What happened between Katt Williams and Wanda Smith?
KATT Williams is no stranger to controversy, as the popular comedian has taken multiple jabs at Hollywood celebrities and entertainers over the years.
During Katt Williams' highly viewed (and publicized!) appearance on Shannon Sharpe's podcast, Club Shay Shay, in January 2024, the comedian was asked about his viral 2018 feud with former radio host, Wanda Smith.
Who is Wanda Smith?
Wanda Smith is best known as a comedian and radio host.
She was born in Miami, Florida, on October 11, though the exact year remains unknown.
Before listeners tuned in to hear her on the airwaves, Smith was a writer and contributor for Def Comedy Jam.
From 1998 to 2012, she co-hosted the popular morning show, Frank Ski and Wanda Smith in the Morning, on WVEE.
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WVEE, 103.3 FM, is a commercial radio station in Atlanta, Georgia.
The radio show consistently topped the charts,
By 2008, the radio show partnered with WUPA, also known as Atlanta 69, an independent television station, to air highlights from the morning radio show in a broadcast called the Frank and Wanda Television Show.
On December 20, 2012, both Ski and Smith left the radio show to pursue other ventures, with Smith hoping to make a return to the stand-up comedy scene.
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She also dabbled in a brief acting career, appearing in Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail and Madea's Witness Protection.
Smith also became involved in the philanthropy scene, creating the female empowerment group Girls Stand Together, which focused on supporting and uplifting women from diverse backgrounds.
By January 14, Smith returned to WVEE to co-host a new morning show alongside Ryan Cameron.
On February 13, 2018, Ski returned to the radio station, and Smith joined him and comedian Joe "Miss Sophia" McIntosh for a new morning show.
Smith left WVEE by January 2019.
When she wasn't on co-hosting duties, Smith managed to fit in a few shows a week at the Atlanta Comedy Theatre.
Despite staying busy with her charitable endeavors, radio morning show, and comedy career, Smith also found time to focus on her personal life.
She's married to LaMorris Sellers, and the happy couple have three children together, Tavares, Giovanni, and Isaiah.
Not much is known about Smith's current endeavors, as she has maintained a life largely out of the public eye since making headlines for her on-air feud with Katt Williams.
Her X, formerly Twitter, account has remained dormant since 2020.
Her Instagram posts are also few and far between.
Smith's last few posts were in August 2023, when she promoted her hosting gigs at multiple events.
The events included gigs at Fusion Sports Bar & Grill's Karaoke and $2 Tuesdays Night, the Priví Phase II VIP Launch Party, and The Siman Stay Positive Weekend Takeover.
According to Celeb Net Worth, Smith's net worth is reportedly around $5 million.
She likely amassed her wealth largely due to her 20+ years as a radio host, as well as from her writing, comedy, and hosting work.
What happened between Wanda Smith and Katt Williams?
In September 2018, Katt Williams appeared on Wanda Smith's morning radio show, which she co-hosted alongside Frank Ski and Joe "Miss Sophia" McIntosh.
Williams appeared on the show with fellow comedian Red Grant, who was set to perform a few comedy shows in the Atlanta area that upcoming weekend.
The 20-minute interview, posted on YouTube, quickly went viral, becoming V-103's most-watched clip of all time.
It all started when Smith asked a convoluted question about whether Williams "cooked for his kids," and then pressed him on what they liked him to make them.
Williams called Smith a "poor interviewer," and then told her "you keep interrupting me," as he tried to respond to the question while Smith simultaneously talked over him.
The duo were able to laugh things off, and all seemed right in the world – for a few more minutes.
Near the end of the show, Smith made an off-handed remark about Williams' hair.
"My hair is 19 inches long and I have no perm. Come run one of your gnarled fingers through it," he responded.
He then took his hat and headphones off to show off his 'do before asking if Smith's "headphones and wig come together [as a set]."
Smith told Williams to "take off them old-a** clothes you got on," prompting Williams to open his jacket and show viewers a designer label on the inside.
With a stunned look, Williams said: "She might want to apologize to the people at Versace collections, since [I'm wearing] your 2019 summer line that hasn't come out [to the general public yet]."
Ski tried to intervene in the verbal spat, saying that the show was going to cut to a break.
Under his breath, Williams took another jab at Smith.
“Shout out to Forever 21 necklace collection," he said, before reminding viewers that he used to appear on the hit MTV sketch comedy and battle rap improv game show, Wild 'N Out.
