HOME / ENTERTAINMENT / TV

'The Talk': Cedric the Entertainer mourns Kobe Bryant, says he was always 'a gentleman, always classy'

The 'king of comedy' said that he admired Bryant's will to win and how he had become an inspiration for many

On Tuesday’s episode of the Emmy-winning CBS daytime talk show ‘The Talk’, co-hosts Sharon Osbourne, Sheryl Underwood, rapper Eve, Carrie Ann Inaba and Marie Osmond had in their studio a guest who needs no introduction.

American actor, stand-up comedian and game show host Cedric Antonio Kyles, more popularly known as Cedric the Entertainer, spoke to the co-hosts about what it would take to bring back “The Kings of Comedy”, a group that included him, Steve Harvey, D.L. Hughley, and Bernie Mac. The group’s most famous performance was a 2000 stand-up comedy film directed by Spike Lee called ‘The Original Kings of Comedy’.

Cedric said, “of course, Steve [Harvey] is the busiest one. I mean, we all got a lot of stuff going on, but Steve's got 137 jobs. I saw him at the Super Bowl. It was great, and you know, he got that spirit... He performed at the NFL Honors, and he had a great set, and now he thinks, like, I got the spirit. So, getting Steve back is going to be the key thing.”

There is, of course, the question of filling Bernie Mac’s shoes. Mac, famous for playing Frank Catton in the ‘Ocean’s’ series, died in 2008 from complications of pneumonia. Cedric, talking about Mac, said, “it was one of our biggest things about trying doing it without him. We just don't know how to make that make sense. And at the same time, knowing that it's a great opportunity for someone else.”

The 55-year-old also spoke about Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gigi’s recent passing. To honor him, Cedric came to the show wearing a Laker robe. 

“He was such a leader of an individual, and l think it was one of those things that everybody felt at the time. I really was moved by the response of so many men, like seeing him as a father, understanding the plight that he had, the ups and downs as a young man, and then growing into the guy that he was. But just dynamic as an individual, you see Kobe, he was always a gentleman, always classy,” said Cedric. “And then his will to win, that personality that had that toughness. To go through an Achilles injury, come on. If I clip my toenail wrong, I’m like, go on without me.” 

He added, “that spirit is something that I think all of us wish we had. And so, that was just a great loss. Also, his love with his daughter. You start to see so many men really respond to taking pictures and posting their children, and it was just a different thing that I felt we all recognized. Man, he was a great dude.”

Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, and seven other people were killed on the morning of January 26, when their helicopter crashed into a fog-covered hillside near Calabasas, California, while on the way to a youth basketball tournament.

‘The Talk’ airs Monday through Friday at 11 a.m. PT.