Interview With Issa Rae, Keke Palmer and SZA
Subtitles
  • Off
  • English

A Year Later, Was Katt Williams Right? Here Are All the Celebs He Dragged

A Year Later, Was Katt Williams Right? Here Are All the Celebs He Dragged

The controversial comedian 'opened the portal' to hateration and holleration thanks to his viral Club Shay Shay interview earlier this year.

We may earn a commission from links on this page.
Start Slideshow
Start Slideshow
Katt Williams at the 2024 GQ Men Of The Year Party at Bar Marmont on November 14, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.
Katt Williams at the 2024 GQ Men Of The Year Party at Bar Marmont on November 14, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.
Photo: Chad Salvador/Variety (Getty Images)

It’s no secret that Katt Williams had a truly crazy and arguably extremely satifying year in 2024 after his viral interview with Shannon Sharpe for his “Club Shay Shay” podcast was publicized back in January.

Advertisement

As extensively covered by The Root, we’ve kept you abreast of all the initial reactions in the immediate aftermath but now that it’s been months and the year is coming to a close—let’s take a look at where a handful of the people who were mentioned in the interview are now and how they’ve faired since the wild interview.

Advertisement
Previous Slide
Next Slide

2 / 18

Sean “Diddy” Combs

Sean “Diddy” Combs

Katt Williams on Diddy, Harvey Weinstein, R. Kelly And Michael Jackson | CLUB SHAY SHAY

Though Williams didn’t spend too much time talking about Diddy in the viral interview, he was sure to use him as an example of the types of people who’d be on the losing end of the stick this year.

Advertisement

“All of these big dick deviants is all catching hell in 2024,” Williams said to host Shannon Sharpe at the time. “It’s up for all of them. It don’t matter if you Diddy or whoever you is…all lies will be exposed.”

Advertisement
Previous Slide
Next Slide

3 / 18

Sean “Diddy” Combs Now

Sean “Diddy” Combs Now

Sean “Diddy” Combs attends Sean “Diddy” Combs Fulfills $1 Million Pledge To Howard University At Howard Homecoming – Yardfest at Howard University on October 20, 2023 in Washington, DC.
Sean “Diddy” Combs attends Sean “Diddy” Combs Fulfills $1 Million Pledge To Howard University At Howard Homecoming – Yardfest at Howard University on October 20, 2023 in Washington, DC.
Photo: Shareif Ziyadat for Sean “Diddy” Combs (Getty Images)

While Williams verbalized a sort of premonition in January, it would be nine more months until the now disgraced Bad Boy mogul would be arrested and federally indicted on charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion, and transportation to engage in prostitution. Having been in jail since September 2024, Diddy is set to go to trial in May 2025.

Advertisement

He’s also since been the subject of a myriad of lawsuits since his arrest though he maintains his innocence for them all. He has yet to respond to any of Williams’ claims.

Advertisement
Previous Slide
Next Slide

4 / 18

Tyler Perry

Tyler Perry

Advertisement

Williams didn’t spend too much time talking about Perry but he did whack him a few times when he mentioned that the prolific writer/director/producer “couldn’t play a man to save his life” and that’s why he always has to wear a dress when he acts. He also alleged that Perry never put any other actor on or make them super famous nor should he be the only one out here paying Black actors what they’re worth.

The latter claim was further echoed in another interview with GQ back in Nov.

Advertisement
Previous Slide
Next Slide

5 / 18

Tyler Perry

Tyler Perry

Tyler Perry attends the premiere of Netflix’s “The Six Triple Eight” at The Egyptian Theatre Hollywood on December 03, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.
Tyler Perry attends the premiere of Netflix’s “The Six Triple Eight” at The Egyptian Theatre Hollywood on December 03, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.
Photo: Matt Winkelmeyer (Getty Images)

As of Dec. 2024, Perry never took the time to address Williams. Instead he devoted his time making sure his new film “The Six Triple Eight” was good and released on Netflix to much success. He’s also currently dealing with the grief over the loss of his mother and most recently the death of the CEO to his production company who was killed in a plane crash at the top of Dec.

