Damon Wayans has joined the list of people accusing the late Robin Williams of joke theft.
While chatting on Club Shay Shay, Wayans brought up comedians stealing material and specifically called out Williams for regularly taking others’ jokes. According to Wayans, Williams’ manager would carry a checkbook to compensate comedians whose material Williams used.
“Robin Williams was a notorious thief. I ain’t lying,” Wayans stated. “His manager used to walk around with a checkbook, and Robin would come off stage, and a comedian would be like, ‘Hey, he just took me…’ and he would just write him a check for $75. Cause he knew Robin was all stream of consciousness, and he would steal material. It was known. Comedians would go, ‘I’m not going on cause Robin is here.'”
Wayans also shared his personal philosophy on joke theft: “It happens, but I always look at comedy like this. If this is not the last joke I’m ever going to tell, then I ain’t going to treat it like that. You ain’t take my wife or my kid. It’s just a joke. That means I gotta think of something else. For people to be up in arms about a joke, really, what is the joke?”
This isn’t the first accusation about Williams’ alleged joke stealing. Back in 2017, Budd Friedman teamed up with writer Tripp Whitesell on an oral history of the famous comedy club chain The Improv, where Richard Lewis and Robert Wuh both accused Williams of taking their material.
Just last year, Joe Rogan added fuel to the fire when he called out Williams for “material theft” during an episode of The Joe Rogan Experience. Rogan suggested that Williams prioritized stage success over ethical concerns.
“I think [Robin] wanted to kill more than he wanted to be ethical at any cost,” Rogan claimed. “Part of that manic sort of style is this constant need to have a bit about anything that you’re talking about ever. Killing was more important; filling that hole inside of him was more important than anything.”
Rogan continued, “If you ask any of those comics from back then, there are always instances of Robin going on a talk show and doing your bit.”
