Katt Williams unleashed a can of worms with his viral interview at the top of the year, where he called out several fellow comedians and renewed his feud with Kevin Hart.
Williams has voiced his disdain for the “Ride Along” actor for years, but he recently claimed that Hart was an industry plant who sold his soul for success. He further dismissed Hart’s notion that his rumored addiction derailed his career, adding Hart took movie roles that he once passed on.
Hart initially responded to Williams’ criticism by saying, “Gotta get that anger up outcha champ. It’s honestly sad.” A week later, he would say, “You don’t entertain the circus, you watch it.” He was further asked about those remarks during an interview shared by The Wall Street Journal and stated, “It’s entertainment.”
“If that’s what he fuels himself off, God bless him. Good for him,” said Hart. “I hope he gets all that he needs and he wants, and I’m here for him from afar…. That’s my real energy. I really mean it! That’s how happy and secure I am with my career and my life.”
On the one thing he would say to his haters, he said, “It’s OK, It’s not that serious, I don’t like every movie I watch, I don’t like every singer, I don’t like every rapper. I understand. But then I also know there’s this crazy volume of people all over the world that have bought tickets and still buy tickets to go see Kevin Hart.”
Gotta get that anger up outcha champ….It’s honestly sad. In the meantime…. Please enjoy MY MOVIE TRAILER to my next film “LIFT” which will be dropping on @netflix in 8 days!!!!! There is a moment in the trailer where @gugumbatharaw says “They Really Love You” ….I now know… pic.twitter.com/vM8PhVoC08
— Kevin Hart (@KevinHart4real) January 4, 2024
Williams’ appearance on the “Club Shay Shay” podcast went viral following its release, after he verbally eviscerated Hart’s career in entertainment. He claimed that no one had every been to a “sold-out” Kevin Hart show, while noting that the acting roles Hart has portrayed were initially brought to him first.
“For a five-year period, every single movie that Kevin Hart did was a movie that had been on my desk that all I had said was, ‘Just can we take some of this Stepin Fetchit s–t out and then I can do it?” Williams explained to host Shannon Sharpe. “And me saying that and them going, ‘Oh yeah, no problem,’ and then going to give it to this other guy and having him do it just like it was, acting like I’m a bad person because I keep standing on my standards.”
He also called Hart a “gatekeeper.”
After Williams’ interview, Hart’s ex-wife, Torrei Hart revealed that she was going on tour his Dark Matter Tour, sparking criticism about her “working with the opps.” Torrei later explained that Williams played a role in helping to advance her career more than her ex-husband had.
The former pair dated for one year before getting married in 2003 and bonded over their love for comedy, so much so that Torrei wrote jokes for Kevin during the early years of his career and served as inspiration for skits in a few of his comedy specials. However, they divorced in 2011 due to infidelity on Kevin’s part and he later married his current wife, Eniko Hart.
It’s unclear if Williams has been made aware of Hart’s recent comments, which appear to be less harsh. But that doesn’t mean Hart may not catch or stray or two during Wiliams’ “Dark Matters” comedy tour, also joined by comedienne Mo’Nique.