Advertisement
Previous Slide
Next Slide

6 / 18

Rickey Smiley

Rickey Smiley

Katt Williams on Rickey Smiley | CLUB SHAY SHAY

When it came to fellow comedian Rickey Smiley, Williams grievances with him revolved around the fact that he, just like Perry, was only a good actor if he could only play a woman role. He also responded to Smiley’s claims he made on an earlier “Club Shay Shay” episode that the roles both comedians played in 2002’s “Friday After Next” were supposed to be reversed.

Advertisement

He also claimed that he deliberately put a clause in his contract that he’d only work with Smiley again if he was wearing a dress.

“Now, what was Rickey Smiley’s next movie? Was it ‘First Sunday’? Did he wear a dress in it? You bet he did,” Williams said. “It’s in my contract. That’s where he’s a believable actor. Him and Tyler Perry can’t play a man to save their life. They play good women. And I believe that the best actors should be in the best roles.”

Advertisement
Previous Slide
Next Slide

7 / 18

Rickey Smiley Now

Rickey Smiley Now

Rickey Smiley responds to Katt Williams’s comments on Shannon Sharpe’s podcast

Not too long after the interview aired, Smiley took to his popular radio talk show to address Williams and said that he and his family were “hurt” by his allegations but ultimately went high despite Williams’ decision to go low.

Advertisement
Previous Slide
Next Slide

8 / 18

Steve Harvey

Steve Harvey

Katt Williams on Steve Harvey | CLUB SHAY SHAY

In addition to claiming that Harvey stole the premise of “The Steve Harvey Show” from Mark Curry’s “Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper,” Williams also alleged that the comedian was also wearing a wig on the show as well—which took many on social media by surprise.

Advertisement
Previous Slide
Next Slide

9 / 18

Steve Harvey Now

Steve Harvey Now

Advertisement

Speaking at Invest Fest in Atlanta back in Aug., Harvey was heard in a clip recorded by an attendee admonishing the audience to disregard “haters” as he does. But he also made it clear that if push came to shove—he would handle business:

“You’ll never have a hater that’s doing better than you, always know that. Don’t get off the wall to address some penny-any-ass boy who ain’t got shit going for himself. Now you done stopped your climb on up the wall so you can come down here and talk to his little punk ass.

Don’t do that, man! I stay away from it. Now do I want to [confront it]? Yes, because I’m a human being. And I’m hood. I used to be a fighter and I still got hands. They slow, but if you get up on me real close, I can still knock yo’ monkey ass out.”

While he didn’t mention Williams by name, many online took this as his clapback due to his aforementioned comments and Harvey’s use of the descriptors “little,” “short,” and “perm.”

Advertisement
Previous Slide
Next Slide

10 / 18

Cedric the Entertainer

Cedric the Entertainer

Katt Williams On Cedric The Entertainer & Steve Harvey | CLUB SHAY SHAY

In one of the more personal drags, Williams alleged that that Cedric closed his “The Original Kings of Comedy” routine with a barely altered version of his biggest joke at the time over 20 years ago.

Advertisement

“He thought that I was just a no-name comedian and that he could take this joke and nobody would know,” Williams said. Additionally, he took shots at “The Neighborhood” actor’s weight and comedic prowess alleging that his stand-up routines weren’t good and that streamers like Netflix and Tubi would pass on them because they sucked so bad.

Advertisement
Previous Slide
Next Slide

11 / 18

Cedric the Entertainer Now

Cedric the Entertainer Now

Advertisement

In the immediate aftemath, Cedric responded by posting up in the comments section of “Club Shay Shay’s” Instagram page, describing Williams’ version of events as “revisionist history:”

“And all that tough talk! Is corny af I’m grown ass man. And none of that shit gonna go like you think. You do you and I got this over here,” he said.

Later, in March, when he sat down for an interview for Springhill Company’s “The Shop,” Cedric further addressed the comments saying that the situation was a moment where Williams was trying to claim cultural appropriation and questioned why the two of them never had a personal conversation about their issues before when they shared the same space prior to the now infamous interview.

