решил проблему путем замены
<?php wp_list_comments();?>
на
<ul>
<?php foreach ($comments as $comment) : ?>
<li <?php echo $oddcomment; ?>id="comment-<?php comment_ID() ?>">
<?php echo get_avatar( $comment, 32 ); ?>
<cite class="comment_author" ><?php comment_author_link() ?></cite> Says:
<?php if ($comment->comment_approved == '0') : ?>
<em class="awaiting_moderation">Your comment is awaiting moderation.</em>
<?php endif; ?>
<br />
<small class="commentmetadata"><a href="#comment-<?php comment_ID() ?>" title="">Posted on <?php comment_date('F jS, Y') ?> at <?php comment_time() ?></a> <?php edit_comment_link('edit',' ',''); ?></small>
<?php comment_text() ?>
</li>
<?php
/* Changes every other comment to a different class */
$oddcomment = ( empty( $oddcomment ) ) ? 'class="alt" ' : '';
?>
<?php endforeach; /* end for each comment */ ?>
</ul>
