Comedy legend Paul Money has passed away. Roland Martin reports the star died after suffering a heart attack at his home in Oakland, California at the age of 79.
BREAKING NEWS: Comedic legend Paul Mooney has passed away. His cousin, Rudy Ealy, just called me from Paul's phone and said he passed away two hours ago after suffering a heart attack at his home in Oakland. He was 79. We will pay tribute to him tonight on #RolandMartinUnfiltered
A representative for Mooney hit Twitter and shared the following message.
Thank you all from the bottom of all of our hearts …you’re all are the best!…… Mooney World .. The Godfather of Comedy – ONE MOON MANY STARS! .. To all in love with this great man.. many thanks
Paul Mooney is taking time off. After accusations came to light that he allegedly slept with, check that, molested the late Richard Pryor’s son, while the kid was underage, he’s canceled shows, including a recent gig in an Atlanta.
You can probably expect more cancellations on deck.
Paul Mooney isn’t leaping at the opportunity to show his face in public after being accused of misconduct with Richard Pryor Jr. — the comic just pulled out of a show — and we’re told he’ll be taking the next few weeks off.
Mooney was set to take the stage Wednesday in Atlanta at the ATL Comedy Theater, where he was serving as the MC for the night in a long lineup of comedians. But, a sign outside the venue made it clear … PM wasn’t going to show.
The sign reads, “ATTENTION!! Paul Mooney is NOT on show tonight due to health reasons. We will transfer purchase to Faizon Love or Donnell Rawlings. Let box office know.”
Reportedly, Paul Mooney, who vehemently denies the allegations, will be laying low for a while.
If anyone thought the ordeal regarding Paul Mooney and the sexual abuse allegations he faces were going away anytime soon, think again. Richard Pryor Jr. said, in so many words, that he was indeed under the age of consent when a sexual encounter between him and Mooney occurred.
Our camera guy ran into Richard Pryor Jr. Tuesday in NYC and asked about Rashon Kahn’s allegations — about the sex, and Richard Sr. putting a $1 million hit on Mooney after finding out.
Richard Jr. didn’t want to touch the alleged hit, but he quickly said the sex with Mooney happened long before the ’80s … as the bodyguard had claimed. Jr. told us it happened when he was just a teenager. He never gave us a specific age, but afterward his rep told us it was definitely “under the age of consent.”
Our photog didn’t have that information in the field and asked Richard Jr. if the sex with Mooney was consensual. Watch the clip … Jr. let us know, in no uncertain terms, it could NOT have been consensual.
Mooney has already issued a statement saying that the alleged encounter did not happen.
A video clip of Richard Pryor‘s former bodyguard, Rashon Khan, exploded onto the Internet on Monday (August 26), with the man claiming Paul Mooney “violated” Pryor’s son, Richard Pryor, Jr. thus putting out a $1 million hit on him. Mooney has responded to the growing chatter and says he’s never slept with the son and also said that the hit claim is also untrue.
Kahn claims Richard Sr. offered him $1 mil to kill Mooney or to find someone else to do it.
Paul Mooney’s publicist, Cassandra Williams, tells TMZ … “there is no validity to Rashon Kahn’s statement as it relates to Mr. Paul Mooney.”
In the clip … Kahn claims Richard and Paul’s “relationship became fragile because Paul Mooney had f****d Richard’s son by that time. He violated … Paul took advantage of the situation.”
Kahn says he thought Richard was just high when he first mentioned the bounty, so he double-checked with him the following week, and claims Richard made it clear he was serious.
It’s certainly relevant to mention Kahn is currently promoting an upcoming tell-all book.
As we reported in our coverage of the ordeal, Pryor’s widow, Jennifer Lee Pryor, says that Pryor’s son admitted to the incident during a luncheon held for his father after his funeral.
We’d like to extend a warning to those who may find the following subject matter sensitive.
A former bodyguard of late comedian Richard Pryor dropped a bombshell on the masses by way of a video clip that was published earlier on Monday (August 26) that has rocked many. Rashon Kahn says that Pryor offered $1 million for someone to murder his former friend and comedian Paul Mooney for allegedly sleeping with Pryor’s son.
The explosive clipped aired as part of an interview conducted by Comedy Hype. Kahn, who is set to put out a memoir titled “Everything Wasn’t Funny” shared the details of what ended Pryor and Mooney’s professional partnership and friendship. Some fans might know that Mooney served as a writer for Pryor and other comics of the day.
Kahn, in sharing the story, said that because of Pryor’s drug use, he wanted to wait a few days before confirming if what his boss said was accurate. When approached again, a clear-headed Pryor restated his desire to have Mooney killed.
News of the clip has exploded on social media with chatter on Twitter being the highest at the moment. We’ve collected some of the responses below.
CORRECTION: We incorrectly reported that the alleged incident between Mooney and Pryor’s son was rape, using Kahn’s words of “violating” as the impetus. We apologize for misrepresenting what was said by Mr. Kahn in the video below.
UPDATE: Jennifer Lee Pryor, the former wife of Richard Pryor, says that Richard Pryor Jr. reportedly told a group of people about the alleged Mooney incident during a luncheon held after Pryor’s funeral.
In a number of tweets, Ms. Pryor confirmed Kahn’s account. The tweets can be seen below.
TRUE-RP jr. confirmed this at the luncheon I gave after Richard's funeral service–he announced it to the entire restaurant full of guests! I have it on tape.
