These days, any time Katt Williams pulls up for a long-form interview, the web collectively braces itself. After his explosive sit-down with Shannon Sharpe in 2024, one which appeared to foreshadow a string of cultural plot twists, followers don’t at all times know what model of Katt they’re getting. However this week, Williams stunned of us with a peaceful, introspective presence throughout his look on Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson’s “IMO Podcast.”
Recognized for his razor-sharp wit and the form of comedic chaos that retains social feeds buzzing, Williams introduced a special vitality to the previous first woman’s present. Over practically two hours, he peeled again the layers of his life with a form of openness that felt each tender and seasoned. He moved by means of tales of survival, parenthood, loss, and the wild, inconceivable pivots that formed him. And truthfully, one of many funniest components wasn’t even the jokes; it was Obama’s real-time reactions to his tales of residing on the streets at 14, sneaking into golf equipment, and getting promoted from door-to-door salesman to a pimp.
Earlier than turning into the legendary comic we all know in the present day, Williams was Micah and rising up in a strict family of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Ohio. Not allowed to do staple items like watch TV or hangout with mates past faculty, Williams recollects being an avid reader as a child, a interest he says formed his perspective on life.
“Rising up as a Jehovah’s Witness, I used to be studying so many books of so many individuals in so many various circumstances, and it at all times works out,” he shared. “It at all times will get higher. Life is at all times definitely worth the subsequent journey, and in order that’s how I used to be issues even that early [on in life].”
This is likely one of the many nuggets of knowledge Williams shared on the podcast. Moreover, the comic opened up about his expertise operating away along with his Rottweiler earlier than emancipating himself at 13, a chapter he says he hardly ever likes to speak about in concern of it setting a incorrect instance for youthful generations.
“I had a full suitcase and a Rottweiler pet,” he stated, reflecting on the second he left his Ohio hometown, ending up in Miami, Florida, because of his ambitions and the $1,200 he saved up from doing chores. Although he labels it as a “horrible determination,” Williams admits that his operating away was one other pivotal second within the trajectory of his life, as he recollects it instructing him the significance of the selections you make, which in the end protected him from the temptations of medication and partying in Hollywood.
As Williams shares these tales, Obama, like many viewers, says, “It is a film,” in reference to his personal life experiences. Between his time in Miami, his stint as a pimp for a bunch of “girls of the night time” he met whereas working as a door-to-door salesman, his two-year keep in Haiti, his adoption of 10 youngsters, and his rise to legendary comedian standing, Williams realized an ideal deal. Nevertheless, along with books and God, the comic reveals how a single, profound dialog with Prince opened his eyes to what’s attainable at simply 12 years outdated.
“I met Prince once I was twelve. And he modified the trajectory of perception for me,” he shared, explaining how his girlfriend on the time, Prince’s relative, prompted the assembly. “I knew I didn’t should make any modifications. This was a man who was shorter than me. He was already wealthy and well-known. And he had a objective in life. It was actually my first time being within the neighborhood of actual brilliance.”
After connecting and “having a brilliant deep dialog,” Williams defined that their friendship was short-lived, recalling the second the singer, who was 18 on the time, realized that he was solely 12 years outdated.
“He gave me the boldness… as a result of up till that time in my life, I assumed that there have been some issues I used to be gonna have to do to be able to be ok, like get taller,” Williams continued. “So Prince helped me see instantly I didn’t should get taller. He had simply signed his music deal. He had simply produced his album by himself. He performed twenty-six devices on it. He did the entire jobs. Yeah. And it had labored. So I knew that I didn’t should make any modifications. I simply needed to be in the correct place and be proper myself when it transpires.”
