Katt Williams has the streets buzzing following his scathing sit down with Shannon Sharpe on Club Shay Shay. Among his long list of candid discussions included his take on Black men wearing dresses in Hollywood.
“I’m not saying that every black man who wears a dress is selling out, but I’m saying that there is a pattern and a purpose behind it,” Williams told Sharpe.
“They want to make us look like clowns and buffoons. They want to take away our masculinity and our power. They want to make us lose our identity and our self-respect.”
However, Marlon Wayans, who wore a variety of dresses in his 2004 cult-classic comedy film White Chicks, thinks the debates around Black men wearing dresses in Hollywood are “silly.”
“You talking to a black man that put on a dress. That conversation to me, its silly. It’s a negative thing that is only in Black people,” he said on Los Angeles’ 92.3’s The Cruz Show.
“We have for some reason been programmed to look down on the craziest parts about our spirits. We’re supposed to embrace our past, our history, our heroes, different levels of comedy.”
Considering all of the white male actors who have worn dresses in films and television, Wayans thinks deep dives on the longstanding comedy norm within the Black community are only tearing us down.
“We’re labeled by our own people. That is not an artist mindset. When you’re an artist you go out and create art,” he said.
But Williams sees it differently and recalled turning down a role in Martin Lawrence’s Big Mama’s House 2
due to the dress he would’ve had to wear.“He said, ‘Come on, man, it’s just comedy. It’s not that serious. It’s not like you’re really a woman.’ I said, ‘No, man, I’m not doing it. I have principles and I have dignity. I don’t want to disrespect myself or my people.’ He said, ‘Well, you’re missing out on a big opportunity. You could be a star.’ I said, ‘I’m already a star. I don’t need to wear a dress to be funny.’”
Take a look below at white and Black male actors who have donned dresses in Hollywood.