Carlos Mencia on the 'Joke Stealing' Fight With Joe Rogan

You know you've become famous when - people you don't even know dislike you.  That's the discovery of comedian Carlos Mencia, who tells this column that he wasn't aware of his fame until the story of his fight with "Fear Factor" host Joe Rogan hit the airwaves. Many will recall that the two comics got into a heated argument on stage at the Comedy Store in Los Angeles when Rogan accused Mencia of stealing jokes.

Carlos Mencia on 'Joke Stealing' Fight With Joe Rogan

"I did not know that I was a celebrity until that happened. I remember I woke up in the morning, and my brother's like, 'They're talking about you on like five radio stations!'" recalls Mencia with a laugh. "I have been in this business long enough to know that there is one true way to mark your success -- by how much your peers and other people begin to dislike you. As soon as comics start doing that, it's because they envy your position. It's sad that they need to fill their negativity with that kind of stuff, but that's what happens."

The Comedy Central comic says he has let the incident roll off his shoulders. "You can't pay attention to that stuff too much. I knew in my heart that I try to be the best that I can, and I work hard at it. To this day, every accomplishment that I've ever received was because of hard work, not because I took it from somebody or because I tried to put somebody else down," he declares. "If you begin to pay attention to that stuff, you question yourself. Then you start going, 'Well, maybe I shouldn't do this?' As a matter of fact, I can't wait 'til I'm really popular and the rumors come up that I'm gay. That's when I'm going to really be famous!"

SOMETHING TO SING ABOUT: "Men in Trees" regular John Amos says he's reeling from being embraced by country royalty -- the late, great country icon Johnny Cash's family.  The veteran TV actor, who's down in Nashville to record his first country album, is working with Johnny's cousin, Gene Cash. After hearing Amos' version of Randy Newman's "Louisiana 1927" on a tribute album for Hurricane Katrina, Gene offered him a deal with United Music Group.

"Gene has a wealth of material. One of the songs is called 'When Johnny Came to Town,'" says Amos. "It's a little flashback to how Johnny Cash got started with Sun Records and bringing him up to the present. It's a wonderful little piece of storytelling. And Eric, the youngest member of the family, has written one piece, and we're going into the studio to lay down the basic track for that." He adds, "I've got some other tracks from Darren Green, who's with Tim McGraw, so we're going to polish those. Gene seems to think we might have something ready by the end of the summer."

Ironically, Amos says he just discovered that his "Men in Trees" exec producer, James Mangold, also co-wrote, produced and directed the Oscar-winning Johnny Cash biopic, "Walk the Line." Amos never got to meet the legendary Cash, but at the recent Country Music Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Nashville, he got to meet another country legend.

"I met Charlie Daniels!" he says excitedly. "I'm a big fan of his, and I didn't know he was a big fan of mine. He said, 'I gotta get you a cowboy hat!' So he's going to get me a big hat just like his. I don't know if it will help me sing better, but it'll keep the rain off my head."

LEAF IT ALONE: Kevin Nealon has spent many years as a stand-up comedian and even had a long stint on "Saturday Night Live," but now he says people are starting to associate him with his character, Doug, on "Weeds." Some even think he's a little too convincing at playing a pothead. "I don't have a history of pot," he assures us. "I used to go to a lot of concerts growing up, and I got a lot of secondhand pot. I got the munchies, of course -- for like, leftover food."

INSIDE INSIGHT: Ana Ortiz's "Ugly Betty" character, Hilda, may have sparked comments about a stereotype of Latin women, but Ortiz says many people in her community can relate. "There's a part of Hilda in everyone," she says of her loud, overprotective character. "It comes from being in such a close Latino family. We really are that way. We have each other's back, but we give each other a lot of grief behind closed doors. It's like, 'No one else is allowed to give you grief, but I am.'"

(With reports by Stephanie DuBois and Emily Feimster)