Katt Williams Says He Had Sexual Assault Scene Removed from “Friday After Next”: 'Rape Is Never Funny'

"Rape is never funny, no matter who it happens to, or what the circumstances are," Williams said on the 'Club Shay Shay' podcast

Katt Williams is addressing a scene he says he had removed from Friday After Next.

During an interview on the Club Shay Shay podcast, which aired Wednesday, the actor and comedian — who made his big-screen debut as Money Mike in the 2002 stoner-comedy sequel (the third in the Friday trilogy) — said he persuaded the studio to omit a scene in which his character is sexually assaulted.

"The problem with Friday After Next is we're trying to make a classic comedy, and this comedy involves a rape, and rape is never funny, no matter who it happens to, or what the circumstances are," said Williams, 52, of the film, which was directed by Marcus Raboy and written by Ice Cube, the latter of whom also reprised his starring role of Craig Jones.

PEOPLE has reached out to Raboy, a rep for Ice Cube and reps for Warner Bros. Pictures for comment.

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Related: 'Outlander' 's Sam Heughan Says 'Unnecessary' Full Frontal Shot in Graphic Rape Scene 'Did Betray My Trust'

Williams also said on the podcast that he "had to take the risk in front of the studios and the cast and the power that be in his very first movie, and say, 'Respectfully, humbly, guys, if we're talking about anything else, I have no credibility and I have no pull.' "

" 'But we're talking about comedy where I have all the credibility and all the pull,' " he recalled.

After making the request to omit the scene (which did not end up making it into the movie), Williams said he insisted to the filmmakers that Friday After Next would be better without it.

" 'If you would allow me to allow us to do this movie without a Black man getting raped in it, I promise you that it will be twice as funny as it would be with him getting raped,' " he said.

The original Friday followed Ice Cube's character Craig and Chris Tucker's character Smokey, two friends who smoke marijuana on a Friday from a local dealer (Faizon Love) that Smokey was supposed to sell. The dealer threatens to kill Craig and Smokey if they don't pay him back for what they used by the end of the night.

Related: Ice Cube Wants Control of the 'Friday' Film Franchise: 'It's My Movie'

Williams appeared in Friday After Next, the third film in the series that follows Craig and his cousin Daymond (Mike Epps) on another adventure on Christmas Eve. The Friday sequels made for some of Epps' first major roles in Hollywood, after he made his debut in 1997's Strays.

Though Epps, 53, wasn't in the 1995 original Friday, he joined for the second and third films, Next Friday (2000) and Friday After Next. And while on a recent episode of PEOPLE in 10, the actor and comedian said he spoke with Ice Cube, 54, about a plan to recreate the beloved comedy franchise as a stage play to tour around the country.

"The last person I texted was Ice Cube. He wants to do the movie Friday; he wants to go out on tour, like as a play," Epps said, when asked about the last famous person he texted.

Of Ice Cube, Epps added, "He's trying to get Chris Tucker to do church stuff in it, and Katt Williams ... [It's] a little crazy, but if we can find these two dudes and get them in it, it'll be really good."

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