Comedian Wanda Sykes said in a Monday interview that many comedians are scared to tell certain jokes out of fear, but argued it is important to say them anyway.

Charlamagne tha God and the rest of the “Breakfast Club” radio show hosts interviewed Sykes and recalled her prolific career in comedy. Sykes got her big break writing for The Chris Rock Show, where she won an Emmy in 1999, then went on to have a stellar career in stand-up as well as recurring guest roles on comedic shows like Curb Your Enthusiasm. She also hosted the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in 2009 and was named one of the “25 Funniest People in America” by Entertainment Weekly.

“The thing I used to love about the Chris Rock Show—it was just full of uncomfortable truths,” Charlamagne recalled. “Even that whole era was full of uncomfortable truths, right? Do you think comedy is still allowed to be that honest? Or are we in an era now where everybody wants jokes, but they don’t want the truth that comes [with it]?”

“No. You know what? I think you’re allowed to do it, but it’s just who wants to do it?  You know what I’m saying?” Sykes replied, who has not shied away from political hot takes herself. “If I’m trying to fill an arena, you know what I’m saying, you can’t be that common. You got to be you got to appeal to the masses. And sometimes, right now, what the masses want to hear, it’s ugly, you know.”

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Wanda Sykes at the 83rd Annual Golden Globes held at The Beverly Hilton on January 11, 2026 in Beverly Hills, California. (Rich Polk/2026GG/Penske Media via Getty Images)

“I’m glad you said that. I’m [going to] do it,” Jess Hilarious, a standup comedian herself, replied, “But when I do me, when I do funny, people be getting mad.”

“Who gives a —-? You can’t do it for them. You got to do it for you. You got to say what you want. And hey, if what I want to say and what makes me feel, you know, good about my gift that I have, if I’m only going to get maybe 600 people, then those are the 600 people that that, you know, you’re supposed to be speaking to.”

“But do people get offended too fast?” co-host DJ Envy asked. “Where it’s like, you know, back then jokes just flew. It didn’t matter. You made fun of everybody. It could be the crippled person. It could be to this person. It doesn’t matter. People laugh. Now it doesn’t seem like they laugh. They look for a reason to say, ‘You know what? We’re going to boycott your next show.’”

Sykes argued that many people like to play the critic or moral police, but they often fail to understand where the comedian is coming from, willfully misinterpreting them in the worst possible way. 

“A lot of people like to be the critic. They want to be the police,” Sykes said. “It’s like if you say something and it might offend you, but you got to look at where that person is coming from. You know? Maybe their life, their perspective is different from what you know – ‘Yeah, you’re offended, but you’re not standing in my shoes. You don’t see it from my perspective!’ – So, I think that’s what we’ve gotten away from.”

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ATLANTA, GEORGIA – APRIL 26: Charlamagne tha God speaks during the “Adapting to Trends: The Future of Podcasting” panel during the 2025 Black Effect Podcast Festival at Pullman Yards on April 26, 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia.  (Derek White/Getty Images for iHeartMedia and The Black Effect Podcast Network)

Another co-host asked whether she has discerned a fine line on the issue of punching up versus punching down, which essentially is the dynamic where people discern whether it is socially acceptable to make fun of a person or group by assessing whether they are high status or low status.

“I always try to punch up because I feel like – but that’s me,” Sykes said, noting she herself is a Black woman and gay. Nonetheless, she said, “If you punch down, if it’s funny, I’m going to laugh.” 

The difference, she argued, is whether a joke that is punching down comes from a place of love/familiarity or from genuine malice toward a person or group, citing a famous joke from Chris Rock about certain men in the Black community.

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LAS VEGAS, NV – JUNE 10:  Comedian/actor Chris Rock performs his stand-up comedy routine during a stop of his Total Blackout tour at Park Theater at Monte Carlo Resort and Casino on June 10, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada.  (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) (Ethan Miller/Getty Images))

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The nation’s biggest companies are increasingly stepping back from publicly sharing their diversity, equity and inclusion policies, marking a sharp break from recent years.

The Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s 2026 Corporate Equality Index, released in February, found a 65% drop in Fortune 500 participation, with 131 companies submitting information for evaluation this year, down from 377 in 2025.

Dustin DeVito, head of research at the conservative watchdog 1792 Exchange, called the decline “shocking,” in an interview with Fox News Digital.

He said this year was the first time that Fortune 500 CEI corporate participation has “plummeted” by double digits, after he said it plateaued in 2025.

The 2026 Corporate Equality Index report by the Human Rights Campaign showed a 65% decline in the number of Fortune 500 companies that chose to voluntarily submit their DEI policies for evaluation. (Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)

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“But this year, it’s totally fallen apart,” DeVito said.

HRC says the drop in submissions does not necessarily mean companies are abandoning workplace inclusion policies altogether.

“Instead, the decline in submissions reflects a shift in how employers are approaching transparency in the current environment,” the report says. HRC also said policy implementation among companies that did participate was “sustained or increased” across the criteria measured from 2025 to 2026.

The report says 534 companies earned a perfect score for LGBTQ+ workplace inclusion policies in this year’s index.

Hundreds protest outside a rally held by President Donald Trump at Macomb County Community College in Warren, MI, on April 29, 2025. (Getty Images/Dominic Gwinn)

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DeVito questioned the group’s transparency, noting that HRC did not identify the companies that received perfect scores in the body of this year’s report or list individuals serving on the HRC Business Advisory Council, as it had done in past reports.

He also said the report no longer shows the same level of detail on company profiles about the policies companies submitted for review, which he argued shields companies from scrutiny.

“They’re upset that companies are not being transparent, yet they’re also contributing to the lack of transparency,” DeVito said.

He pointed to the Cracker Barrel rebrand controversy last August as an example of how consumer backlash to DEI policies has hurt major companies in recent years. He noted that during that time, the company faced more scrutiny after news broke that a former executive at Cracker Barrel went on to serve on the HRC Business Advisory Council.

General view of a Cracker Barrel Country Store in Fishkill, NY, Monday, Aug. 25, 2025. (Richard Beetham for Fox News Digital)

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1792 Exchange, which tracks corporate activism and advocates for more politically neutral business practices, says that despite the decline in participation, some underlying DEI workplace policies have remained in place.

The group noted that this year’s index shows 72% of Fortune 500 companies offer transgender-inclusive healthcare benefits. DeVito said this year’s CEI also expanded certain transgender-care coverage requirements for companies seeking a perfect score.

Even so, many corporations have moved away from DEI language in public communications in recent years. Gravity Research reported in November that “the term ‘DEI’ fell 98% across Fortune 100 communications.” The report analyzed more than 1,000 corporate documents from January 2023 to May 2025.

That shift has unfolded as the Trump administration has cracked down on DEI programs in the private sector. In January 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to “end illegal DEI discrimination and preferences” while directing federal agencies to take steps to encourage private sector companies to end illicit DEI policies through regulatory actions, investigations, litigation or other means.

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Several companies, including Starbucks, Nike and JPMorgan Chase, have also faced lawsuits alleging their DEI hiring practices are discriminatory.

According to 1792, at least 26 companies have publicly retreated from participating in the Corporate Equality Index, including Tractor Supply Company, Harley-Davidson, Lowe’s, Nissan, Walmart, McDonald’s and Target.

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HRC President Kelley Robinson said in the report that while it remains illegal to discriminate against LGBTQ+ workers, she noted in the group’s report that “pressure from the federal government has been unprecedented, rolling back protections, publishing executive orders and threatening investigations for diversity and inclusion work.”

“It’s in this context that some companies have pulled back from this work,” she added.

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The Human Rights Campaign did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Fox Business’ Eric Revell, Elizabeth Heckman and Alba Cuebas-Fantauzzi contributed to this report.