Gary Owen Weighs in on Katt Williams’ Interview With Shannon Sharpe

Gary Owen says Katt Williams isn’t lying about some of the fellow comedians he accused of being rude and stealing jokes during his controversial interview with Shannon Sharpe. Williams sent social media into a frenzy when he sat down on the Club Shay Shay podcast and listed several of his peers, including Steve Harvey and Cedric The Entertainer, as thieves of his original one-liners. He also claimed Harvey was sneaky in other ways in the business to get people to work for him. Now Owen, who is known for his work in the likes of Think Like a Man and its sequel, as well as The Real Husbands of Hollywood, is coming to Williams’ defense and sharing his own experiences with some of the men Williams named. 

Owen said that Harvey is standoffish, something that has been rumored for years, notably when the controversy over the way he treated his staff on his popular talk show was circulating. “To know Steve and Cedric…they’re so different yet they’ve done so much together. Cedric is the guy who will walk in a room and say ‘Hi’ to everybody…very personable, very approachable. And Steve just isn’t that guy,” Owen noted. He then told a story about working with Harvey and realized he wasn’t being paid adequately. Owen made the comments on his podcast, per TMZ.

In his quest for mainstream stardom, he says he met with Harvey and assumed the two would partner up on something. Instead, he says he found himself hidden backstage doing voiceovers for his show. Owen says he was struggling financially because he earned more money on the road doing standup but the schedule on the show wouldn’t permit. He then began doing work at Hip Hop Squares, which airs on MTV/VH1 and says he noticed a difference in income. “I did one day on Hip Hop Squares, and I filmed three episodes in one day at Hip Hop Squares and made four times the money I made doing two weeks of The Steve Harvey Show,” which Owen said didn’t make sense for the work he was doing in comparison to with Harvey as Hip Hop Squares is an ensemble show.

He claims he was being paid “SAG minimum,” which equates to minimum wage while working with Harvey. Harvey hasn’t responded.