Bernie Mac's Daughter Reflects on Mixed Feelings Being Included in His Stand-Up Sets (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

“But did he do jokes about you?“ Haddish, 44, asks.

“Yes, he did,” McCullough acknowledged.

“Did it make you feel some type of way?” Haddish follows up.

Bernie Mac and Je’Niece McCullough.Frank Micelotta/Getty; Je’Niece McCullough/Facebook

Frank Micelotta/Getty; Je’Niece McCullough/Facebook

“Not when I was younger,” McCullough, 46, continues. “When I was younger, I enjoyed it. It was like, ‘Oh, look, my daddy’s onstage, yay! Go daddy!’ And then as I got older and the jokes got more personal, I was like, ‘Wait a minute. Hold on. Hold on. Um, sir?’

Mac (né Bernard Jeffery McCullough)diedon Aug. 9, 2008, at age 50 from complications due to pneumonia.

At the NAACP Image Awards in 2006, Mac reverted to his stand-up character. “America, I heard your prayers, and you wanted me here. The Mac Man cometh, and I’m bringing hell with me,” he quipped.

In 2007, Mac toldDavid Lettermanon theLate Showwith David Lettermanthat he intended to retire from stand-up comedy.

Je’Niece McCullough and Bernie Mac in Los Angeles, California in September 2004.Picture Perfect/Shutterstock

Picture Perfect/Shutterstock

“It’s going to be 30 years for me, and I’m going to call it,” he said then. “I missed a lot of things, you know. I was a street performer for two years. I went into clubs in 1977.”

The years of hard work, Mac said, caused him to “miss out on so much, you know, and you live in all these hotels – I was on the road 47 weeks out of the year.”

“I want to enjoy my life a little bit,” he also told Letterman then.

Mac is one of a number of comics whose work is highlighted inBlack Comedy in America.The 10-episode docuseries explores the origin of Black Comedy and “delves into the cultural impact ofThe Fresh Prince of Bel Air, The Best Man, Def Comedy Jam,the wave of memorable Black sitcoms from 70s, and influential household names such asRichard PryorandDave Chappelle,” according to the synopsis.

Black Comedy in Americaalso features a reunion with the remaining members ofThe Original Kings of Comedy—Steve Harvey,Cedric the EntertainerandD.L. Hughley— and interviews withShaquille O’Neal,Tracy Morgan,George Lopez,Rachel Lindsay,Taye Diggs,Marla Gibbs,Coco Jones, Craig Robinson, Luenell,W. Kamau Belland B. Simone.

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Black Comedy In Americapremieres at 10 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Oct 15 at 10 p.m. ET.

source: people.com