Publish date: 2024-01-11

Katt Williams’ recent interview on Shannon Sharpe’s “Club Shay Shay” podcast has gone viral for a handful of soundbites and revelations made by the comedian. Williams made his film debut playing Money Mike in the 2002 comedy “Friday After Next,” which he revealed originally included a sexual assault scene that he refused to participate in (via BuzzFeed). Williams pushed the studio to get the scene removed from the movie because “rape is never funny.” The comedian succeeded.

The scene in question centers on a confrontation between Money Mike and Terry Crews’ ex-convict Damon. Money Mike is using the bathroom when Damon comes in unannounced and threatens to assault him, telling Money Mike to “just let it happen.” Money Mike fights back and uses pliers on Damon’s testicles to escape.

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“The truth of the matter is, Money Mike in the original script gets raped in the bathroom,” Williams revealed. “Katt Williams had to take the risk in front of the studios, and the cast, and the powers that be — in his very first movie — and say respectfully, humbly, ‘Guys, if we’re talking about anything else I have no credibility and I have no pull, but we’re talking about comedy, where I have all the credibility and all the pull. The problem with ‘Friday After Next’ is we’re trying to make a classic comedy, and this comedy involves a rape, and rape is never funny no matter who it happens to or what the circumstances are.'”

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Elswhere during the podcast, Williams revived his claim that Cedric the Entertainment allegedly stole a joke from him (via Entertainment Weekly). And not just any joke: “My very best joke,” Williams said. Cedric the Entertaining denied stealing Williams’ joke during his own 2022 appearance on the “Club Shay Shay” podcast, but Williams now doubled down on the accusation.

“He thought that I was just a no-name comedian and that he could take this joke and nobody would know,” Williams said on the new episode. “The issue was that I had already done this particular joke on BET’s ‘ComicView’ twice. It had done so well on BET’s ‘ComicView’ that they made it part of the commercial.”

“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 continued. “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 ‘Kings of Comedy’ and he’s doing it verbatim, he’s just changed my car into a spaceship.”

The “Club Shay Shay” Instagram account posted this soundbite from the interview, which earned a response from Cedric the Entertainer in the comment section.

“Revisionist History, regardless of whatever Katt’s opinion,” he wrote. “My career can’t be reduced to One Joke Katt Williams claims as his. I been [in] over 40 movies, my specials and brand speaks volumes for [who] I am.”

Variety has reached out to Cedric the Entertainer for further comment.

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