On the Confessions of Black Hollywood and the Uncomfortable Truths about the Pursuit of Celebrity.
Katt Williams and others have long sounded alarms about what some folks in 'Black Hollywood' are willing to do to keep their names in lights. Maybe we should start listening more closely.
NFL Hall of Famer, Shannon Sharpe kicked off 2024 with a bang when he invited inimitable comedy legend, Katt Williams to be a guest on his Club Shay Shay podcast. For nearly three hours Sharpe sat across from Williams, with glasses of cognac and a wide-opened mouth as Williams unloaded on some extremely high-profile comics, dished out a slew of entertainment industry secrets, and called several Black Hollywood dignitaries out for their alleged immoralities.
The interview was published on January 4, and as of this writing, it has amassed over 25 million views, becoming the single most-watched episode of Club Shay Shay. It has solidified itself as not only one of the first mega-viral moments of the new year but also one that will be perpetually referenced throughout the year.
Again, it’s only the first week of 2024.
Ahead of its release, Sharpe said his team advised him the interview would “break the internet,” but he was admittedly skeptical about how far it would reach until it aired and clips from the interview lit up social media. Williams, who for the past 25+ years has been an indisputable fixture in the realm of Black comedy, pulled no punches in airing out his grievances with fellow titans of Black comedy such as Kevin Hart, Steve Harvey, Cedric the Entertainer, Rickey Smiley, and a host of others.
From accusations of creative/intellectual theft to claims of sexual improprieties committed on the road to stardom, Williams emptied a full clip at several of his peers, many of whom have gone on record to accuse Williams of being a drug addict, and a person of grand delusion.
Williams’ scathing critiques were not uncharted territory, celebrities have publicly flogged their contemporaries before — however, one key distinction was there were more than a few things he mentioned that were easy to verify the receipts to back up many of the claims.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Observations In Blackness by Donney Rose to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.