*Aries Spears has turned one unpopular comedy opinion into a much bigger conversation after questioning the legendary status of Bernie Mac and taking a swipe at Martin Lawrence’s classic sitcom “Martin” — and now fellow comedians are firing back.
The latest response comes from comedian Faizon Love, who addressed Spears’ Bernie Mac critique in a video posted to Instagram. Love, who said he considered the late comedian a friend, didn’t need a lengthy monologue to make his position clear.
“Bernie Mac was a compadre of mine. We shared a lot of laughs together,” Love said before delivering his assessment of Spears: “In regard to Aries Spears, consider the source.”
Spears Questions the Bernie Mac Hype
The controversy began during Spears’ appearance on “Live From The Green Room,” hosted by Tony Rock, Joe Fox and Trey Elliot. Asked which highly praised comedians he simply doesn’t understand, Spears knew his answer might get him in trouble.
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He called his opinion potentially “blasphemous” in the Black community before naming Bernie Mac.
“I just don’t get it,” Spears said, explaining that Mac’s unmistakable voice and cadence distracted him from the jokes. Spears compared the experience to hearing the muffled adults in the “Peanuts” cartoons.
That wasn’t his only sacred cow.
Spears also questioned portions of Martin Lawrence’s work on “Martin,” saying some of the sitcom’s exaggerated physical comedy “bordered buffoonery.” He additionally expressed reservations about Tracy Morgan and the Wayans brothers.
Still, Spears framed his remarks as personal taste rather than disrespect. Comedy, he argued, is subjective, and disliking someone’s style doesn’t automatically mean hating the performer.
Teddy Carpenter and Other Comics Push Back
The argument didn’t end when Spears left the Green Room.
Comedian Teddy Carpenter and others have since challenged Spears’ assessment, particularly the comparison between Spears and Mac. A new video from Forgotten KingzTV compiles the growing debate and questions whether Spears’ own comedy résumé supports such a harsh assessment of his peers.
Carpenter’s response carries an interesting bit of comedy history. Both he and Spears appeared during the second season of HBO’s “Def Comedy Jam” in 1992 — when Martin Lawrence was the show’s host. Bernie Mac would become one of the series’ defining performers and later one of the Original Kings of Comedy. Pluto TV’s episode listings confirm Spears appeared in Season 2, Episode 9, while Carpenter appeared several episodes later.
That history makes the current argument more than a random social-media dustup. The people debating Spears’ comments came through overlapping eras of Black stand-up, television and comedy clubs.
Spears Defends Having an Unpopular Opinion
Spears hasn’t exactly backed away. He has acknowledged Mac as a comedy “genius” and praised Lawrence’s movie performances while rejecting the idea that criticism automatically equals disrespect. His position essentially comes down to a point comedians make all the time: what makes one person howl can leave somebody else staring at the stage.
But Spears went further than merely saying Mac wasn’t his favorite. His assertion that he believes he is funnier than Mac has given critics another reason to challenge him.
And describing “Martin” as bordering on “buffoonery” was practically guaranteed to provoke a response from audiences who regard the sitcom as a cornerstone of 1990s Black television.
A Comedy Debate That’s Bigger Than Aries Spears
That’s what makes the second wave of this story more interesting than Spears’ original hot take.
The argument is no longer simply whether Aries Spears likes Bernie Mac. It’s about how comedy legacies are judged, whether cultural impact should influence assessments of talent and how much room comedians should have to criticize revered figures without being accused of disrespect.
Spears clearly has that right.
His fellow comedians have the same right to look at his assessment of Bernie Mac and “Martin” and respond.
Faizon Love managed to do it in four words: “Consider the source.”
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MORE NEWS ON EURWEB.COM: Steve Harvey Denies Having Past Beef with Late Comedian Bernie Mac
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