“If you can’t get your blood pressure down you can’t calm me down,” he told Smith, before telling her that her "cholesterol was 600."
Smith retaliated by saying, "Okay lil' mama," to which Williams also took offense.
"I'm lil' mama's baby daddy," Williams said.
"You probably shouldn’t talk about sizes. You’re big on the radio," he added.
Smith fought back, telling Williams: "And you're big in prison."
"I've never been to prison...19 felonies, no convictions," Williams added, before picking up his Starbucks coffee cup and taking a sip.
"Knock if off, prison and jail aren't the same," he added.
Smith then told Williams to "calm down," to which he replied, "No, no, no, no, no."
"Only one of us has $12 worth of jewelry on," Williams said.
"If you wanna have Wanda’s jewelry, please go to Citgo or QuikTrip."
"At any point, if you buy two packs of Newport 100s they will give you everything Wanda has on right now for $7.99 and it comes with a free car wash," he said.
"Won't you come on down?" he asked, eliciting laughter from Ski.
"The show starts at 9, Wanda gets to the stage at 9:17," he said.
"She's almost out of breath, be careful now, even on the radio, you can hear the fact that exercise is cryptic to her vocabulary," Williams added.
Smith then called Williams "lil' mama" again, before saying she was "done" with the interview.
"You already used that one, don't repeat your jokes," Williams responded, effectively getting in the last word.
What has Katt Williams said about the interview?
On Wednesday, January 3, 2024, during his appearance on Shannon Sharpe's podcast, Club Shay Shay, Katt Williams was asked about his now-infamous verbal spat with Wanda Smith.
Williams recalled that Smith and the radio show's producers promised him that they would keep his personal and legal issues out of the interview.
"[They said] we won't talk about your kids, we won't talk about jail, no cases. We ain't gonna talk about none of that," Williams told Sharpe.
Williams believed that he was going on the show in part to celebrate his Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series.
He had won the award for his role in Alligator Man, the first episode of the second season of Atlanta, a comedy-drama series created by Donald Glover.
When things took a turn during the interview, Williams told Sharpe he had to retaliate.
"You can’t flip up on me because you’re an inferior comedian. I’m going to destroy you and I’m never gonna call you out of your name,” he said.
“It’s a very thin line…but this lady is trying to embarrass me in front of a largely homosexual fanbase. That’s why she got canceled,” Williams told Sharpe.
Atlanta is known for being a large center for the African-American LGBT community in the South, as reported by The Guardian in 2018.
“Gay people don’t take it kindly that you would, as a derogatory [term], call me gay," he said, referencing the "lil' mama" comments.
"Gay people don’t feel like it’s derogatory… I didn’t even know any of the stuff that she had done to my fellow comedians until afterwards," he said.
"I just know that it was a setup," he added.
Williams also told Sharpe that the on-air argument escalated later that weekend.
"They tried to kill me this same weekend. Not in jokes, with a real gun in my real face on real camera,” Williams said.
“Understand, I’m losing my life for participating in something that goes along with my job," he added.
Williams was referring to an alleged incident that took place on Saturday, September 15, 2018.
That night, Smith was hosting a comedy night at the Atlanta Comedy Theatre.
Outside, in the venue's parking lot, Smith's husband, LaMorris Sellers, allegedly confronted Williams for the comments he made about Smith.
At the time, Sellers admitted that a verbal confrontation took place, but denied pulling a weapon on Williams.
When police arrived on the scene, Sellers told officers that he had dropped his gun while chasing Williams.
On Monday, September 17, 2018, Smith addressed the incident on her radio show, telling listeners that the fight between Sellers and Williams started after Williams allegedly began "dissing" her again at the venue.
Just a few days later, on Wednesday, September 19, 2018, TMZ released exclusive footage showing Sellers holding a gun in his hand, chasing Williams into a nearby grocery store.
The video, however, didn't show Sellers pointing a gun at Williams.
In January 2019, just a few months after the on-air spat and comedy club altercation, Smith abruptly left her co-hosting duties for the radio show.
It is unclear whether she was fired, or whether she resigned.
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Despite the event occurring over five years ago, it's clear that Williams – and the internet – hasn't let the incident go.
Williams' nearly three-hour long appearance on Club Shay Shay has already garnered almost 25 million views just days after it was released.
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