Je’Niece McCullough, the daughter of late comedy great Bernie Mac, has finally weighed in on Katt Williams’ interview, which has amassed more than 29 million views for the “Club Shay Shay” podcast in four days.
Steering clear of the more controversial remarks that came from the nearly three-hour episode, McCollough instead chose to focus on Williams’ expression of praise for her father while calling out comedians, namely Steve Harvey, who allegedly tried to slight Mac before he passed away at the age of 50 in 2008.
“I don’t know Katt Williams; [I] never met him. That’s one person I never did get to meet when my dad was alive, but from everything I’ve ever heard my dad, you know, say, he’s always seemed like a stand-up dude,” said McCullough in a video shared across social media on Saturday (Jan. 6). She noted that the interview was hilarious and that the Friday After Next actor shed light on how cutthroat their industry can be.
In the podcast, Williams told host Shannon Sharpe that he was asked to join The Original Kings of Comedy— Harvey, Cedric The Entertainer and D.L. Hughley — after Mac’s exit. After the success of their years-long comedy tour and film, the group had a falling out, but Williams passed on the opportunity to join, citing Harvey’s alleged attempts to derail the Friday actor’s pursuit of a television and movie career.
“You think I’mma let you s**t on Bernie and then come get me? I’m the next king? F**k you. Why? ’Cause the whole time Bernie was here, you was acting like you was funnier than him. The reason you was supposed to go last is ‘cause it was your tour. Tell the truth. It was Steve’s tour… But you couldn’t do it ‘cause you can’t beat the best,” he said.
McCollough said she has the “utmost appreciation and respect” for the Pimp Chronicles jokester for his remarks. “I felt like it was genuine. There are some people who have given my dad his flowers now that he’s dead that I’m looking at like, ‘Now, you know doggone well you wasn’t doing that when he was alive.’ And that’s not just famous people, just people all across the board.”
She explained that Williams’ praise for her father was proof that the late comedian was a man of integrity. “It does my heart good that my dad was a stand-up guy, the man that I knew him to be was who he actually was to people — ‘cause that’s a thing, like, we can love people and think they one way… and find out later.”
McCollough continued, “I just really appreciate what I believe [is] genuine love and respect that Katt Williams showed my father.” She added that she is open to having a sit-down with Williams. In October, she launched the “Bernie’s Daughter Podcast” and has featured his former “The Bernie Mac Show” co-stars and comedians Mo’Nique and Cedric.