How Many Arrests Has Comedian Katt Williams Had Over The Years?
Ohio-born comedian Katt Williams has been a big-name stand-up comedian and actor for more than two decades. He told Shannon Sharpe on Club Shay Shay (via YouTube) that he was a highly intelligent child who "loved to read" and who found out early he had a knack for the stage. However, he came from a strict Jahovah's Witness family, and after an "altercation" with his father he left home when he was only 13. He spent several years surviving and moving around the country but eventually began chasing his dream, which began in the world of comedy and led to his appearance on several TV shows.
His star rose in 2002, when he portrayed Money Mike in "Friday after Next," his movie debut and the role for which he is still arguably best known. He has continued to be a popular screen presence, releasing several stand-up specials, including two on Netlflix in 2018 and 2022. He has attracted controversy for his behavior at live shows and for comments he has made in interviews.
But despite overcoming his difficult childhood and his successes on stage and screen, his adult life has been dogged with legal troubles, and even after achieving fame, he has faced arrest on numerous occasions for a wide variety of offenses, with the arrests often impacting his career. A survey of internet news reports suggests that Williams has been arrested 17 times during his career, though in a recent Club Shay Shay (via YouTube) interview Williams claims he has gone to jail a total of 30 times. Here are the details.
2000s
The first major legal trouble that Katt Williams found himself in came in November 2006, when he was discovered with a gun at Los Angeles International Airport. He was charged and pleaded guilty to carrying a concealed firearm, leading to three years' probation and a fine. He spent three days in jail while he was being processed.
Three years later he was detained after a disturbance in a Walmart parking lot that involved police confiscating firearms belonging to the comedian. However, Williams faced no charge for the incident, and he complained that his detainment was nothing more than a "witch hunt" against him (per Vibe). After that there was a period of multiple arrests for the comedian. The same month Williams was arrested in Atlanta, where he was accused of breaking into a home and stealing around $3,500 worth of jewelry and collectible coins. He was later charged with burglary and trespassing after being released on a $40,000 bond.
2010s
In June 2011, Katt Williams was arrested in Los Angeles after allegedly assaulting a man who was working on a tractor near a house at which he was staying with three women, who also reportedly assaulted the man in question and were also arrested. He was released after posting $50,000 bail. In November 2012, he was arrested for allegedly attacking a man on his tour bus with a bottle while in Oakland.
He was arrested three times the following month. First, after a fight in a Seattle bar and again days later in Dunnigan California on a warrant after driving erratically and failing to stop for police in Sacramento. The third arrest of the month came on December 28, he was arrested for child endangerment when police found guns a marijuana in the home he lived in with his four kids, though TMZ reported the charges were dropped. After failing to show up for the Sacramento hearing, he was arrested again at the start of January. In 2014 he was arrested alongside former Death Row Records CEO Suge Knight after stealing a camera from a paparazzi, though he managed to cut a deal and escaped with probation and an order to attend anger management classes.
He was arrested four times in 2016 for various alleged violent altercations, including an incident in which he threw a salt shaker at a restaurant manager. He was arrested once more in 2016, accused of criminal damage. then later in 2018 after an argument over a dog, which included him being detained for an outstanding warrant.
What Katt Williams has said about his arrests
Despite all these brushes with the law, Katt Williams seemingly hasn't faced arrest at all since 2018. However, he has often spoken openly about his numerous arrests and highlighted the fact that none of his arrests have ended with an actual felony conviction. While he has often found himself spending the night in jail, he has never been given a prison sentence (via YouTube).
The comedian has often made efforts to dismiss his arrests, to justify his actions leading up to them, or to pass the blame to somebody else. For example, he blamed one of his 2018 arrests on his manager, while during his appearance on the Willie D podcast in January 2024 he explained that his arrest alongside Suge Knight in 2014 came as a result of the photographer taking shots of one of Knight's children (via HipHopDX).
In 2018, Williams was also in the public eye after he starred in the second series of Donald Glover's hit show "Atlanta," in which he portrayed a character who regrets his past mistakes and tries to steer Glover's character in the right direction. The character is an obvious nod to Williams' off-screen troubles. However, in a skeptical article published in The Daily Beast, journalist Matt Wilstein questioned whether Williams showed any sign of reflection when it came to his past transgressions.