Anderson Seacrest

arts and entertainment

Hughley happy to break out a hybrid of news, entertainment

By Robert Kahn
Newsday
Article Last Updated: 12/20/2008 04:30:27 PM MST


D.L. Hughley, a former sitcom star, was featured in the "Original Kings of Comedy" tour and film. (CNN)

CNN has had a new weekend talk-show host since October, and he's . . . a stand-up comedian?

"D.L. Hughley Breaks the News" offers a take on the week's events in politics, entertainment, sports and pop culture. Hughley acknowledges the union may be "an unholy alliance," but he sees it this way: "If CNN can have Nancy Grace, they can have me, too." The former sitcom star ("The Hughleys") and BET regular took time to answer a few questions.

Q: You were taken by surprise when former White House rep Scott McClellan came on and endorsed Barack Obama. What else has caught you off-guard?

A: Al Sharpton and I haven't seen eye to eye on a lot of things, and I was shocked at how different he was than I always imagined he would be.

I've misjudged his motives. I always thought he was just doing what he does because he wanted attention. The more I talk to him, the more I realize that — however sometimes misguided he can be — he does what he does because he wants to make things better.

Q: The "Original Kings of Comedy" tour and subsequent film were career milestones. How were you influenced by Bernie Mac?

A: Bernie taught me that the hardest thing for a black man to do was to be an individual. I have to tell myself that often, and whenever I think it, I have to think about him. Comedically, he was uncompromising. Right before he passed, he was at a charity event for Obama and said something that involved color, and people got irritated. That's how he was — an individual.

Q: There's been this exhalation since the elections, at least in New York. Is there a particular pressure not to pounce on Barack Obama?

A: He'll do things that people find ironic and funny, and when he does, they should attack. For me, those things happen organically.

Sooner or later, he'll be a politician — he'll do something that I think is ironic, or very human — and when he does, I'll be there.

Q: Have you met Anderson Cooper yet? He's spread kind of thin, no?

A: Anderson Cooper is CNN's Ryan Sea- crest.

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