Over the last two months, some of the country’s biggest comedians have let their made it clear about how they feel about today’s comedy and about their comedy peers

With the help of social media, comedians have been letting their true grievances known with one another. From attacks against marginalized communities to talking about children, these conflicts have made people question the true impact comedy can have.

There’s no way to deny that the air is crackling with comedic tension, and we’re here to spill the tea (and maybe throw some popcorn in the microwave). Here are five of the biggest disputes in the comedy world so far this year:

Mo’Nique vs. D.L. Hugley (and Oprah, Lee Daniels, Kevin Hart and her son)

Comedian and actress Mo’Nique had her own interview on “Club Shay Shay” on Feb. 7. She discussed her past issues with producer and director Lee Daniels, who she had a 13-year long feud with. Mo’Nique refused to do press for his film “Precious” in 2009 because she wouldn’t have received proper compensation. This started more than a decade of back and forth of what truly happened and how they treated one another. Even though their beef was squashed in 2022, Mo’Nique still has an issue with the film’s executive producers, Tyler Perry and Oprah Winfrey.

She claims that Perry pushed a narrative that she was “hard to work with” after refusing to do the press for “Precious” and tha Winfrey privately supported her decision but refused to make it public.

On top of that, she stated that Winfrey interviewed Mo’Nique’s parents without her permission on her talk show during an episode where she discusses Mo’Nique being molested by her brother.

Continuing to speak about family, she talked about the estranged relationship she has with her son, stating that “It may heal it in time and it may not. And that’s something that we as parents have to say, ‘Listen, I’ve done what I can do. I’ve taken accountability for it. Now, it’s up to you.” Her son has since come out with his own statement and said that neither of them truly care to reconcile.

She aired her grievances against Kevin Hart for dropping out of their deal of working together to create new projects, and also talked about her ongoing feud with comedian D.L. Hughley.

Their beef started due to a contract dispute over a Detroit stand-up performance in 2022. Both Hughley and Mo’Nique listed that they were to headline the event and that neither of them wanted to go on stage before the other. Instead of just accepting the event for what it was, they both took the beef online and started hitting below the belt. Their beef was paused until Monique brought up another incident she had with Hughley on “Club Shay Shay.”

Mo’Nique brought up another incident that she had with Hughley on his radio show. While playing their “Would You Rather” segment, she was asked inappropriate questions about her husband. She confronted Hughley about the game and she felt as if he was dismissive about how she felt.

Hughley fired back on Instagram on Feb. 8 with his own video.

In the caption, Hughley wrote that “the reason LIES and FALSE NARRATIVES continue to go on and circulate is because they go unchecked. What you’re not gonna do is call me out my name and not get checked… MONIQUE IS A LIAR! She is constantly throwing the rock and hiding the hand.”

Dave Chapelle vs. the trans community

Comedian and actor Dave Chapelle has continued to be under fire for his jokes towards the trans community during his stand-up sets.

The jokes go back years, with Chapelle in 2017 making jokes aimed at trans people for the first twenty minutes of his set. In his 2021 Netflix special “The Closer,” Chapelle goes on an even longer rant about the trans community, misgendering a trans comedian and defending TERFS.

“Gender is a fact. Every human being in this room, every human being on earth, had to pass through the legs of a woman to be on earth. That is a fact,” Chapelle said in the special.

Netflix employees and activists like Taylor Ashbrook shared their disappointment in Chappelle and his new special online.

“As a trans woman, I have usually defended Dave Chappelle’s specials because I think they’re hilarious and his jokes about trans women never felt intentionally malicious. The Closer changed my mind on that. That special felt so lazy and disingenuous and I’m really disappointed,” Ashbrook said in an Oct. 5, 2021 post on X.

In their own statement Oct. 13, 2021, Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos stood by the special.

“We don’t allow titles on Netflix that are designed to incite hate or violence, and we don’t believe ‘The Closer’ crosses that line … Some people find the art of stand-up to be mean spirited but our members enjoy it, and it’s an important part of our content offering,” Sarandos said.

Days later in an Oct. 19, 2021 “Variety” interview, Sarandos later admitted that he “screwed up” how the situation was handled.

Nevertheless, Chapelle released a new Netflix special “The Dreamer” on New Years’ Eve 2023, and he continued to mock the trans community despite stating he was not “f****** with those people anymore” at the beginning of his set.

His “jokes” include statements like “God forbid I ever go to jail. But if I do, I hope it’s in California. Soon as the judge sentences me, I’ll be like, ‘Before you sentence me, I want the court to know I identify as a woman. Send me to a woman’s jail.’ As soon I get in there, you know what I’mma be doing … Come here and suck this girl d**k I got. Don’t make me explain myself. I’m a girl,’” Chapelle said.

Despite the criticism that he is still receiving for his anti-trans material, Chapelle continues to “punch down” and is still making public appearances, despite how others may allegedly feel.

Kat Williams vs. everyone

Comedian and actor Kat Williams’ Jan. 3 interview with former football player Shannon Sharpe on “Club Shay Shay” now has over 58 million views. On the episode, Williams talked about his life story, how the world of comedy is changing, and even put other Black comedians around him on blast.

Williams accused comedian and actor Cedric the Entertainer of stealing one of his most famous jokes in the late 1990s.

“1998, I’m doing this joke. It’s on ‘ComicView.’ Cedric comes to The Comedy Store. He watches me in the audience. He comes backstage. He tells me what a great job I did and how much he loves the joke. Two years later, he’s doing that as his last joke on ‘The (Original) Kings Of Comedy,’ and he’s doing it verbatim,” Williams said during the “Club Shay Shay” interview.

