Katt Williams

Williams has ten children, including three biological children and seven adopted children. He was raised in Dayton, Ohio, in a Jehovah's Witness household and spent about a year and a half living in Haiti with his family during religious mission trips.

Williams is a Christian and has often worn a cross during his comedy performances. While living in Oakland, California, he briefly joined the Nation of Islam.

Williams began performing in Cincinnati's Avondale neighborhood and developed his material by working comedy clubs around the country. By 1999, he was appearing at venues including The Improv, The Comedy Club, the Ice House, and Hollywood Park Casino. He also appeared on BET's ComicView under the name Katt "N da Hatt."

His first comedy special, Katt Williams: Live: Let a Playa Play, was released in 2006, the same year as his first HBO special, The Pimp Chronicles, Pt. 1. He followed it with the HBO special It's Pimpin' Pimpin' in 2008, and a tour that Billboard named the best of 2008.

After a four-year hiatus, Williams returned to stand-up with the 2012 HBO special Kattpacalypse. Several performances later that year ended early after confrontations with audience members, and he briefly announced his retirement before reversing the decision three days later. He subsequently toured with the Growth Spurt Tour and released the HBO special Priceless: Afterlife, directed by Spike Lee, in 2014.

Williams later released the Netflix specials Great America in 2018 and World War III in 2022. His special Woke Foke streamed live from Los Angeles in 2024 as part of the Netflix Is a Joke Festival.

Williams made his acting debut on NYPD Blue in 2002 and became widely known for playing Money Mike in Friday After Next. His other film roles include Lord Have Mercy in Norbit, Rickey in First Sunday, Blaine in Scary Movie 5, and Marques in 2 Minutes of Fame.

On television, Williams was a recurring cast member on My Wife and Kids as Bobby Shaw and appeared during the first four seasons of Nick Cannon's MTV series Wild 'n Out. He provided the voice of A Pimp Named Slickback on The Boondocks and Seamus in Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore. He also performed comedy routines as himself in Grand Theft Auto IV.

In 2018, Williams played Willie in the Atlanta episode "Alligator Man". The performance earned him the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series. He also appeared in Black-ish, The Last O.G., and The House Next Door: Meet the Blacks 2.

Williams has used the stage name Money Mike while rapping on songs associated with Baby Bash, The Game, and Suga Free. He joined Cam'ron's group The Diplomats in 2006, although he was not signed as an official artist for the label.

His recorded projects include The Pimp Chronicles, It's Pimpin' Pimpin', Pimpadelic, Kattpacalypse, and Live. He also co-wrote and starred as himself in Katt Williams: American Hustle, released in 2007.

In 2025, Miles College awarded Williams an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree in recognition of his contributions to entertainment and culture. The honor was an honorary degree, not a PhD.