Rip Empson
Posted November 10, 2008 | 10:15 AM (EST)
On Wednesday, with less than a day to digest the historic election of Barack Obama, another historic event occurred, albeit one that pales in comparison to the Presidential Election. For the first time in fifteen years, a scheduled guest was a no-show on Late Night with Conan O'Brien. The missing guest was comedian and actor Katt Williams, who recently starred in his second HBO special, the Pimp Chronicles Part II.
Few news organizations seem to be covering this, which may very well be because they're not interested. And I admit, under normal circumstances, I make an effort to ignore gossip of all varieties (bad for the digestion). But this piece of news struck me, and I'll tell you why.
First off, I'm an avid fan of the comedic stylings of Katt Williams and Conan O'Brien and second -- I was there. Yes, I was present at the very taping of the Late Show in question -- actually my first Conan show ever -- and probably my last before he moves out to LA.
Yes, there I was at my first taping, sitting in the third row fresh-faced and expectant (read: nervous and sweating). Besides a few minor delays in procuring my tickets, the night had begun largely according to plan. Obama was headed to the White House, I was somehow seated in the third row of Late Night With Conan O'Brien, the host's monologue was hilarious, Max Weinberg and his band were spot on, and the first guest (Dennis Hopper) spoke candidly in his interview about taking many of his roles for the money. Things seemed to be in order.
But as do most things that start with drinking out of paper bags, my night ended with a loss. During a commercial break, after Hopper exited in a blaze of glory and cannon fire, one of Conan's producers sidled up to him and whispered something privately in his ear. The secret clearly surprised Conan, and a shocked expression ran over his face. His hair, however, looked perfect. After what seemed like hours, the red light returned and Conan came back on air. He then promptly admitted that Katt Williams, for reasons unknown to him, would not be appearing on the show.
He then uttered these portentous words: "I hope he's OK. I don't know were he is. Maybe he's celebrating this momentous day, I don't know, I don't want to make any assumptions. I hope he's fine, I hope he's OK." Forced to vamp, Conan launched into a segment which featured him spinning his wedding ring on his desk for 35 seconds trying to break his previous record of 51 seconds. I kid you not, the show must go on.
As I happen to be a fan of Katt Williams, I was aware that Mr. Williams failed to show up at the BET Awards last month and that rumors had been circulating on the Internet speculating that Mr. Williams had gone down in a plane crash. So needless to say, when I learned that not even Conan O'Brien knew where Katt was on Wednesday, well, I was steamed.
So here, on The Huffington Post, I've decided to break some news: Katt Williams showed up in the lobby after the show. That's right. In fact, I took a picture with him. It turns out that early Thursday morning, Mr. Williams was busted with his 10-person entourage after cops investigated his Mercedes bus and Red Escalade (which were for some reason without license plates) and found three guns (which were reportedly in plain sight inside the vehicle).
This might be cause for a series of thoughtful musings on the vigilant nature of New York City law enforcement, but I'll save that for another day. I want to know what's up with Katt Williams, and I would like someone more qualified than myself to speculate as to what is causing Mr. Williams' sporadic and tardy behavior. Is he going to pull a Dave Chappelle? Maybe a Joaquin Phoenix? Was he "ghost-riding the whip"? I mean I know pimpin' ain't easy, but someone, please help.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Katt Misses Late Night With Conan, Causes Confusion, Gets Arrested
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Let me start off by introducing myself and placing down MY opinion of the series of unfortunate events surrounding KW. I feel like that Jim Carey movie I tell you. I've had/have 3 celebrity based supporters sites, one since '96 and am some type of Admin on Actor's Gary Dourdan & Xzibit's professional sites as well as my own sites with forums on Reggae Artist Shaggy & Actor Michael Delorenzo. Not a "fanatic" by any means as you can read. Anyhow, I've been a supporter (not to be confused with "fan") of Mr. Williams' since last November, roughly around this time. Since finding out who he was I then researched a lot of info to figure out why the "pimp" persona. Answered that with listening to every interview I could find and am still finding dating back a few years. I also read many interviews and watched as much of his prior work possible to be able to have a clear unbiased view of the comedian I thought of as shear genius in most of his comedic stylings.
ReplyDeleteWith all that said, I am baffled by the crazy turn of events. I have now read actual accounts of the concerts that followed and it was not pretty. 3 concerts he stripped out of his clothes and tossed them to the crowd - tie, shirt, vest, belt and even shoes in NY, at least (check MTV.com for attendee accounts). Since reading/seeing all of this, I can only conclude one thing... nervous breakdown. I can't and won't say like Chapelle as I do not know the story on him. But I do know it seems this is the very thing KW tried to avoid listening to such interviews with Howard Stern, Tavis Smiley and others. I don't feel Conan and Jay do justice to getting the Micah person to come forward because the time is way too short on their sets. The longer the interview the more Micah comes to light. I still support Mr. Williams as in my mind, he is no more human than I am. He is a glorified me when all said and done except his Tylenol bottle is filled with HIS drug of choice and mine is actual Tylenol. I don't worship nor idolize as his chosen profession has it's ups and downs like my chosen path has. I am saddened for all those who are directly affected because they have to answer for and to him. His family, his close, close confidants/friends and off course his staff on many levels.
Back to your text here... the story across the net is that it was one license plate and not two as your article suggests. This from the first source who I read reporting it, The NY Daily News, I believe. One license plate is not unknown as some states do not require two. If they are rentals, then KW and Crew are not responsible. And if they are his personal vehicles, then he could be in a state that does not require two. The guns are possibly the bodyguards and their boss, being Katt Williams, took claim as no other boss I know would do. Those people put their lives out for him and maybe willing to die for him. So they protect him and he protects them... enough said. We don't know the whole story on any account and no hateration should come just because "the press" says. Only those involved will ever know the real story. I sincerely hope that this is not another gun charge against considering the history. Keep in mind, this is a business man and a businessman as well as a father of 8 children. He's not doing stuff on purpose, it has to be some struggle or failure to live up to the expectation he has either put himself on and/or others have put on him. Something has gone terribly wrong in his life. He realized it enough to call 2008 quits as for stand-up. I'm hoping he does not quit being visible in some sort of comedic way, even after this.
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