Katt Williams decided to get a few things off his chest, and he torched several fellow comedians in the process.
Williams sat down on the Wednesday, Jan. 3, episode of Shannon Sharpe’s “Club Shay Shay” podcast, and called out comics he deemed “low-brow” — specifically, Rickey Smiley, Cedric the Entertainer, and Steve Harvey.
Williams said he’d watched the comedians tell “straight up lies” when they were interviewed by Sharpe and he wanted to set the record straight. He saved some of his harshest criticism for The Original Kings of Comedy stars Cedric the Entertainer and Steve Harvey.
Related Story: Katt Williams Says Jonathan Majors Got Played by Marvel
Williams insisted the two are not kings, nor does he think they have original ideas. “All of these dudes are co-entwined and they share secrets, and this is the age of truth,” Williams said.
He accused Harvey of ripping off the concept for The Steve Harvey Show, which debuted on the WB network in 1996.
Harvey played high school music teacher Steve Hightower on the sitcom. Williams said Harvey stole the idea for the show from fellow comic Mark Curry, who starred as teacher Mark Cooper on Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper, which aired on ABC from 1992 to 1997.
Steve Harvey Comments:
“The same Steve that went to go watch Mark Curry do his whole sitcom and then stole everything Mark Curry had,” Williams said. “Now Steve got a sitcom where he’s the principal and he wears a suit.”
Williams even bashed Harvey’s hair, saying he wears a fake high-top fade he described as a “man’s unit” (wig). He also slammed the comedian’s acting abilities, and claimed the Family Feud host’s past statement that he never wanted to pursue a movie career was laughable.
“’I didn’t want to be a movie star,’ Williams said as he imitated Harvey. “No. You couldn’t be a movie star. There are 30,000 new scripts in Hollywood every year. Not one of them asked for a country bumpkin Black dude that can’t talk good… and look like Mr. Potato Head. There ain’t none. You have to have range.”
Sharpe asked Williams if he’d had too much to drink after sitting down for the interview. Williams said he had one “sip” and was just getting started.
“The truth don’t need motivation. I’m just saying I can’t let these dudes lie,” he told Sharpe.
Related Story: Will Smith Dismisses Steve Harvey Rant About ‘Sleeping 8 Hours a Day’
Cedric the Entertainer Comments:
Williams then accused Cedric the Entertainer of stealing some of his best material, then using it in The Original Kings of Comedy. He mentioned Cedric denied repurposing one of Williams’ jokes from the ’90s.
“He thought that I was just a no-name comedian and that he could take this joke and nobody would know,” Williams said.
Williams said it’s something he wouldn’t forget, because that was his signature joke.
“This is not just a random joke. This is my very best joke and it’s my last joke, and it’s my closing joke,” Williams said. “1998, I’m doing this joke. It’s on ComicView. Cedric comes to The Comedy Store. He watches 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’s doing that as his last joke on The [Original] Kings Of Comedy, and he’s doing it verbatim.”
Williams said Cedric isn’t a great comedian or entertainer.
“When Cedric the Entertainer starts, he’s supposed to be singing, dancing and telling jokes. That’s why he’s called the entertainer. We found out he can’t sing, he can’t dance, and doesn’t write jokes,” Williams said.
Sharpe cut him off to defend Cedric.
Williams didn’t want to hear it and quipped, “He did four comedy specials and they’re so bad, Shannon, they’re not available on Netflix or Tubi.”
Cedric Responds:
Cedric the Entertainer responded to Williams’ insults in the comments section of a “Club Shay Shay” clip posted on the show’s Instagram account.
“Revisionist history, regardless of whatever Katt’s opinion, my career can’t be reduced to one joke Katt Williams claims as his,” he wrote. “I been in over 40 movies, my specials and brand speaks volumes for [who] I am… and all that tough talk! Is corny af. I’m a grown a– man.”
Even Tubi and Netflix had something to say.
Over on X/Twitter, the official Tubi account reposted a clip from Williams’ interview and included the caption: “Sounds like it’s just you and me baby @netflix.”
The Netflix account replied with a meme from an iconic Real Housewives of Atlanta reunion where NeNe Leakes asked during an argument, “Now why am I in it?”
Williams also had choice words for Diddy, Kevin Hart and Tyler Perry. Check out the podcast interview below. Here’s the link to the full two-hour interview.
