Career
Stand-up comedy
Williams started performing comedy in the Avondale neighborhood of Cincinnati. [7] [8] He honed his comic delivery by performing his routine in clubs around the country and had become an established comic by 1999, appearing at the likes of The Improv, The Comedy Club, The Ice House, and Hollywood Park Casino. Most notably, he appeared on BET's ComicView as Katt "N da Hatt" Williams. [7] [8]
Williams starred in his first comedy special, Let a Playa Play, in 2006. His first HBO stand-up special came in 2006 with The Pimp Chronicles, Pt. 1. [7] In 2007, he co-wrote and starred as himself in the comedy film Katt Williams: American Hustle . The film had critical success and established Williams as a mainstream comedian. [7] [9] In 2008, he released his second HBO comedy special, It's Pimpin' Pimpin' . [10] [11] Keeping busy releasing comedy DVDs and touring, Williams had a comedy tour that was named the best of 2008 by Billboard. [11]
After a four-year hiatus, Williams returned to stand-up in 2012 for his third HBO comedy special, Kattpacalypse. [12] Later that year, one day after an incident at a Seattle bar - in which he reportedly acted threatening and violent, then resisted arrest - landed him in jail, he announced the end of his stand-up comedy career. [13] However, three days later, he announced he would not retire. [14]
Two live performances in November 2012 ended early because of Williams' confrontational behavior. A November 1 performance at the Wells Fargo Theatre in Denver ended after he jumped off the stage to confront a heckler. [15] Williams' November 16 performance at the Oracle Arena in Oakland ended after he engaged in a profanity-laced confrontation with a heckler, and was assisted off stage by his own security. [16]
During late 2013, Williams was on his Growth Spurt Tour. [17] On August 16, 2014, he returned with a new HBO special titled Katt Williams: Priceless: Afterlife, which was directed by Spike Lee. [18] [19]
In September 2015, during an interview, Williams announced and described his upcoming Conspiracy Theory Tour: "The conspiracy conversation is a conversation that we are all familiar with. We know that there are conspiracies out there, but this is a conversation that encompasses a lot of things that aren't being discussed other places. That's the basis for all conspiracy theories: the fact that there is hidden information out there, and how our process changes about things that we thought we used to know. We all, at some point, if we're are at a certain age, we grew up thinking Pluto was a planet. This is probably going to go down as one of my finest works, just because it's a collection of forbidden topics that we can't seem to get answered. I am one of the rare urban public officials. Part of my guarantee in my ticket price is that I'm going to be talking about what we are talking about now, and discussing from now to the next time we see [me] again. This is the open discussion that we've had since 2003. This is what it is about." [20]
In 2018, Williams released a new stand-up special on Netflix called Great America and shot in Jacksonville, Florida. [21] In 2022, he released a new stand-up special on Netflix called World War III.
In January 2024, Williams was featured on retired NFL tight-end Shannon Sharpe's podcast, Club Shay Shay. Williams' comments on the entertainment industry and other comedians including Cedric the Entertainer, Steve Harvey, and Rickey Smiley gained traction on social media. [22]
Legal issues
On November 13, 2006, Williams was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport after a gun that had been reported stolen was found in his briefcase. [25] On December 14, he pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor count of carrying a concealed firearm and was sentenced to three years' probation, ordered to pay restitution, and given credit for the three days he spent in jail. [2]
In November 2010, Williams was arrested by police while working on a film in Coweta County, Georgia. He was accused of stealing $3,500 worth of coins and jewelry. He was released the following day on a $40,000 bond. [26] Police later charged him with burglary and criminal trespass. [27]
On June 11, 2011, Williams was arrested in connection with an alleged assault on a tractor driver. The alleged victim said three women approached his tractor at around 4:30 p.m. local time and attacked him with rocks and dirt clods, causing him facial injuries. [28] Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department officers arrived on the scene and arrested the three women for assault with a deadly weapon, and arrested Williams for felony intimidation of a witness. [29] He was booked into jail and released that same night on $50,000 bail. [29]
On November 15, 2012, Williams was arrested in Oakland, California, on charges of suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon; he had allegedly beaten an 18-year-old man with a bottle aboard Williams' tour bus in Berkeley, California. [30]
An attendee of Williams' shortened performance at the Oracle Arena in Oakland on November 16, 2012, filed a class action lawsuit days after the event, seeking compensation for himself and "all others who paid money for a show, but got nothing but Katt Williams' nonperformance". [31]
On December 2, 2012, Williams was arrested in Seattle after he allegedly got into a dispute at a bar in the South Lake Union neighborhood. His arrest came after he no-showed the first night of a planned two-night performance at the Paramount Theatre. [32] Five days later, he was arrested in Dunnigan, California, on a bench warrant arising from an incident the previous month in Sacramento, California, during which he allegedly drove a three-wheeled motorbike onto a sidewalk and refused to stop for police. The resulting chase was halted due to safety concerns, and the bench warrant was issued after Williams narrowly missed several bystanders. [33]
On December 28, 2012, Williams was arrested in Los Angeles on child endangerment charges. He was held in lieu of $100,000 bail, and four of his adopted children were placed in protective custody. [34] According to reports, the case fell apart and no trial was scheduled. [35]
On January 8, 2013, Williams was arrested at his Los Angeles home after failing to appear in Sacramento to answer the November 25 motorbike charges. [36]
On October 29, 2014, Williams and Suge Knight were arrested for the theft of a camera from a photographer in Beverly Hills on September 5. [37] In April 2017, Williams pled no contest to the charge of robbery and was ordered to undertake a year of anger management classes as well as receiving three years' probation. [38]
On February 29, 2016, Williams was arrested in Gainesville, Georgia, when a clerk at a swimming pool store said Williams had hit him. When police arrived, they found Williams already lying face down with his hands behind his back, waiting to be handcuffed. [39]
On March 23, 2016, a video went viral of the 44-year-old Williams getting into a fight with a 17-year-old boy following a dispute during a soccer game in Gainesville. The authorities planned to review the incident with the DA in addition to his ongoing court cases. [40] [41]
On April 27, 2016, Williams was arrested and charged with battery in Atlanta, Georgia, after allegedly throwing a salt shaker at the manager of a local restaurant. The manager claimed to have been hit in the mouth with the salt shaker when Williams' group was denied preferential seating. [42]
On July 24, 2016, Williams was arrested on suspicion of battery after an altercation with a woman at the Sportsman's Lodge, a hotel in Sherman Oaks, California. [43]
On September 15, 2016, Williams was arrested in Fulton County, Georgia, on a charge of second-degree criminal damage to property, after having turned himself in on a warrant for failing to appear in court for the April 27 incident. This new arrest involved an allegation from February 28, 2016, stating that Williams had thrown a man's cellphone. [44]
On October 6, 2018, Williams was arrested in Portland, Oregon, on a charge of assault in the fourth degree, after he assaulted a driver during an argument about his dog. He was additionally arrested on an outstanding warrant from Georgia. [45]
