The origins of Kevin Hart’s success continue to be debated days after Katt Williams claimed that his comedy peer was shown favoritism by Hollywood’s decision-makers.
The controversial perspective on how the “Real Husbands of Hollywood” co-creator managed to go from a novice stand-up act to one of the industry’s biggest names spilled out when Williams went viral for his “Club Shay Shay” podcast appearance on Jan. 3.
“In 15 years in Hollywood, no one has a memory of going to a sold out Kevin Hart show, [there] being a line for him, him getting a standing ovation at any comedy club,” said the Emmy winner about his fellow “Wild ’n Out” alum.
Williams further pleaded his case that the entertainer did not grind his way to stardom when he stated, “He already had his deals when he got here. Have we heard of a comedian that came to LA and, in his first year in LA, is on his own sitcom on network television, and had his own movie called Soul Plane, and he was leading? No. We’ve never heard of that before that person or since that person. What do you think a plant is?”
On the new episode of “The Brilliant Idiots” podcast, hosts Charlamagne Tha God and Andrew Schulz hit back at the remarks. “I saw Katt say something too about Kevin Hart… Kevin Hart’s come-up wasn’t organic. I totally disagree with that,” said “The Breakfast Club” personality. “I totally disagree with that, and the reason I totally disagree with that is because we watched Kev not succeed in Hollywood. We watched his NBC sitcom, I think it was NBC, we watched his sitcom not succeed in Hollywood. We watched Soul Plane not do well,” he continued.
Schulz would go on to note that the comedy box office juggernaut’s presence on the stand-up scene was something that could not be denied despite Williams attempt to do so. Piggybacking on those comments, Charlamagne recalled Hart hitting his stride in the comedy circuit and building a loyal following who stuck with him as he generated more entertainment opportunities.
The HartBeat Productions founder has not directly addressed Williams’ remarks about him, but he did, however, roast his peer live on ESPN’s “NBA Unplugged with Kevin Hart.” Other comics called out on the podcast have also issued reactions.