Damon Wayans is trending online after he made certain claims about Robin Williams in an interview on Club Shay Shay. During the conversation, which aired on April 2, 2025, Wayans was heard saying that Williams was a "notorious thief", which has now grabbed a lot of attention on social media.
Damon Wayans stated that everyone steals jokes and described it as a crime, despite that people know that the jokes don’t belong to them. He said that many comedians don’t write jokes and simply start performing after going on stage.
Host Shannon Sharpe then questioned the Saturday Night Live star on whether someone has to give credit to the person whose joke was stolen, and Wayans replied by saying “no.” He then began speaking about Robin Williams as he continued:
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“You know Robin Williams was a notorious thief. I ain’t lying. His manager used to walk around with a cheque book and Robin would come off stage and comedian to ‘Hey, he just took my age.' He would write him a cheque for $75. Cause he knew Robin was all stream of consciousness and he would steal material, he was known.”
Shannon also said at the beginning of the interview that he was not well aware of the issues between comedians and that everyone associated with the world of comedy also had no knowledge about the same since they remain busy with their work.
Shannon’s words referred to his interview with comedian Katt Williams around a year ago, and while he asked Damon Wayans about his opinion, the comedian responded:
“I laughed. Because Katt is funny. Katt is one of the fewest comedians that in one word you know who it is. As soon as he opened his mouth, him, Wanda sighs Chris Rock, you know, that means you have a clear and distinctive voice right? So when I watch a comedian, I’m watching funny. I’m watching what’s going on behind his eyes when he goes and he reaches for his drink.”
Damon Wayans recalls his first meeting with Jim Carrey
On Club Shay Shay, Damon Wayans shared how he discovered Jim Carrey years ago. He introduced Carrey to his brother, Keenan Ivory Wayans, leading to his role on In Living Color. Damon praised Carrey as a “master impressionist” from their early comedy club days.
“He would get standing ovations in the comedy club, doing a 20-minute. Now, any comedian will tell you that’s damn near impossible. There’s few and far between that can do that; that’s how good he was. But he hated doing the impressions ‘cause people thought that’s all he did.”
Wayans mentioned that there was a point where he and Carrey began encouraging each other while going for stand-up acts, and they eventually developed a close friendship, which has continued until today.
Damon Wayans also stated that Jim Carrey is now like a family member to him and added:
“Like when you see your old teammates, you just pick up like it was yesterday … Instant connection, and we’re just talking about anything without resentment without – just love.”
Damon was last seen in the CBS sitcom Poppa’s House, which also featured his son Damon Wayans Jr. The show first aired in October 2024 and received a positive response.
