Los Angeles — Katt Williams, the Emmy-winning actor and renowned comedian, has claimed for years that he joined the United States Marine Corps as a teenager and successfully completed the rigorous training only to be kicked out of the army when his superiors discovered he was. a minor. The Marines told CBS News they had no record of him.
Since at least 2016, Williams has claimed his association with the United States Marine Corps by speaking about his personal biography in video blogs, in his stand-up routines, and in interviews seen and heard by tens of millions of people. people. His claims to military service do not appear to be linked to any of his critically acclaimed jokes or characters he created for stage and screen, but rather to part of his journey into comedy.
The U.S. Marine Corps told CBS News there was no record of Williams entering military service or attending a Marine Corps recruit boot camp.
Multiple emails and phone calls were sent to Williams’ publicist, Amy Sisoyev, and her representatives at Creative Artists Agency, but no response was returned for nearly two weeks.
Earlier this year, Williams sat down for a nearly three-hour interview with ESPN’s “First Take” correspondent Shannon Sharpe on his podcast “Club Shay Shay“. The interview racked up over 83 million views on YouTube upon publication and is the most viewed interview in YouTube history.
Sharpe, a former Denver Bronco and former NFL analyst for CBS Sports, asked Williams if he grew up in Florida.
“I’m trying to join the Marine Corps and they won’t accept me because I’m too young, and I lied and told them I was 16 and my family was moving and I didn’t have no ID card but it’s coming And so they. [the Marines] let me go to training camp,” Williams said.
Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP
Similarly, on comedian Marc Maron’s podcast last year, Williams said, “And then I try to join the Marine Corps, I go to boot camp and I pass, and then they reveal that I’m too young, and they give me a little ceremony because I succeeded, you know, yes-Rah“.
He added: “I wasn’t even 16. I wasn’t even 16. I had already – I had miscalculated. I thought that, you know, when I came back, I would be fine, but I didn’t. I was 16 at the end of boot camp.
Maron, whose “WTF” podcast garners more than 55 million listens a year, asked Williams if he made it through training camp and about his ceremony.
Williams reaffirmed that he had successfully completed boot camp, saying: “When you come back, everyone is at the ceremony and I was supposed to have been, probably put in a cell or court-martialed or something like that. that, but they didn’t treat me like that. As far as the Marine Corps goes, whatever those ads sold, you remember those ads from that era…if you wanted to join a gang, the Marines were the gang to join.
On Saturday, CBS News attended the Vulture Festival in Los Angeles where Williams was interviewed about his life and career by Jesse David Fox, Vulture writer and host of “Good One: The Podcast About Jokes.” Williams is set to kick off her multi-state “Heaven on Earth” tour next year.
Although Williams did not discuss his alleged short stint in the Marines, the comedian said “Thank God I’m telling the truth” when Fox asked him about his past statements in interviews.
CBS News has filed a Freedom of Information Act records request regarding Williams’ alleged enlistment in the Marine Corps.
Marine Corps officials searched for records related to Williams using his full name — Micah Sierra Williams — and other identifying information such as his date of birth and Social Security number. Officials told CBS News that their database of official military personnel records dates back to the 1960s and is maintained at the National Personnel Records Center at the National Archives.
“We searched records maintained by the Manpower Management Performance Branch, but were unable to identify Mr. Williams as a member or former member of the United States Marine Corps,” an official wrote in response to CBS News public records request.
Marine Corps officials told CBS News that if Williams’ story was accurate, there would be records showing his entry into military service, his graduation and his discharge, even though he had fraudulently enlisted in as a minor.
Army veteran Anthony Anderson, who runs “Guardians of Valor,” a popular social media site that investigates military records, told CBS News that Williams’ claims were “a slap in the face to people who have deserved the title of Marine.
“Boot camp for the Marine Corps is no easy feat. To call yourself a Marine, you have to go through at least 13 weeks of boot camp and successfully navigate the crucible…people have died during training at boot camp trying to win the Marine title,” Anderson said.
While it’s unclear when exactly Williams began claiming he graduated from Marine Corps boot camp, the earliest examples CBS News was able to find came from Williams’ 2016 feud with actor and comedian Kevin Hart.
In a video that appears to have been recorded by Williams, addressing drug abuse allegations, the comedian says, “Since I left the Marine Corps, I can only breathe through one nostril.”
The same year, Williams was arrested and charged for disorderly conduct and battery charges after a fight at an apartment complex in Gainesville, Ga., with a 17-year-old high school wrestler who was also charged, according to previous reports. Williams pleaded not guilty, and the case lasted until earlier this year, when local prosecutors decided to drop charges against Williams.
Shortly after his arrest, Williams spoke about the episode on stage, suggesting that he had not been strangled by the teenager and that, in fact, Williams had let him win, adding: “I’m Semper Fi ’til I die, Marine Corps bastard. I passed fucking boot camp at 16.”
Williams’ routine was removed from YouTube due to copyright infringement concerns, but the video still exists on the readers’ forum of Military.com, a military news and culture website. A user posted the video to the website in 2016 and asked: “Katt Williams, a Marine?”
James LaPorta
