Box office movie star Marlon Wayans is known for his unfiltered comedic style, but he believes that comedy has become too politically correct.
In his latest comedy special, “Good Grief,” the 51-year-old funnyman-turned-producer channels his personal loss into a tribute project, honoring his recently deceased parents.
But while talking about the state of his industry, Wayans explained that comedy should be an escape for people where they can respect each other and laugh with each other. However, he further emphasizes that this doesn’t mean comedians should say just anything that comes to mind, especially if it involves attacking fellow comics.
He also expressed disappointment over the contentious remarks made by Katt Williams during his “Club Shay Shay” interview where Williams criticized some of the industry’s top Black comedians, a moment many found both unfortunate and divisive.
“I think this is a gentleman’s game,” says Wayans in a People magazine interview released this week. “It’s comedy. I don’t like all of the disharmony.”
He continued, “I think for comedy and Black comedy, it’s important for people to see love, respect and laughter. Not everybody has that experience, but that’s the experience that I come from.”
Marlon is the youngest in the first generation of the Wayans, a clan considered to be one of Black comedy’s greatest dynasties.
His eldest brother Keenan Wayans not only was the creator and showrunner for the Emmy-winning show “In Living Color,” but he also provided the platform that launched the careers of David Alan Grier, Jim Carrey, Tommy Davidson, Jamie Foxx and four siblings: Kim, Damon, Shawn and Marlon. It was also the program that helped catapult the young Fox Broadcasting Company into a major force in network television.
With that kind of pedigree and camaraderie, Marlon says his respect for his peers would never have allowed him to put them on blast as Williams did.
“I’m not going to sit there and talk bad, even if I have a problem with somebody, I’ll probably call them up and have a sit-down,” he stated. “And if there is a beef with Dave or Katt or somebody, I’ll be the first to get on the phone with Dave and call Katt’s people, me and Rick Grant like, ‘Yo, let’s set a meeting.'”
He continued, “To see our heroes fight, I don’t think that’s why we’re here. We are here to be examples, not just in the industry, but with our behavior. We’re here to be examples for those coming up behind us.”
This sentiment was shared in 2023 in Marlon’s HBO Max special “God Loves Me. On the show, he tackled his emotions about Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars over a comment directed at his longtime friend, Will’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.
Similarly, he expressed a need for each party to have a honest but private conversation as a step toward healing.
This approach is starkly different than the one that the “Woke Foke” comedian took during his sit-down with Shannon Sharpe in January.
In Williams’ episode, which has been viewed 70 million times in the past 5 months, he singled out comedians Cedric the Entertainer, Ricky Smiley, Kevin Hart, Steve Harvey, Faison Love and others, claiming that they were either not funny, stole jokes, both.
Katt Williams says Cedric the Entertainer stole one of his jokes, Ced clears the air pic.twitter.com/mQ5W9iUu6r
— shannon sharpe (@ShannonSharpe) November 22, 2022
Cedric has denied the accusations and questioned why Williams has never approached him directly about his beef.
Hart previously claimed that drugs ruined Williams career, insinuating that the “Pimpin Pimpin” star was lashing out because of failures in show business.
While Williams celebrated Dave Chappelle as the king and spoke highly of him, the Washington, D.C., native Chappelle publicly stated that he also believed that Williams’ comments should not have been shared publicly.
“I’ve been doing comedy for almost 40 years and I’m only 50 years old,” Chappelle said during a set in Los Angeles. “What part of the game is this? He ethered n—gas. He didn’t say anything about any of these white boys. None of these white boys function like that.”
“Katt is one of the best painters in the game. So why are you drawing ugly pictures of us?” Chappelle said.
Marlon’s new special, “Good Grief,” was shot at the Apollo in 2023 and premiered on Amazon Prime on June 4.
