Is Katt Williams Still Rich After Years of Controversy?

Micah Sierra "Katt" Williams is a popular stand-up comedian, rapper, singer, and voice actor. He acted in shows like "Friday after Next," "Norbit," and was the voice of A Pimp named Slickback in "The Boondocks."

Despite his prolific entertainment career, things have not always been so rosy for Williams. He shared this much in his interview with sports journalist and media personality Jemele Hill for her podcast Jemele Hill is Unbothered.

Williams spoke about his career in the comedy community and his peers in this 54-minute long interview. Most notably, he conversed about how his former employees allegedly stole millions of dollars from him.

During the interview with Jemele Hill, Williams addressed the theft by his employees and the blackmail that followed.

"In my search for who was the enemy that was causing all these things to repeatedly happen to me over and over again when they shouldn't, we uncovered that it was actually my people that was involved," Williams told Hill.

"We didn't really know that until the Department of Justice started indicting these people for the embezzlement of $59 million from Katt Williams."

Williams's reaction was to fire them immediately, but several of them retaliated by blackmailing him. In the same interview, he mentioned that in the embezzlement case, he was almost indicted along with the rest.

"They thought I had found some way to sequester the funds until they actually dug in and realized 'why would I be money laundering my own money,' he told Hill. "It's been a lot, and a lot of it you can't really talk about. It's ongoing."

Before this interview, he had already been involved in this case for six years.

Williams currently has a net worth of $1.5 million. Shows like "Wild 'n Out" gave him wide recognition as well as performances in movies like "Norbit." However, the real money maker here is his career as a stand-up comedian.

The comedian performed in many notable venues, including The Icehouse, The Hollywood Park Casino, and The Improv. His stand-up career made him a familiar face on some BET stand-up programs like "Comic View."

He released his first comedy special, "Katt Williams Live" in 2006 on HBO, and the second "The Pimp Chronicles, Pt 1" was released that same year. His film "American Hustle" was released in 2007 and had a widely positive reception.

In 2008 Williams began to get more political with his material in his third comedy special, "It's Pimpin' Pimpin'." He then embarked on a comedy tour the same year, which Billboard declared the best of 2008. With all the ups in Williams' career, it isn't so surprising that there are some downs.

He had a habit of being confrontational during performances which caused the shows to be cut short. He was also no stranger to handcuffs, as he was arrested numerous times for issues like assault, carrying a concealed firearm, and several other legal issues.

Williams is known for talking about how much he makes from his comedy career. In his interview with "Frank And Wanda In The Morning," he claimed that his "The Pimp Chronicles" sold around 2.4 million tickets.

However, some people like Kevin Hart and Charlamagne from "The Breakfast Club" were skeptical about this claim. Hart once said, concerning Williams' claim, "That's more than Beyonce and Justin Timberlake combined."

"I am sitting on 1.3 million tickets sold….There is nobody close to me in ticket sales in comedy. Worldwide, I am on par with the likes of your Bruno Mars, your Jay Z and Beyoncé. I'm up there with those people. So, in comedy, it's unheard of to get those numbers. To throw out numbers like 2.4 million is ridiculous."

A name appearing on Forbes means that its owner is bringing in a considerable amount of money. The highest-paid entertainers in a field appear in it more than once, and actors like Dwayne Johnson and Tom Cruise are well within the category.

During Hart's analysis of Williams' earnings, he said that if Williams were making as much as he claimed, his name would have appeared in the Forbes list.

"There's a Forbes list every year that comes out," Hart said. "Go back to 2007, go back to 2006, Katt Williams has never been on it." He also said that Williams was lying about owning his specials. Williams replied that he did own them, which was why he wasn't on any Forbes list.

"First, because they ask the owner how much money they make. I been under IRS investigation." He said. Hart is yet to counter any of these comments.