Cedric the Entertainer has long been one of the most consistent cultural voices in Black entertainment — a comedian, actor, and storyteller who has spent decades bringing humor, comfort, and community into the spotlight. As he wraps up his eighth and final season of The Neighborhood and prepares for a dramatic role on Broadway, Cedric is stepping into a new chapter that feels both expansive and deeply rooted in the values his audience has always cherished: family, culture, and joy.
Those themes have defined his career, but in recent years they’ve become the center of his mission.
A Sitcom Built on Familiarity, Heart, and Black Everyday Life
During its eight-year run, The Neighborhood quietly carved out a space in network television that felt rare — a sitcom about a Black family that wasn’t just about delivering punchlines, but about capturing the nuances of community life, gentrification, cultural disconnects, and the everyday joys and frustrations Black families know intimately.
Cedric, who starred in and executive-produced the show, says the intention from the beginning was to build a world where the comedy came from real experiences, not stereotypes. Even episodes that seemed simple on the surface — like the now-viral washcloth debate — had a deeper purpose.
“It was something so natural for one group of people and completely a myth to another,” he explains, recalling how the episode unexpectedly turned into a cultural flashpoint. The humor worked, but it also sparked conversation — a balance Cedric says the show consistently aimed for.
And when the world outside shifted, The Neighborhood responded. Cedric points to an episode written during the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder — a storyline that follows his character’s son navigating activism and safety — as a moment where the show understood its broader responsibility.
His goal, he says, was always to portray characters as “unique human beings” first, and to highlight the bonds people form when they aren’t reduced to assumptions. It’s a gentle, steady kind of representation — the kind that lingers.
A New Chapter on Broadway, Anchored in Legacy
Though Cedric is best known for comedy, his transition to Broadway this fall is not a departure from who he is — it’s an evolution. He’ll star alongside Taraji P. Henson in Debbie Allen’s production of Joe Turner’s Come & Gone, an August Wilson classic that explores migration, identity, and the search for belonging.
Cedric’s dramatic instincts have always been present, even if audiences associate him mainly with humor. “People don’t know me for that,” he says, “but in regular life, I’m not really a walking-around-telling-jokes kind of person.” The fatherly grounding he brings to the role — the owner of a boarding house guiding the lost and the wandering — mirrors the energy he has brought to TV for years.
Performing Wilson’s work, he adds, feels significant. With so many of the playwright’s stories now reaching new generations through film and theater, Cedric sees this moment as part of a larger cultural continuum: one where Black narratives remain centered and celebrated.
Celebration Through Food: From AC Barbeque to Prilosec OTC
The joy Cedric creates on screen extends into his real life — and lately, that joy shows up in the form of smoke, sauce, and Southern tradition. His growing food venture, AC Barbeque, launched with longtime friend Anthony Anderson, reflects the role food plays as a cultural connector.
“You say, ‘I’m throwing something on the grill,’ and you start getting responses,” Cedric says. “Now we got a whole meal. That’s what we thought was the most interesting thing.” The brand has already led to intriguing collaborations, including a recent joint effort with Arby’s to create new smoked sandwich recipes.
Building a food business hasn’t been celebrity autopilot; it’s required the same discipline and storytelling Cedric brings to entertainment. “You realize you’ve got to work hard to gain an audience and market share,” he notes, acknowledging the grind behind the scenes.
That same celebration of food and fellowship made Cedric a natural fit for a new partnership with Prilosec OTC — a campaign encouraging people to fully enjoy life’s most flavorful moments. Cedric’s message is simple: heartburn shouldn’t stop the party. “Don’t let a little heartburn calm you down,” he says with the ease of someone who’s hosted countless cookouts. “When it’s time to do the electric slide, get out there.”
It’s humorous, but it’s also sincere — a reflection of how he sees joy as something to be protected, not postponed.
A Through-Line of Community
Across every project — the sitcoms, the stage work, the food ventures, the brand collaborations — Cedric returns to one idea: community. Not as a buzzword, but as a lived experience. As something inherited and shared. As the backbone of Black life.
That’s the spirit behind his Prilosec partnership as well. To him, it represents “a celebration of community and family and folks and living life to the fullest.” It’s the same spirit that defines his barbecue business, his sitcom, his mentoring work, and now, his Broadway debut.
Cedric the Entertainer isn’t reinventing himself; he’s expanding the places where joy can live. The roles change, the stages shift, but the purpose stays the same — to uplift, to gather, and to remind people of the beauty in everyday connection.
And in this moment of his career, that mission has never felt clearer.