In a previous interview, Russell Simmons touched on the lack of diversity on Comedy Central when discussing comedians Key and Peele—now retired—sketch comedy show. Although, the mogul supports them and referred to the comics as "just very funny Americans who happen to be Black," he says he doesn't want them to be the "exclusion of everything else." In this interview, Aries Spears talks about Black comedians and actors, such as Dave Chappelle and Will Smith, who have authenticity enough for their African American audience, but are able to crossover to make White audiences comfortable.
"There's a certain authenticity to Dave that real n***** have. Meaning, even if you didn't come up the traditional way—and like I said, the Cedric the Entertainers of the world, Steve Harvey, certain guys [of] that Def Jam, Comic View era—they've been ingrained in the Black community since the beginning, and they've never gotten away with that."
Check out the full interview above.
