On Wednesday (Nov. 20), GQ published the latest installment of their “Men of the Year” series with Katt Williams. In the interview, the comedian was asked about his viral interview on “Club Shay Shay” and whether competition fueled his comments about several entertainers during the fiery sit-down.
“No,” he said in response. “For all sports, you have to be good enough to get in the league. And we had a league – comedy – where that didn’t apply. We had a league where a person could walk across the street and say, ‘I’m a comedian!’ We all wanted to believe that it was about who was the funniest. And if it’s that, then there’s no problems. But when there are other factors, that’s when it gets hectic.”
Williams continued by explaining how he'd been motivated by his own career struggles, something that he didn't want for his peers. “I was trying to make this safe place for Black actors and comedians, where the politics, and the hierarchy, and the casting couch didn’t apply,” he expressed. “My whole career I was trying to do good Black business that you could be proud of. And it was always stopped.”
“Club Shay Shay” host Shannon Sharpe also chimed in for GQ’s feature. “I never in a million years thought that everything that transpired would happen,” he admitted. “If you notice, after I introduce him and we taste my cognac, I’m about to go into my questions. He takes off. As the interviewer, I have to make a split-second decision. Do I cut him off and go where I originally wanted to go, or do I let him go? And in that split second, I let him go.”
As REVOLT previously reported, Williams took aim at Steve Harvey, Tiffany Haddish, Ludacris, Rickey Smiley, and many others in his “Club Shay Shay” interview. Many of those he named have since responded through different platforms.