Comedian and actor Roy Wood Jr. appeared on NFL Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe‘s ‘Club Shay Shay’ podcast. It wasn’t your normal click bait conversation. When the subject of children and parents and love arose, Wood got very personal.
A former correspondent on ‘The Daily Show w/ Trevor Noah’ and regular on ‘Conan’, ESPN’s ‘SportsNation’ & Comedy Central’s @Midnight, Wood has been hosting the American adaptation of the news and entertainment panel show “Have I Got News for You” on CNN since September 2024. The thought-provoking comedian revealed some bombshells about his life that have shaped the way he learned to properly love and parent his child. Wood Jr. explained that the way he learned to parent was more from second-hand than personal experience. His father had two families that he shared his time with and Roy says he got the worst of the deal.
"I had to call my two youngest brothers and talked to them about: 'Hey, man. Walk me through what pops was like at your crib, and they described a man I never met.' … I could look at the date of the picture and tell you whether or not the heat was on at our house." – @roywoodjrpic.twitter.com/Zg4Qg5TlTQ
Wood’s Father Had Another Family That He Spent Every Night With
“The best example of love I had was with my pops and his other woman,” Wood told Sharpe. “He loved her. For whatever issues he had with my mom, it wasn’t love. But when I really sit and think about how he treated THAT woman…That’s who he was out with.
“I had to call my two younger brothers and talk to them about what life was like… and this was a conversion I never wanted to have with them. But I gotta’ have this conversation if I’m gonna be better to my son.
Hey man walk me through what pops was like, when he was at your crib. (On the nights he didn’t come home) … and walk me through. And they described a man I never met,” Woods heartbreakingly revealed.
Wood sought out those painful details, knowing it would hurt him because it was a life his father never gave him.
Wood says with them, pops was home, he was at the dinner table, “checking homework bro. Going to their games bro. My pops never did that,” Roy said.
“Roy that had to hurt,” Shannon replied, in an attempt to comfort him.
“Two of the greatest performances I ever witnessed: Whoopi on that sitcom and Solange Knowles Essence Festival rehearsal. … The only reason I end up on the Daily Show is because the Whoopi sitcom didn’t work.” – Roy Wood Jr. pic.twitter.com/C8Lsq0ocRI
Wood discussed other issues from his life that were more upbeat, but first he took it a step further saying, “Imagine being 38 in a delivery room unpacking that shit in real time while you’re holding your newborn. Because these are things I never had to consider I never had to consider showing him love because I didn’t have any kids. Now I have a kid.”
Wood says he knew his son would need love, but he never had an example of a father showing him love and present. He says he saw his aunt and uncles engaged in relationships, but he wasn’t around them on a regular basis to soak everything in and really see how a functioning couple also raising a child, works.
Roy Wood Jr.’s Dad Got “His & Hers” Burial Plots With His Other Woman: Became His Blueprint For True Love
As Woods unpacked the most influential and traumatizing aspects of his childhood to Sharpe, he wraps the story by acknowledging that his mother was not the first priority. According to Roy, his dad got buried next to the other woman’s casket when he died.
“Got his and hers plots and we didn’t even know he was buried next to her until we were carrying the casket up the hill,” Wood reflected. “That’s love. You can be mad about it or sad about it. Or you can take it as a game and learn how to apply that to your child.”
“A woman he came home to every night,” said Wood. “So if nothing else it gives me the blueprint of what I should be looking for and what I should want out of a woman and within a relationship. She loved his funky draws and he loved hers. And that just wasn’t the case at our crib and that’s just how it was.
Roy Wood Hates Looking At Brothers’ Social Media Memories With His Dad
“I follow my two younger brothers on social media. Love ’em to death,” Wood tells Sharpe. However, he also said that on Father’s Day, anniversary of his father’s death and his father’s birthday, he usually doesn’t go on social on these days. “They are posting pictures with this man. The old school polaroids with the date at the bottom,” Wood continues.
Wood says he could look at the date on the pictures and tell whether or not the heat was on in his home, which allowed him to better understand the losses he was taking, while his younger brothers were getting real father-son love and treatment.
Somebody has to lose in those situations and Wood says it was him, but he also was able to use that pain and misfortune that he and his mom suffered and flip it into something positive he could use to raise his children the right way.
“He was damaged, and he sought comfort through women and s*x,” Wood said.
Shannon pointed out that Wood’s dad gave him his name. Wood says “give me your time. F your name.”
Social Media Reacts To Roy Wood Jr. Heartbreaking Story About His DadOn Club Shay Shay
Of course, a story as common and emotional as this received plenty of feedback. Wood described a life that many kids across the country, of all races, creed and colors experience.
“There’s never an excuse to abandon your son, no matter how you feel about the mother,” said one sympathetic fan.
“I like the way he told this story. He broke things down from everyone’s perspective as accurately as he could,” another fan said.
“Sounds like the other woman brought him peace,” said one netizen
“His Dad did not like his mom, and as a result his relationship with him suffered,” another surmised.
Under the video of his interview with Uncle Shay Shay, Wood mentioned that the story is very nuanced and layered and if people want to know more about his story, they can buy his book, “The Man of Many Fathers”. Roy Wood Jr. was a student at FAMU in the late ‘90s and is a huge baseball fan who is often involved in events and productions concerning “Black Baseball.” During his time in college, he would ride the Greyhound Bus from Tallahassee to do the opening spot at an Atlanta comedy club. In addition, Wood Jr. hosts a new podcast called ‘Road to Rickwood’, which takes a closer look at the field’s history as a microcosm of the civil rights movement itself. Wood Jr. grew up in Birmingham playing little league baseball at Rickwood.
