Katt Williams: I'm Retiring From Stand-Up Comedy

Comedian tells a Seattle TV station he's "kinda done" and hanging up his microphone after his latest arrest

By Josh Grossberg Dec 04, 2012 10:23 PMTags
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Katt Williams is hanging up the microphone—no joke!

The 39-year-old funnyman has announced he's exiting stage left and retiring from stand-up comedy.

The unexpected news comes after Williams was arrested Sunday in Seattle following a bar fight.

"I'm just gonna go ahead and announce my retirement from stand-up. I'm kinda done," the comedian told local station Komo 4 News. "I've discussed it with my kids, I wasn't gonna do in the middle of a Seattle street, I was going to go to Los Angeles and do it in the offices of ICM or LiveNation."

If Williams has reached the burnout stage, it's not hard to see why. 

Williams has had several run-ins with the law over the past six years, let alone the last couple of months, in addition to several aborted performances.

On Oct. 17, the Friday After Next star was taken into custody by Los Angeles police and detained on a gun violation but no charges were filed and he was released. A few weeks later Williams was collared on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon after allegedly hitting an 18-year-old man on the head with a bottle.

And this weekend, the comic got into a heated altercation with a patron at a Lake Union bar and allegedly flicked a cigarette through a car window at a woman. For that disturbance, he spent a night in King County Jail.

Hours after getting out of the clink, Williams told Seattlepi.com he was kicked out of the Courtyard Marriot hotel, though he did not provide an explanation. He also showed off some bloody knuckles and said his knee was "busted up."

But that's not all. According to Seattle's Finest, Katt was a no-show at his Thursday night gig at the Paramount Theater and following Friday's set, three fans claimed he attacked them after they tried to snap a picture with him.

Williams and his rep were not available for comment.