Katt Williams: ‘If I’m at the Diddy Party, I’m There to Tell’

Photo: Getty Images for Vulture

When Katt Williams sat down with Shannon Sharpe at the beginning of 2024 for his now-infamous Club Shay Shay interview, one of the many things he made clear is that, whenever he sits down for an interview, it is appointment viewing. On November 16, the legendary comedian brought this same energy to Vulture Festival, during a wide-ranging conversation about his career, notable past jokes, his upcoming tour “Heaven on Earth,” presidential politics, current events, and, yes, his Club Shay Shay interview. Of the latter, Williams says that, for all of the hooplah that was made about his scathing critiques of other comedians at the time, things could have been so much worse for them. “I [set] out to kill the careers of the people I was talking about,” he said. “But it was so vicious that I erased all of the knockout blows and just left the jabs, so that the comic I’m talking about knows, ‘I know your real story, motherfucker.’”

One person Williams didn’t hold back on during his Club Shay Shay appearance was Diddy, who he correctly prophesized at the time would “catch hell in 2024” because “all lies will be exposed.” The comedian touched on the subject of Diddy only briefly, though he did reference the disgraced mogul in a joke about how he, personally, maintains his “underground” status when he’s now frequently platformed by mainstream outlets like Netflix. “I’m anti-establishment, so I can never be the establishment,” he said. “Even if I’m at the Diddy party, I’m there to tell. I’m there to see, Who the fuck is in here and what do y’all get from being in here? So, nobody likes to have me around. I’m there for bad intentions.”

Elsewhere, in signature Williams fashion, he oscillated at will between thoughtful perspectives and eyebrow raising claims. Among the former, he weighed in on Tyson’s performance in his November 16 boxing match against Jake Paul (“What a blessing for Mike to be able to, at this point in his life and career, throw 18 punches and get $1 million per punch, for a total of $20 million.”); and talked about the only joke he says he ever stole (The “Everyday I’m Hustlin’” intro from American Hustle. He says J.B. Smoove was doing before him though he did pay Rick Ross a hefty $80,000 to clear the song). Among the latter, that he is responsible for giving Steph Curry the idea to shoot extremely deep three pointers in the NBA, because he met Curry during a charity basketball game he organized and pointed out the superstar’s limitless range.

It’s a “wonderful comedic time to be alive,” Williams pointed out at one point in the conversation. As long as he is around and giving interviews like this, we agree.