
“In 15 years in Hollywood, no one in Hollywood has a memory of going to a sold-out Kevin Hart,” Williams said. “He already had his deals when he got here. Have we heard of a comedian that came to L.A. and in his first year in L.A. he had his own sitcom on network television and had his own movie called Soul Plane that he was leading? No, we’ve never heard of that before. … What do you think a plant is? Maybe people don’t understand the definitions of these words.”
Williams referenced Jonathan Majors, who has been found guilt of assaulting his former girlfriend, who is white, to explain why he doesn’t date white women.
“You can be Kang the Conqueror and they can still take your rabbit a– down in two weekends,” Williams noted of Majors who has also been fired from Marvel from his Kang the Conqueror role, Hot New Hip Hop reported.
Williams, a devout Christian, consistently dons a cross during his performances, noted that he had a brief affiliation with the Nation of Islam during his time in Oakland.
Katt, who grew up Jehovah’s Witness, said he enjoys learning from other religions and becoming immersed in them. He said he briefly joined the Nation due to his relationship with Minister Louis Farrakhan.
“The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan and I have an extremely close relationship. he refers to me as one of his sons,” said the comedian.
“Because my particular background was already religious and super strict, I didn’t find out about other religions by reading about them — I went to the religion,” Katt explained. “I don’t want to learn from Jewish people from outside. I want to be in a synagogue. I don’t want to learn from Muslim people. I want to go to a Mosque. I don’t want to hear about the Baptists or the Pentecostals. I want to go to their church and see. So that was the religious discovery I went through in that period.”
Katt Williams (Photo via Instagram, @kattwilliams)
