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Katt WilliamsAmerican stand-up comedian and actor
Date of Birth: 02.09.1971
Country:  USA |
Content:
Cat Williams: American Stand-up Comedian and Actor
Early LifeCat Williams, born Micah Williams on September 2, 1971, in Cincinnati, Ohio, was raised in Dayton, Ohio, by Jehovah's Witness parents. He claims to have learned to read at age three and conversed in several languages, including French and Creole. Williams spent a year and a half in Haiti as a child, embarking on religious missionary trips with his family. At the age of 13, Williams emancipated himself from his parents and moved to Florida. Although homeless and living in a park, he supported himself by street peddling. Despite his upbringing, he stated that he "will always be God's friend."
Comedy Career
Stand-upWilliams began performing stand-up in the Avondale neighborhood of Cincinnati. He honed his comedic delivery at clubs nationwide and emerged as an established comedian by 1999, appearing at venues like The Improv, The Comedy Club, The Ice House, and the Hollywood Park Casino. Notably, he featured on BET's ComicView as "Katt 'Da Hat'" Williams.
Williams released his first comedy special, "Let a Playa Play", in 2006. His debut HBO stand-up special came in 2007 with "The Pimp Chronicles, Part 1". In 2007, he co-wrote and starred in the comedy film "Cat Williams: American Hustle", which garnered critical acclaim and cemented Williams' status as a popular comedian. In 2008, he released his second HBO comedy special, "It's Pimpin' Pimpin'."
Continuing to release comedy DVDs and tour, Williams had what Billboard named the "Top Tour" in 2008.
After a four-year hiatus, Williams returned to stand-up in 2012 for his third HBO comedy special, "Kattpacalypse". Later that year, following a Seattle bar incident where he allegedly behaved threateningly and aggressively and subsequently resisted arrest, he announced his retirement from stand-up. However, three days later, he revealed he would not be retiring. Two live performances in November 2012 ended prematurely due to Williams' confrontational behavior. A November 1st show at the Wells Fargo Theater in Denver ended after he jumped off the stage to confront a heckler. Williams' November 16th performance at the Oracle Arena in Oakland also ended prematurely after he engaged in a profanity-laced confrontation with a heckler and was assisted off stage by his own security.
In late 2013, Williams was on his "Growth Spurt Tour". On August 16, 2014, he returned with a new HBO special titled "Cat Williams: Priceless: Afterlife", directed by Spike Lee.
In an interview in September 2015, Williams announced and described his upcoming "Conspiracy Theory" tour: "The conspiracy talk is some talk we all are familiar with. We know there are conspiracies, but it's a talk that includes a lot of things that don't get discussed anywhere else. That's what the core of all conspiracy theories are — the fact that there is hidden information, and how our process changes on things that we thought we once knew. Like, if we're of a certain age, we grew up thinking Pluto was a planet. That will probably go down as some of my best work strictly because it's a dungeon of forbidden topics that we just can't seem to get over. I'm one of the few comedians in the urban community that's still out here talking about it. Part of me guaranteeing my ticket price is that I'm going to talk about what we're talking about now, and I'm going to take it from here to the next time y'all see [me]. It's an open-ended discussion that we've been having since 2003. That's what it is."
In 2018, Williams released a new stand-up special on Netflix titled "Great America", filmed in Jacksonville, Florida. In 2022, he released another special on Netflix titled "World War III".
In January 2024, Williams appeared on former NFL player Shannon Sharpe's podcast, Club Shay Shay. Williams' comments about the entertainment industry and fellow comedians, including Cedric the Entertainer, Steve Harvey, and Rickey Smiley, garnered significant attention on social media.
Acting
In 2002, Williams made his acting debut in the television series "NYPD Blue", appearing in the sixth episode of the tenth season on October 29th. Williams is best known for his character "Money Mike" in the film "Friday After Next" (2002) and also played supporting roles in "Norbit" (2007) and "First Sunday" (2008).
He appeared in the official music video for Nick Cannon's single "Gigolo" in 2003. He then appeared as a regular on MTV's "Wild 'n Out" for its first three seasons.
In 2007, Williams voiced a pimp named Slickback in "Aqua Teen Hunger Force". He appears as himself portraying a stand-up comedian in the video game "Grand Theft Auto IV", performing several routines, including an abbreviated version of one of his routines from "Cat Williams: American Hustle". He had a multi-episode guest arc on the sitcom "My Wife and Kids", playing the character Bobby Shaw. He served as a roaster on the Comedy Central Roast of Flavor Flav.
In 2018, he portrayed the character Willy in the season two premiere episode of the television series "Atlanta", for which he won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series.
Music
Williams has also used the stage name "Money Mike" when performing on songs by artists such as Baby Bash, The Game, and Suga Free. In 2006, he joined rapper Cam'ron's group The Diplomats but never became an official label artist. On January 29, 2009, he released his debut studio/live album, "It's Pimpin' Pimpin'." On November 19, 2013, he and Hell Rell released a diss track aimed at Atlanta rapper Trinidad James titled "Lames in the Game" over James' comments about the state of modern hip-hop music.
Legal Issues
On November 13, 2006, Williams was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport after a handgun was discovered in his briefcase, which was reported as stolen. On December 14th, he pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of carrying a concealed firearm and was sentenced to three years' probation, restitution, and credit for the three days he spent in jail.
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 on a $40,000 bond the next day. The police later charged him with burglary and criminal trespass.
On June 11, 2011, Williams was arrested in connection with an alleged assault on a tractor driver. The alleged victim stated that three women approached his tractor at approximately 4:30 p.m. local time and pelted him with rocks and dirt clods, causing injuries to his face. [28] Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies arrived on scene and arrested the three women for assault with a deadly weapon, while Williams was arrested for intimidating a witness. [29] He was booked and released on $50,000 bail the same night.
On November 15, 2012, Williams was arrested in Oakland, California, on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon; he allegedly struck an 18-year-old man with a bottle aboard Williams' tour bus in Berkeley, California.
A patron who attended Williams' abbreviated performance at the Oracle Arena in Oakland on November 16, 2012, a few days after the event, filed a class-action lawsuit seeking compensation for himself and "all others who paid money to see a performance that featured nothing more than Cat Williams' non-performance."
On December 2, 2012, Williams was arrested in Seattle after allegedly getting into a fight at a bar in the South Lake Union neighborhood. His arrest came after he failed to appear for the first night of a scheduled two-night performance at the Paramount Theatre. Five days later, he was arrested in Dunnigan, California, on a warrant stemming from an incident the previous month in Sacramento, California, during which he allegedly drove a three-wheeled motorcycle onto a sidewalk and refused to stop when ordered to do so by police. The chase was suspended due to safety concerns, and the warrant was issued after Williams narrowly missed several pedestrians.
On December 28, 2012, Williams was arrested in Los Angeles, California, on suspicion of child endangerment. He was held on $100,000 bail, and four of his adopted children were placed in protective custody. The case reportedly fell apart without charges being filed.
On January 8, 2013, Williams was arrested at his Los Angeles home after he failed to appear in Sacramento to answer the motorcycle charges from November 25th.
On October 29, 2014, Williams and Suge Knight were arrested for stealing a camera from a photographer in Beverly Hills on September 5
