9 thoughts, prayers and concerns about Katt Williams’ interview on Shannon Sharpe’s ‘Club Shay Shay’ podcast
OPINION: The GOAT-level comedian went on “Club Shay Shay,” chose violence and shot up the club.
Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.
2024 sure did start with a bang, no? We haven’t even made it to the first weekend of the year, and we already have our first viral moments with some memeable activity to boot. In case you actually live under a rock, comedian and rabble-rouser Katt Williams went on Shannon Sharpe’s “Club Shay Shay” podcast and let the choppa spray. For those who don’t know, “let the choppa spray,” in this context, is slang for going on to this show and taking shots at a litany of peers and individuals while naming names. Basically, Katt Williams shot the club up. Katt’s appearance has had the social media streets on fire and has 2024 already feeling spicy. Oh, why did he go on “Club Shay Shay”? Well, according to Katt, he went up there because Shannon allowed certain individuals to sit on his couch and tell bold-faced lies that Katt needed to address and correct. Well, alright.
Well since Katt done gone and opened the door, and since me and you, your momma and your cousin, too, are talking about this interview, I figured I’d go on ahead and share some thoughts, prayers and concerns I had. You don’t mind, do you? Good. Sit a spell.
Also, I don’t know how many views most episodes of “Club Shay Shay” get, but right now, as of this writing, a nearly three-hour episode has over eight million views. Whew, chile, y’all is messy.
1. Katt Williams is one petty individual who clearly isn’t concerned about folks’ feelings or playing nice in the sandbox. And forgets nothing.
Katt came up there with smoke for Cedric the Entertainer, Steve Harvey, Michael Blackson, Faizon Love, Kevin Hart, Rickey Smiley, Gary Owens, Earthquake, etc. It’s like Katt’s been waiting for the right time to come and call out folks talent, skills, content quality, you name it. The episode was almost three hours long and for the entirety of the interview, Katt kept bringing the shade back to Ced, Steve, Kevin, Rickey and Faizon, in particular. Other folks, like Martin Lawrence, caught strays. It was a clinic in both being messy and speaking truth to power.
For the record, I think it’s safe to say all those chaps he fired off on don’t have much love for him either.
2. Katt ain’t have to show up on this show talking about the truth and then tell us he read 3,000 books a year from ages 8-12.
Listen, I don’t mind Katt getting everything off of his chest, fact or opinion. I don’t mind him taking aim at everybody he claims is lying in Shannon’s face, and by proxy, the public’s face. What I do mind, though, is Katt telling us that he read eight books a day for four years as a preteen. And let me go on and acknowledge that perhaps it’s … possible. My toddler has a lot of books that have like one sentence per page and 10 pages. I’m guessing that’s NOT what he meant. I don’t care how voracious a reader you are, eight books a day and thus 3,000 books a year seemed like an unnecessary … “fact.” We didn’t need numbers, Katt.
3. I mean this in the nicest way possible: Shannon is a terrible interviewer.
He’s not alone in this not being a skill set he possesses. Noreaga is also terrible at this. Lots of people who have podcasts aren’t good at interviewing people. I don’t think I’m that good at it. The more you do the more it makes you appreciate the skill that actually goes into being good at conducting interviews. Shannon was asking random questions at random times for the entire interview. What it does highlight, though, and the reason I mentioned Noreaga with Shannon, is that you cannot put a price on access and familiarity. These former athletes and artists who know all these folks they speak with personally get information that mainstream outlets would never get. You would never get this interview ANYWHERE else. And that’s why these athletes and entertainers have taken over this space.
4. “You have an unnatural allegiance to losers …” might be the best roast we hear all year.
When Katt told this to Shannon as he spoke about how good he thought Faizon Love was as Big Worm, I had to pause the episode and laugh. Then I hit rewind and watched him say it again. The smoothness with which he let Shannon know that he needed to do better was a thing to behold.
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5. It’s clear a lot of y’all didn’t watch the whole thing and only watched clips you saw on social media.
I knew this to be true once I realized that I didn’t see not one piece of commentary on Shannon saying that you have to treat women with kid gloves, I’m sorry, females with kid gloves because they don’t want equality in all spaces. He said this in response to Katt speaking about his issues with Wanda Smith on the radio in Atlanta. Point is, Shannon kinda sorta cleaned it up, but not really, but I didn’t see a peep about it. That’s good for Shannon but clearly, y’all all ain’t watch the whole thing. It’s long, I get it.
6. Seriously, 3,000 books a year? Come on, son.
Sorry, I can’t get past that.
7. I really want to see Katt Williams’ contract that says he won’t work with Rickey Smiley again (or wouldn’t back then) unless Rickey wore a dress.
That’s such a specific and odd clause to put in your contract out of spite. If the producers of “First Sunday,” the next film they worked in together did, in fact, have Rickey Smiley in a dress because of Katt Williams, then Katt might be the greatest troll of all time. How do you walk into a meeting and say, I won’t be in this movie in which I’m not starring unless you make this other grown man wear a dress. And it happens. I’m just saying that I would like to see the contract.
8. Katt said that comedians don’t get booed enough. Man, that right there? Deep.
He was talking about Michael Blackson and claimed that not getting booed enough is how you get a real African (Michael Blackson is Ghanaian) doing a fake African accent as part of his schtick. Look, I don’t have an opinion on Michael Blackson, but I do think the idea of comedians basically running roughshod and creating personas that folks more or less tolerate does create some less-than-stellar and lazy comics. But that’s the same with any industry. I’m just saying, the idea itself is deep. But it’s an every creative industry problem, not just comedy.
9. I feel like if Kanye West never does the craziest interview of all time on “Drink Champs” (or anywhere else he’s been in the past few years really) this interview seems WAY crazier than it is.
Kanye’s craziness has leveled up the shock game so much that hearing Katt Williams go off, while surprising, also didn’t feel THAT out of place or surprising. It was more that he decided to let the choppa spray than what he said. I think we are in such a place where we get insane convos out of people nowadays that while I learned a lot about the comedy world, it just felt like another Tuesday in Black America. I’m not sure this is a good thing.
Panama Jackson is a columnist at theGrio. He writes very Black things, drinks very brown liquors, and is pretty fly for a light guy. His biggest accomplishment to date coincides with his Blackest accomplishment to date in that he received a phone call from Oprah Winfrey after she read one of his pieces (biggest), but he didn’t answer the phone because the caller ID said: “Unknown” (Blackest).
Make sure you check out the Dear Culture podcast every Thursday on theGrio’s Black Podcast Network, where I’ll be hosting some of the Blackest conversations known to humankind. You might not leave the convo with an afro, but you’ll definitely be looking for your Afro Sheen! Listen to Dear Culture on TheGrio’s app; download it here.
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