"At least he paid people I guess" — Netizens react to Damon Wayans calling Robin Williams a "notorious thief" of jokes

Damon Wayans recently stirred up a social media storm after calling the late Robin Williams a "notorious thief" on the Club Shay Shay podcast episode aired on April 2, 2025. The veteran comedian alleged that Williams regularly stole jokes during his stand-up days and paid off the original writers through his manager.

“You know Robin Williams was a notorious thief. His manager used to walk around with a chequebook, and Robin would come off stage, and a comedian would be like, ‘Hey, he just took my joke,’ and he'd write him a check. Seventy-five dollars,” Damon Wayans said.

Many users are now dissecting Damon Wayans' comment, questioning whether Williams' alleged behavior was unethical or just part of the comedy scene at the time. Reactions range from sarcastic acceptance to outright criticism of Wayans for speaking about someone who is no longer alive to respond. One X user said:

“This was well known for years, though at least he paid people I guess.”

Some netizens weighed in on the matter with jokes.

“One of the victims must have sent a cease and desist letter in 1984, when he abruptly stopped being funny,” a fan wrote.

“If they accepted the money then it's not stealing,” a user commented.

Others were quick to question Wayans' motives, accusing him of trying to tarnish Williams' legacy for attention.

“Damon Wayans is so jealous of someone actually funny that he couldn’t let a dead man rest,” another wrote.

“A ton of big comedians did. Especially back in the day,” a third user added.

“Damon Wayans accuse a deceased icon of theft is something. Pretty easy to make outrageous accusations when the person is not around to defend themselves. Shameful,” a fan commented.

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Damon Wayans didn't stop at Robin Williams, he also spoke about Steve Harvey and Kanye West

While Damon Wayans' "notorious thief" remark about Robin Williams made the biggest waves online, it was just one part of his conversation on the Club Shay Shay podcast.

Wayans also addressed comedian Steve Harvey, responding to the Katt Williams vs. Steve Harvey debate that had sparked earlier this year on the same show. He said Harvey was "never my competition" and clarified that they were never in the same lane when it came to stand-up.

“Steve Harvey was not doing stand-up when I was doing stand-up,” he explained, brushing off any idea of rivalry.

He also spoke about Kanye West, comparing the rapper's recent behavior to that of a "homeless man on the street."

"What Kanye is doing is wild, but when you see a homeless person in the street and they're talking to themselves, you can't be mad at them, something's wrong, they're sick," he said.

Damon Wayans further added:

"Kanye, something is wrong with him. I don't listen to the homeless man yelling stuff and think, 'Oh, he means that.' He doesn't mean that. It's just coming out. Somebody needs to grab him; somebody who he loves and respects. Does he have that in his life? I don't know."

However, he added that he loves Kanye and called the rapper a "musical genius."

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All episodes of Club Shay Shay podcast are available on YouTube.