The Shady Side Of Katt Williams

If you're thinking punchlines and superb delivery with the right mix of near-intimidating confidence and charisma, Katt Williams is the name that should be popping up in your head. Since his first comedy special, "Let a Playa Play," in 2006, Williams has made an impressive career in stand-up comedy for himself. So much so that in 2024, Revolt crowned him one of the greatest comedians of all time. But of course, in Hollywood, greatness might just be another word for scandalous.

Along with his comedic chops, Williams also has an almost enviable knack for stirring up drama. Back in 2018, Williams made headlines after getting into a verbal spat with radio host Wanda Smith, who had invited him for an interview on her radio show. During the infamous sit-down, Williams questioned Smith's hosting skills, dubbing her a "poor interviewer" for constantly interrupting him. The spat got even more heated after Smith took a jab at Williams' legal woes. "You're big in prison," Smith said in response to Williams' sarky comment about her size. "I've never been to prison. 19 felonies, no convictions. Knock it off, prison and jail aren't the same," Williams defended.

Though it has been years since the interview aired, Williams and Smith have continued to feud, with the "It's Pimpin' Pimpin" star telling the "Club Shay Shay" podcast in January 2024 that he fired back at Smith in retaliation for her comments about his personal life. Apart from his feud with Smith, Williams has racked up many more controversies through the years. Here's a look at the shady side of the man called Katt Williams.

Amid a standup at the Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix in 2011, Katt Williams went on a xenophobic rant against a Mexican heckler in the audience who had disrupted his performance. "Do you remember when white people used to say go back to Africa? And we'd have to tell them we don't want to? So if you love Mexico, B***h, get the f**k over there," Williams hurled at the heckler before going on to sing the United States national anthem, as Entertainment Weekly reported. Unsurprisingly, Williams' comments drew backlash from social media users who accused him of discrimination. "KATT WILLIAMS WENT IN ON MEXICANS LMAO... he's another one that's borderline racist," one person wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. "Damn. Just found out Katt Williams is racist against us Mexicans," a second user tweeted. 

Responding to the backlash, Williams issued a statement to Radar, noting that his comments were not ill-intentioned. "I want to apologize if my comedy act was taken out of context. ... I sincerely appreciate my fans within the Mexican community and would never intentionally go out of my way to offend them," the comedian explained. In a surprising turn of events, however, Williams soon rescinded his apology in an interview with CNN, admitting that the previous statement was from his publicist. "I meant what I said and I said what I meant," he reiterated. 

In January 2024, Katt Williams sat for a lengthy conversation with the "Club Shay Shay" podcast, during which he dished out criticism and called out a long list of celebrities, including Steve Harvey and P. Diddy. While speaking on the entertainment industry, Williams lashed out at Harvey, whom he accused of plagiarizing Mark Curry's "Hangin' with Mr. Cooper" sitcom. "The same Steve that went to go watch Mark Curry do his whole sitcom and then stole everything Mark Curry had," Williams said in his rant.

Harvey was not the only comedian to catch a stray from Williams. The "Friday After Next" star also called out longtime foe Kevin Hart, describing him as an "industry plant" with an inorganic success. "In 15 years in Hollywood, no one in Hollywood has a memory of a sold-out Kevin Hart show, there being a line for him, ever getting a standing ovation at any comedy club," Williams told host Shannon Sharpe. 

In the interview, Williams also accused Ludacris of joining the Illuminati in a bid to accelerate his acting career. "We were both invited to an Illuminati thing. It had to be one or the other of us, and decisions had to be made," the comedian alleged before explaining that the secret society offered Ludacris $200 million to appear in 20 movies.

In Hollywood, comedians get heckled all the time, but while many remain unbothered, Katt Williams has done the exact opposite. In November 2012, the "Friday After Next" star made headlines after jumping offstage to get into a confrontation with a heckler while performing at the Wells Fargo Theatre in Denver. "He just snapped. Everybody started calling him 'Crack Williams' because he was running around the stage like he was high on meth or crack or something," one person in the audience recounted to The Denver Post. During the show, Williams also spat water on another heckler after inviting him on stage.

That same month, the famed comedian landed in an altercation with a different heckler during a different show at Oracle Arena. As reported by the Mercury News, the show abruptly came to an end after Williams challenged the heckler to a fight. Eventually, Williams was reportedly escorted off the stage by his security. "It was the weirdest thing I've ever seen in my life. The whole show went really well [before Williams' main set]. ... It was a packed house, and everyone was really satisfied with the show," Erick Lucero, a security guard at the event, said about the night up until that event, per Mercury News. Of course, Williams's long history with hecklers is not the only shady side to the comedian.

Since coming into the spotlight, Katt Williams has had one too many legal run-ins with the law. Back in November 2006, the "First Sunday" actor was arrested after police found a stolen gun in his briefcase at the Los Angeles International Airport. The following month, Williams, who pleaded no contest to the misdemeanor charge of carrying a concealed firearm, received a sentence of three years probation and was ordered to pay restitution.

Three years later, Williams was back in trouble with the law. In November 2009, the comedian was arrested for breaking into a house in Georgia. According to CNN, jewelry worth about $3,500 and some collectible coins had reportedly been stolen. Williams, however, denied the allegations, noting that he was in no way involved in the burglary. "Mr. Williams wears more than that in jewelry on his person," the comedian's attorney, William Briggs, defended at the time. Eventually, the "Norbit" star was released on a $40,000 bail.

In the year that followed, Williams's legal troubles continued to ramp up. In 2018, the comedian was charged with fourth-degree assault after allegedly attacking a towncar driver at the Portland International Airport.

In December 2012, Katt Williams was arrested for child endangerment after authorities found that the comedian had guns and illegal drugs in the same home where his children lived. The famed comedian was subsequently held on $100,000 bail while the four kids were placed in child protective custody. The following month, TMZ shared an update on the case, reporting that Williams would not face criminal charges based on a few arguments. First, Williams reportedly insisted his kids would have never been able to access the guns as they were hidden away. The comedian also denied owning the illegal drugs found, arguing that he was not the only adult living in the house.

As revealed during his January 2024 interview with the "Club Shay Shay" podcast, Williams is a father of 10, with only a few of the brood being his biological kids. "I got five daughters. I got five sons," he shared with the host. When asked why he decided to adopt his kids, Williams attributed it to two things: his challenging life experiences and his relationship with God. "My whole life, I wanted to be God's friend," he explained on the show.