The jaw-dropping success of Katt Williams' wild ride of an appearance on Shannon Sharpe's Club Shay Shay podcast started the new year with one clear message: the veteran comedian has far more than nine lives.
In a conversation spanning almost three hours, Williams, 52, discussed his family, career, legal issues, grievances with other comedians, and this year's presidential election, among many other subjects. He also shared claims so wild that it was forgivable to expect a punchline (the assertion that his and Ludacris' fates in Hollywood were decided at a meeting with "the Illuminati" is a bona fide highlight; Ludacris dismissed the allegations via a freestyle rap).
On a personal front, the statements were no less sensational. He was reading fluently at 3 years old. He got accepted into college at the age of 7. He read 3,000 nonfiction books a year in "multiple languages" between the ages of 8 and 12. He moved from Ohio to Florida by himself when he was 13, and later lived with sex workers.
The plethora of quotable, meme-worthy moments proved to be social media gold. In the almost two months since the interview's January 3 release on YouTube, it has pulled in more than 60 million views on the platform. Countless snippets of Williams waxing lyrical on a range of issues during his cognac-fueled chat with NFL legend Sharpe have become viral hits on Instagram and X, formerly Twitter.
According to research by Booking Agent Info, Google searches for the comedian exploded by 1,328 percent, rising from 85,900 to 1.2 million searches just 24 hours after the interview. Per the celebrity database, Williams' pre-Club Shay Shay Instagram following stood at 798,052. As of press time, it exceeds 1.3 million.
"The study's track of growth following the interview showcases how a single media appearance can lead to a substantial increase in public interest and online following," Sophie Miller, a celebrity contact agent at Booking Agent Info, said in a statement shared with Newsweek. "Katt Williams' digital footprint [has] expanded dramatically, reflecting the power of viral content in today's interconnected world."
Perhaps more remarkably, it also reflects the power and resilience of Williams himself, whose lengthy list of past scandals would be enough to topple Hollywood mega stars with levels of fame and monetary riches far outstripping his.
"Every time that try to put you down, they try to put you to the back, you bounce up [higher]," former Denver Broncos tight end Sharpe told Williams with a sense of awe during their podcast meeting. "You move right back to the front."
"Trampoline skin is something that you ask God for," Williams responded in classic Williams style, before diving into football analogies to explain that he works tirelessly at being the best that he can be, whatever the intentions of his detractors.
Katt Williams' Scandals
While Williams' movie debut as Money Mike in the 2002 classic comedy Friday After Next secured his status as one of Hollywood's bright new stars, it wasn't long before he was drawing headlines that would panic the most hardened of publicists.
In December 2006, the comic pleaded no contest to the misdemeanor charge of carrying a concealed firearm, after he was found with a gun at Los Angeles International Airport the month prior. The incident led to three years of probation and a fine. Williams also spent three days in jail while he was being processed.
Two years later, in November 2008, Williams was pulled over by police in New York for driving a car without license plates. On searching the vehicle, a gun was found. Charges were eventually dropped in July of 2009. In November 2009, Williams landed in more hot water, when he was charged with burglary and trespassing after his arrest on suspicion of breaking into a home near Atlanta.
The year 2011 saw Williams arrested in Palmdale, California, following a heated confrontation with a tractor driver. The driver, who was working on a home where Williams was staying, alleged that three women attacked him with rocks and dirt clods. When the complainant's wife arrived to collect him following his call, Williams, he alleged, blocked their exit. The comedian was subsequently charged with felony intimidating a witness.
In November 2012, Williams was arrested in Oakland, California, on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, after an 18-year-old man alleged that the star hit him in the head with a bottle on his tour bus. A week earlier, a former assistant filed a lawsuit against Williams, accusing him of inflicting "permanent injuries" via a closed-fist punch.
The following month saw Williams arrested three times. One of those arrests stemmed from police finding firearms and marijuana in his Los Angeles-area home, leading to felony child endangerment charges (the comedian has three biological and seven adopted children). The case fell apart weeks later.
January 2013 got off on an active note when Williams was arrested outside his Los Angeles home for failing to appear in a Sacramento County courtroom over reckless driving charges. Williams was alleged to have led police on a chase after he allegedly rode a three-wheeled motorcycle on a sidewalk in November 2012.
In 2014, Williams was arrested and charged, along with notorious rap mogul Suge Knight, for stealing a paparazzi photographer's camera in Beverly Hills, California. After pleading no contest to a robbery charge in April 2017, Williams received three years probation and was ordered to undertake a year of anger management classes.
