Key Takeaways

• Katt Williams revealed on “The Diary Of A CEO” that the abuse lasted seven years, beginning when he was just 5 years old.
• The punishments escalated from whoopings to being beaten with an extension cord, a water hose, and eventually a two-by-four.
• Although he’s “forgiven everybody involved,” the comedian recalled growing up feeling that his parents didn't really love him.

Katt Williams is shedding light on a painful time from his past — and how he’s managed to hold on to his sense of joy despite everything he’s been through. On Monday (Nov. 9), the comedian appeared on Steven Bartlett’s “The Diary Of A CEO,” where he opened up about the severe physical abuse he endured at the hands of his parents growing up.

During their conversation, the One of Them Days actor reflected on how “being joyful and inquisitive, and on-go 24/7” might have been “more than a handful” for his parents, considering how young they were when raising him. He explained that corporal punishment wasn’t “really useful” in his case, although his parents subscribed to “spare the rod, spoil the child,” the idea that children need physical punishment to learn right from wrong. As he recalled, “If there were issues, you could just beat it out of them, whatever it was. That didn’t really work for me.”

According to Williams, the beatings continued for seven years, from the ages of 5 to 12. “I've forgiven all of the participants, so it doesn't make it easier to go back and peel scabs off just because I've forgiven everybody involved,” he told Bartlett. “It's such an important part of my life just because we need to be put in difficult situations for us to be able to find out what we're made of and what we're capable of.”

Katt Williams details the physical abuse he endured from ages 5 to 12

“It's certainly not pleasant to discuss. I don't enjoy discussing it, but it's still a critical part of the story,” the Ohio native said of the abuse, which he details in his memoir, “Nine Lives, No Wives, and 69 Concubines.” Bartlett later read an excerpt from the book in which Williams described that period of his childhood as a “private warzone” disguised as his parents’ basement. The Social Chain founder went on to quote another passage describing how the punishments escalated from belt whoopings to an extension cord, then a water hose, and eventually a two-by-four.

“This is a different category of punishment,” Bartlett remarked, to which Williams responded, “This is tied up to a pole in a basement, hours at a time.” He elaborated, “To their credit, I was fast and evasive. They tried it without tying me, and that didn’t work well.” Watch the “Diary Of A CEO” interview below, then continue scrolling to hear what else The Last Report comedian shared about his childhood.

Katt Williams recalls challenging his parents’ beliefs about the Bible as a child

Later in their sit-down, Bartlett asked whether the beatings came as a result of how Williams “knew too much.” He answered, “More because I said too much, and I would know what the repercussions were going to be and still say it. The things that I was questioning them on were, a lot of times, biblical in nature.”

“You know, you’re trying to instill upon me this particular truth that we collectively believe in, and I’m explaining to you I don’t believe that,” the 55-year-old shared. “It’s going to have to be discussed because you told me the Bible was written by God… Even at that point in my life, I just wanted to know what the truth was about things, and I thought that, that was a safe place for it. But, you know.”

Elsewhere in their conversation, Williams discussed how he came to recognize that what he was experiencing at home was abuse, partly by comparing his experiences to what his peers were getting in trouble for doing. He also opened up about why he still appreciated his parents taking care of him, despite feeling that they didn't truly care for him as a person.

We are glad he was able to overcome the traumas of his upbringing, choose forgiveness and healing, and become such an impactful piece of the comedy world.