Advertisement
Previous Slide
Next Slide

12 / 18

Bishop T.D. Jakes

Bishop T.D. Jakes

Katt Williams on Diddy, Harvey Weinstein, R. Kelly And Michael Jackson | CLUB SHAY SHAY

Though Williams’ comments about popular megachurch pastor Bishop T.D. Jakes were brief, he managed to lump him along with people like Diddy and other “big dick deviants” who were going to get exposed in 2024.

Advertisement
Previous Slide
Next Slide

13 / 18

Bishop T.D. Jakes Now

Bishop T.D. Jakes Now

Bishop T.D. Jakes speaks on stage during day 3 of the Cry Out 2024 at George R. Brown Convention Center on June 23, 2024 in Houston, Texas.
Bishop T.D. Jakes speaks on stage during day 3 of the Cry Out 2024 at George R. Brown Convention Center on June 23, 2024 in Houston, Texas.
Photo: Marcus Ingram (Getty Images)

In the months following Williams’ comments, Jakes never took the time to address him. However, when he suffered a health scare at the end of a Sunday morning service, many took to social media to allege that it was somehow some sort of divine payback for all the alleged wrongdoing he’d done and/or been privy too in tandem with Diddy.

Advertisement

Once again, Jakes stayed silent, but he did post a positive health update to his congregants and followers a few days later.

“I am grateful to God for his goodness and his mercy and his grace. Many of you don’t realize that you’re looking at a miracle. I faced a life-threatening calamity. I was rushed to the ICU unit. I had emergency surgery,” he explained before sharing how he’d take some time to heal before getting back to business as usual.

Advertisement
Previous Slide
Next Slide

14 / 18

Kevin Hart

Kevin Hart

Katt Williams on Kevin Hart | CLUB SHAY SHAY

In addition to calling Hart an “industry plant,” Williams also questioned his swift rise to success in the industry and alleged that “for a five-year period, every single movie that Kevin Hart did was a movie that had been on my desk.”

Advertisement

The issues between the two comedian’s all started after Hart had some choice words for the “First Sunday” star during an interview on “The Breakfast Club” promoting his 2018 film “Night School.”

Advertisement
Previous Slide
Next Slide

15 / 18

Kevin Hart Now

Kevin Hart Now

Out Of Context: Kevin Hart And Charlamagne Tha God

Though Hart initially said addressing Williams wasn’t “worth my time for a response or an engagement,” and was “extremely beneath” him—Hart later reflected on his role in his “beef” with Williams, explaining in an interview with Charlamagne tha God in Sep., that he regretted even entertaining Williams’ comments.

Advertisement

“I should never address him, at all. I don’t have to. Like, why? What will it do for me? What will I gain? There’s no gain,” Hart said before later adding: “If I’m investing in something, what is my return? If I can’t answer that question, then it doesn’t get energy.”

Advertisement
Previous Slide
Next Slide

16 / 18

Ludacris

Ludacris

Katt Williams on Ludacris | CLUB SHAY SHAY

In a truly wild moment, Williams alleged that rapper Ludacris only landed his role in the “Fast & Furious” franchise because he was associated with the Illuminati.

Advertisement

“There was a crossroads where we were both invited to an Illuminati thing, and it had to be one or the other of us and decisions had to be made,” Williams explained. “So it was both of us, we were equal. One of us had to cut off all their hair and couldn’t do the sideburn thing no more with the points.”

He continued: “The next person they said was going to get $200 million because they were going to pay him $10 million a movie to do 20 movies. And that’s how the conversation happened. One of those persons turned out to be Ludacris, and the other person turned out to be Katt Williams.”

Advertisement
Previous Slide
Next Slide

17 / 18

Ludacris Now

Ludacris Now

Advertisement

In response to Williams’ allegations, Luda did what all rappers who are challenged should do—he went in the studio and recorded a few verses. Refuting the claims that he was a part of the Illuminati, the nearly one-minute-long clip did just enough to keep Williams from uttering his name again in some more mess—even though he did clap back in a rap song of his own. So who’s to say it won’t happen again in 2025.

Advertisement