The Fall and Rise of Katt Williams

He's had a string of run-ins with the law, yet the comedian's popularity continues to grow-with a recent podcast appearance blowing up the internet

- RYAN SMITH

KATT WILLIAMS' WILD RIDE OF AN APPEARance on Shannon Sharpe's Club Shay Shay podcast started the year with one clear message: the comedian has far more than nine lives.

In a conversation spanning almost three hours, Williams, 52, discussed his family, career, legal issues, grievances with other comedians and this year's presidential election, among many other subjects. He also shared claims so wild that it was forgivable to expect a punchline (the assertion that his and Ludacris' fates in Hollywood were decided at a meeting with "the Illuminati" is a highlight; Ludacris dismissed the allegations via a freestyle rap).

On a personal front, the statements were no less sensational. He was reading fluently at 3 years old. He got accepted into college at 7. He read 3,000 nonfiction books a year in "multiple languages" between ages 8 and 12. He moved from Ohio to Florida by himself at 13, and later lived with sex workers.

The interview was social media gold. In the two months following its January 3 release on YouTube, it garnered over 60 million views. Countless snippets of Williams' cognac-fueled chat with NFL legend Sharpe have become viral hits on social media. And, according to research by Booking Agent Info, Google searches for the comedian exploded by 1,328 percent, rising from 85,900 to 1.2 million searches just 24 hours after the interview. Per the celebrity database, Williams' pre-Club Shay Shay Instagram following stood at 798,052. As of press time, it exceeds 1.3 million.

"The study's track of growth following the interview showcases how a single media appearance can lead to a substantial increase in public interest and online following," Sophie Miller, a celebrity contact agent at Booking Agent Info, told Newsweek. "Katt Williams' digital footprint [has] expanded dramatically, reflecting the power of viral content."