Initially, Williams said he let the situation go. However, when Cedric the Entertainer later denied taking any of the material from Williams, he felt slighted.

Cedric the Entertainer during an Golden Globes red carpet interview with Entertainment Tonight on Jan. 7 continued to deny ever taking material from Williams.

“It’s an interesting time now. People get on these blogs and they just start spewing off stuff that’s not even factual. I let the fodder just go out there until I’m ready to respond to it. I am who I am. I stand on that for sure,” he said.

Comedian and TV host Steve Harvey was also brought up by Williams during the “Club Shay Shay” interview. Their feud goes back all the way to 2008, when Williams attempted to provoke Harvey to a stand-up battle. They both performed at a New Year’s Eve in Detroit that year, and Williams was firing jokes at Harvey during his set.

In the interview, Williams said that Harvey wasn’t talented enough to be a true Hollywood star.

“You couldn’t be a movie star. There are 30,000 new scripts in Hollywood every year. Not one of them asked for a country-bumpkin Black dude that can’t talk good and look like Mr. Potato Head,” Williams said.

He also accused Harvey of stealing material from comedian Mark Curry’s 1992 show “Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper” for his own 1996 sitcom “The Steve Harvey Show.” Curry has also called out Harvey for feeling for Harvey “copying his material” as well.

On Jan. 7, Harvey posted a clip of himself on the set of “Family Feud” discussing haters.

“I got somebody really attacking me right now, I mean, really going after me, man. I’m just waiting to see what God [is] going to do because they’re gonna have to get on…can’t nobody stop what God got for you,” Harvey said.

The beef between Williams and comedian and actor Kevin Hart goes back ten years to 2014. In a joke towards athlete Shaquille O’Neal when speaking with TMZ Sports, Williams said “”Get out of here, you bum, before I take the rest of your girls like you took Kevin Hart from me. I want my b**** back.”

The two have continued to throw shade at one another throughout the years. However, Williams directly addressed Hart during his “Club Shay Shay” interview, calling him an “industry plant.”

“He already had his deals when he got here. Have we heard of a comedian that came to LA, and in his first year in LA, he had his own sitcom on network television? And had his own movie called ‘Soul Plane’ that he was leading? No, we’ve never heard of that before that person or since that person,” Williams said.

The next day, Hart addressed Williams’ comments while promoting his new Netflix movie “Lift” in a post on X.

“Gotta get that anger up outcha champ….It’s honestly sad. In the meantime…. Please enjoy MY MOVIE TRAILER to my next film “LIFT” which will be dropping on @netflix in 8 days!!!!! There is a moment in the trailer where @gugumbatharaw says “They Really Love You” ….I now know she’s talking about “Katt,” Hart said.

Mike Epps vs. Shannon Sharpe

Shannon Sharpe had his own beef to settle with comedian and actor Mike Epps. During a recent stand-up performance, Epps made some jokes about Sharpe’s sexuality after stating he was approached by him to come on “Club Shay Shay.”

“Shannon Sharpe called me trying to do an interview. I said, ‘No, Madea. I ain’t doing no interview, so you can sit across from me and look at my balls when I’m sitting down. I thought he was going to attack Katt. The [show] is called Shay Shay. The [guy’s] telling you. Put a wig on that [guy] and tell me if that ain’t…Madea’s sister,” Epps said during his set.

Epps also expressed his disappointment towards Williams for not mentioning him during his own “Club Shay Shay” interview.

“I did get a little jealous, man. Katt broke the Internet and didn’t say my name, good or bad. I need the press … Say something about me,” Epps said in a video.

During Sharpe’s Feb. 11 episode of his “Nightcap” podcast, Sharpe directly pointed to the camera and called Epps out.

“Now when I see you, I’m gonna see if you really [are] about that. Say my name again … I got something for your a**,” Sharpe said.

Since their spat, the two met up during this year’s NBA All-Star Weekend and both posted pictures together, stating that the beef was squashed.

“As promised. No video required. No audio required. Just a picture for proof. We are good,” Sharpe said in a Feb. 15 Instagram post.

The impact of today’s comedy beef

While these conflicts provide plenty of views and commentary online, they may be opening the door for bigger societal conversations.

While comedy can often cover sensitive topics and push the boundaries, there has been recent discussions on if a comedian can go too far.

There are comedians, people who do sketches, and others “who I believe want freedom of expression and freedom from criticism. And you cannot separate the two, in my opinion. Where the boundaries lie, I think that’s dictated by the public who is receiving the joke. And I think America, as a whole, is at a spot now where the entire country is changing and evolving,” comedian Roy Wood Jr. said in an 2022 interview with NPR.

Comedy can also highlight how marginalized communities are treated in society. For example, Chapelle’s stand-up specials and attitude towards the trans community showcased how the community is still being treated negatively today.

“His jokes rely on prevailing disgust about transgender bodies and increasingly politicised insistence that transgender people are not real women or men. These views shared in popular culture are coming to inform anti-trans policy in healthcare, education and the justice system,” authors Shane and Jemma Clifton wrote in a Jan. 16 article for The Conversation.

What is seen as acceptable and unacceptable in comedy is continuing to change as well as the conflicts that fellow comedians have with one another. Nevertheless, new material is still being released – along with interviews about how these comics feel about one another.