Williams was arrested at least four times of over six months in 2016. The bulk of the charges stemmed from altercations in Georgia and California. That year, he also became a social media talking point over viral video footage of him on the losing side of an altercation with a 17-year-old boy on a soccer field in Florida.
His chapter of legal woes appears to have ended with an October 2018 arrest in Portland, Oregon, on a charge of assault in the fourth degree. After arriving for a performance in the city, Williams allegedly got into a fight with the driver of a town car over a dog that he had brought with him.
Addressing his previous legal issues, Williams told Sharpe that he had been in jail "30 times," adding: "If it's dangerous to be in the hood, and you have to have a gun on you for protection, and it's either be judged by twelve or carried by six, I'm always going to have my heater on me... Unfortunately, I smoke cigarettes and weed. If you catch me 15 times, 15 times I'm going to have it on me."
Continued Success
Williams' run-ins with the law merely punctuated his ongoing standup comedy success. To date, the star has 12 standup specials under his belt—a feat for even the most accomplished of comedians.
Often referred to as the "underground king of comedy," Williams, whose given name is Micah Sierra Williams, cut his teeth on the standup comedy circuit, years after leaving his deeply religious parents' home at the age of just 13. He lived in Miami, Oklahoma City, and then Sacramento, before heading south to Los Angeles.
He continues to hone his craft to this day. Williams is in the midst of his Dark Matter Tour across the U.S.; the star told Sharpe that this is his 19th 100-night tour. He has also taken several comedians on the road with him. Business, all evidence shows, is booming.
At one point on Club Shay Shay, Williams told Sharpe that his penchant for cursing in his stage acts has seen him shut out of "mainstream" comedy conversations. He also said that Joe Rogan would not want him on his powerhouse podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, because of this.
"If you were a comedian that cussed, you were ridiculed by the mainstream comedy-geist," Williams explained. "That would be like me being on Joe Rogan. Joe don't want me on there. I need to be on Shannon. Joe's got six comedians that's never been funny [that] he wants to push out. That's really how it is."
"I love Katt," Rogan wrote on X last month in response to a video clip of Williams' comments. "He's one of my favorite comics and I'd love to have him on. We talk about him all the time. If he's down I'll make it happen."
That one of the world's most listened-to podcasters has declared himself an established fan of Williams shows that the attention garnered from his interview with Sharpe is merely a representation of his popularity, rather than the entire making of it.
Social justice journalist and national media contributor Lisa Durden told Newsweek that Williams holds a "magnetic" presence. "His sharp wit and unique perspective captivates audiences far beyond the stage," Durden explained. "Katt is fire in films, television and of course on that comedy stage. He's a comic genius! Only one of a few who consistently pack arenas."
"He has a slew of comedy specials that are always ratings gold," she went on. "His appeal with audiences is not simply because he makes them laugh, but because he also makes them think. Katt's authenticity and fearlessness in addressing controversial topics has creating a loyal fan base that appreciates his unapologetic style."
"When people ask, 'Where has Katt Williams gone wrong?' I say he hasn't," Durden added "He's simply faced his fair share of challenges like all of us. The way I see it, every struggle Katt faced was a triumph! Every mistake he's made was a lesson learned. In fact, his trials and tribulations never overshadowed his comedic brilliance, which is why he is a force to be reckoned with."
Evan Nierman, CEO of global PR firm Red Banyan, told Newsweek that Williams' rare interview with Sharpe allowed him to rewrite a narrative that had largely been accepted as fact over the years.
Nierman said the interview "received huge attention and catalyzed a career revival because he did something vital that I often recommend to clients: he pressed the truth.
"Katt has been a source of controversy for years and was painted as a bitter comedian who let opportunities pass him by until he became a 'has-been.' Until that interview, that negative narrative went largely unchallenged and was pushed by propagated by his critics. Negative attention Katt received for everything from legal issues and accusations of drug use to disparaging comments made about other comedians to the infamous 'fight' video bolstered that narrative."
Unlike the majority of other celebrities, Williams took a name-and-shame approach to his interview, during which he called out, and made allegations against, a host of his fellow comedians, some of whom he accused of stealing jokes.
Nierman told Newsweek that Williams' unfiltered approach to telling his story will only serve to endear him to a wider audience.
"Americans love two things that Katt has now given them: personal perspective and a comeback story," Nierman explained. "With the Shannon Sharpe interview, Katt spoke directly to the audience in his own words, told his side of the story, and didn't shy away from answering tough questions. He spoke unapologetically and in a way that resonated with the audience. Fans are ready to love him again and see him succeed.
"The public now realizes that not everything they read or hear about has truth behind it. This time when Katt spoke, they were ready to listen, and it has been doing wonders for his career ever since."
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