Comedian Katt Williams has thrown his take on cancel culture into the ring — and he doesn’t think it’s all that bad.
On an episode of the Joe Budden Podcast that released on June 4, Williams discussed his upcoming film, “The House Next Door: Meet the Blacks 2,” and the conversation soon turned to comedy in the age of the internet.
“Where do you stand on comics’ ability to be comics without judgement and repercussions from cancel culture?” Budden asked Williams, who replied with several fitting analogies.
“Some of these things are for the benefit of everything. Nobody likes the speed limit, but it’s necessary. Nobody likes the shoulder of the road, but it’s there for a reason,” Williams said. “My point is, [people] weren’t all that extremely funny back when they could say whatever they wanted to say. At the end of the day, there’s no cancel culture. Cancellation doesn’t have its own culture.”
Williams then continued to elaborate on his point, arguing that changing one’s language to be more sensitive won’t hurt any comedians’ careers.
“I don’t know what people got cancelled that we wish we had back. Who are they? It’s done for the reasons it’s done for and it helped who it helped,” Williams said. “If all that’s going to happen is that we have to be more sensitive in the way that we talk, isn’t that what we want anyway? I’m saying, your job as a comedian is to please the most amount of people with your art. So if you wanna offend somebody, nobody took those words away from you… But don’t call somebody this word when you know it affects all of these people.”
He then concluded that if comics feel uncomfortable with cancel culture, they may want to reconsider their career path.
“If these are the confines that keep you from doing the craft god put you to, then it probably ain’t for you,” Williams said. “Growth is part of being an adult.”
Hollywood was quick to take to Twitter to praise Williams for his words. Some even pointed out the irony of Williams making this statement on Budden’s podcast, which has found itself in the center of controversy recently following the firing of co-hosts Rory Farrell and Jamil “Mal” Clay and allegations of sexual harassment against Budden from fellow podcaster Olivia Dope, for which he then apologized. See Twitter reactions below.
Even Katt Williams gets it. https://t.co/lkEnZZ0qWh
— Franklin Leonard (@franklinleonard) June 5, 2021
Katt Williams breaking down cancel culture is an act of brilliance. To do it on Joe Budden’s show is also simultaneously tragic and extra hilarious. https://t.co/1l6qtvydgm
— Sil Lai Abrams AKA Alecto (@Sil_Lai) June 5, 2021
THIS is the proper answer to cancel culture questions to comedians. Katt Williams nails it. https://t.co/MR1Qx86nZx
— JEN KIRKMAN (@JenKirkman) June 5, 2021
It’s just that simple. Katt Williams makes it plain. https://t.co/MOZiizOMOn
— W. Kamau Bell (@wkamaubell) June 5, 2021
Watch Williams’ full interview here.
