Katt Williams slammed fellow comedian Cedric the Entertainer this week in a fiery interview on the “Club Shay Shay” podcast.
In the podcast episode, released Wednesday, the “Friday After Next” actor pulled no punches when he doubled down on a previous accusation that Cedric stole one of his best jokes, telling host Shannon Sharpe that Cedric later tried to “rewrite history.”
Cedric (born Cedric Kyles) had denied stealing the joke from Williams during an appearance on “Club Shay Shay” in 2022. But Williams insisted in Wednesday’s episode that Cedric did lift his joke.
“He thought that I was just a no-name comedian, and that he could take this joke and nobody would know,” Williams said. “The issue was that I had already done this particular joke on BET’s ‘ComicView’ twice.”
Williams has claimed that Cedric copied a bit that he used during a 1992 appearance on BET’s stand-up comedy series “ComicView.” Williams accused the “Barbershop” actor of performing the alleged stolen joke in the 2000 film “The Original Kings of Comedy.” Clips of both comedians performing their jokes have made the rounds on X, the former Twitter.
“This is not just some 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.”
He continued: “Two years later he’s doing that as his last joke on the ‘Kings of Comedy’ and he’s doing it verbatim. He’s just changed my car into a spaceship.”
Williams claimed that Cedric and his longtime friend, comedian and TV host Steve Harvey, had already apologized for the alleged stolen joke.
“I gave him a pass, for a decade,” Williams said.
He argued that he’s only speaking out now because Cedric denied stealing the joke in 2022.
Cedric, for his part, told Sharpe in 2022 that Williams’ accusation was “ridiculous” and “some internet shit.” He then claimed that the timeline of when both comedians told their jokes didn’t square with Williams’ claims.
A representative for Cedric did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Williams’ most recent interview.
However, the “Johnson Family Vacation” actor responded to some of Williams’ claims in the comments section of a “Club Shay Shay” Instagram post on Wednesday.
“Revisionist History, regardless of whatever [Williams’] opinion, My career can’t be reduced to One Joke Katt Williams claims as his,” Cedric wrote. “I been over 40 movies, my specials and brand speaks volumes for [who] I am. The ppl I have put on including ‘Katt in the Hat.’ At the Gibson Amphitheater.”
“And all that tough talk! Is corny af,” he later wrote in a follow-up comment. “I’m grown ass man. And none of that shit gonna go like you think. You do you and I got this over here.”
Elsewhere in his appearance on “Club Shay Shay,” Williams criticized the comedic skills of Harvey, Rickey Smiley, Tyler Perry, Kevin Hart and Michael Blackson — and leveled a slew of other insults and claims.
On Thursday, Hart responded to Williams’ interview in a social media post promoting his new film “Lift.” Williams had accused Hart of being an “industry plant,” suggesting that the “Night School” actor took shortcuts to reach such success in his career.
“Gotta get that anger up outcha champ… It’s honestly sad,” Hart wrote.
