Kevin Hart fires back at Katt Williams’ ‘Club Shay Shay’ chat. And he’s not the only one
Kevin Hart is playing the bigger man after fellow comedian Katt Williams dissed him in the instant-classic “Club Shay Shay” interview earlier this week.
In response to Williams questioning the credibility of Hart’s rise to stardom over the past several decades, Hart dismissed the “Friday After Next” actor’s comments in a tweet, writing, “Gotta get that anger up outcha champ.”
“It’s honestly sad,” the “Ride Along” and “Jumanji” star added.
Hart went on to promote his upcoming Netflix comedy, “Lift,” taking another shot at Williams: “In the meantime…. Please enjoy MY MOVIE TRAILER. ... There’s a moment in the trailer where [co-star Gugu Mbatha-Raw] says, ‘They Really Love You’ ...I now know she’s talking about ‘Katt.‘”
Katt Williams revived his longtime beef with Cedric the Entertainer, whom Williams has accused of stealing his ‘best joke’ more than 20 years ago.
During his no-holds-barred interview with former NFL star and media personality Shannon Sharpe, Williams fired off insults and candid revelations about a long list of other comedians and performers, including Steve Harvey and Chris Tucker. He notably rehashed accusations against Cedric the Entertainer over an allegedly stolen joke and named Hart among the other casualties, calling “The Big House” alum an industry “plant” who was hand-picked by Hollywood studios, undercutting Hart’s narrative about being a self-made artist.
“No one in Hollywood has a memory of going to a sold-out Kevin Hart show, there being a line for him, ever getting a standing ovation at any comedy club,” Williams told Sharpe.
“He already had his deals when he got here,” he continued. “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 that person, or since that person. What do you think a ‘plant’ is?”
Kevin Hart invited me to join him at his four-day birthday blowout in Vegas. Here’s what I learned about him as a person and a brand.
The comedians have publicly tussled in the past, particularly when Hart defended his frequent collaborator Tiffany Haddish. In 2018, while a guest on a radio morning show on Atlanta’s V-103, Williams attacked Haddish’s stand-up comedy abilities, commenting, “She has not proven the ability to tell jokes back-to-back for an hour to nobody.” He went on to suggest that her fame was due to making jokes that pander to white audiences and implied that she lied about an abusive former partner and went on to profit from it with her memoir, “The Last Black Unicorn.”
Haddish responded to his remarks and seemed to squash the beef with Williams at the 2018 Emmy Awards, where they both walked away with trophies. Then, while Hart and Haddish were promoting their film “Night School” on the radio show “The Breakfast Club,” Hart came to her defense. He said Williams already had his shot in Hollywood and blew it because he “didn’t show up to work,” would allegedly blow off his promo shoots and trips and “became a risk to the studios, which is why the studios stopped f— with you.” Haddish could be seen nodding along to his remarks. Hart also accused Williams of choosing drugs over his career.
In the “Shay Shay” interview, Williams addressed Hart’s 2018 statements, commenting that he had never scared off studios — directing Sharpe to check his IMDb profile — and denied taking drugs, saying, “I’m never under the influence of anything.” He also called out Haddish again, attacking her stand-up résumé. She quickly responded on Instagram by saying she wasn’t mad at Williams but that he got his facts wrong and that she would “send him a reminder text” before comparing him to Charleston White, an online personality known for making controversial statements, including disparaging remarks about George Floyd and his family.
Tiffany Haddish raved about Beverly Hills’ jail in her Christmas set at the Laugh Factory, discussing her DUI arrest and reflecting on what she’s learned.
Aside from Hart and Haddish, rapper-actor Ludacris also appeared to clap back at Williams, posting a short rap freestyle video. In perhaps his most unhinged comments of the “Shay Shay” interview, Williams claimed Ludacris joined “the Illuminati” and cut a deal with them to cut his hair and sideburns in exchange for being in 20 movies for $200 million, referring to the musician’s “Fast & Furious” films. He also insulted Ludacris’ wife’s appearance and skin color.
Although Ludacris never mentioned Williams by name, his verse seemed to reference much of the comic’s remarks. In the video, taken inside a recording studio, Ludacris rapped over an instrumental version of Ye’s “Devil in a New Dress”: “Never been Illuminati, only ill Luda naughty.”
“RIP John Singleton, you never have to flex / when you earn every one of your ‘Fast & Furious’ checks,” he added in later bars, closing with, “Afro with the sideburns, yeah that’s my signature / Addictions on the rise, comedians check your temperature.”
Previously, Williams was featured on the album version of Ludacris’ 2004 hit single, “Pimpin’ All Over the World,” delivering a comedic bit in the outro of the track.
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