While speaking with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson for their All The Smoke podcast, Mike Epps discussed being in talks to play the late Richard Pryor in his biopic, as well as why it never occurred.
“I was gonna play Richard Pryor, and I didn’t screw his ex-wife, and she got mad,” he quipped, causing the other hosts to giggle. “‘You’re not gonna play Richard, you didn’t spank this a**,'” she responded with a smirk. “I said, ‘Nope, I ain’t playing Richard Pryor then.'”
He said, “She’s going to sue me for this. “You are going to People’s Court, ni**a.”
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Epps then recounted attending Pryor’s funeral in 2005, when the renowned comic died of a heart attack. He was disappointed that Pryor’s friends, particularly the late Paul Mooney, did not speak at his memorial services. However, he said that Mo’Nique and George Lopez chatted, despite the fact that neither comedian knew Pryor personally.
The Upshaws star also revealed that Pryor’s casket stayed closed during the ceremony, and that he later discovered that Pryor was never inside but had been cremated beforehand. He quipped that Diana Ross started singing in the middle of the funeral after the revelation, which made both hosts giggle hysterically
Epps revealed that on the night of the funeral, Pryor’s ex-wife stated that she believed he wasn’t “ready” to play her husband. He joked that he replied to her with “f**k you bi**h,” before revealing what he actually said.
“I told her, ‘Look here, I love Richard Pryor.'” “I love him to death,” he stated. “But my children don’t know who he is.” If you see a Richard Pryor film starring me, Mike Epps will portray Richard Pryor.”
Richard Pryor, wife Jennifer, and daughter Rain accept the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival on March 3, 2000, at the Granada Theatre in Santa Barbara, California.
He also criticized the current situation of comedy and “cancel culture,” which many seasoned comedians suffer nowadays for making jokes about “sensitive” themes.
“You gotta weigh your odds,” he said, before mentioning Katt Williams, Corey Holcomb, and Dave Chappelle as “fearless” comedians. “Over there, they are saying everything I want to say. But I can’t waste my money because I know how to perform in movies and on television. I know how to generate. I’m over here, trying to defend that.”
He concluded by acknowledging that humor has “suffered” from the public’s sensitivity. He also hinted that if renowned comedians such as Pryor, Redd Foxx, and Bernie Mac were still alive today, they “wouldn’t have made it in this time,” and would most likely have “walked away” from the business.
See the complete Mike Epps footage below.
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