Los Angeles — Katt Williams, the Emmy-winning actor and renowned stand-up comedian, for years has claimed to have joined the U.S.Marine Corps as a teenager and successfully navigated the rigorous training only to be drummed out of the military when his superiors discovered he was a minor.
The Marines told CBS News they have no record of him. Dating back to at least 2016, Williams has claimed association with the U.S.Marine Corps when talking about his personal biography in video blogs, in his stand-up routines and in interviews viewed and heard by tens of millions of people.
His claims of military service seem to not be attached to any of his critically acclaimed jokes or characters he has created for stage and screen but instead, a part of his journey towards comedy. The U.S.Marine Corps tells CBS News there's no record of Williams ever entering military service or attending any Marine Corps recruit training camps. Multiple emails and phone calls were sent to Williams' publicist, Amy Sisoyev, and his representatives at Creative Artists Agency, but no reply was returned for almost two weeks. Earlier this year, Williams sat down for a nearly 3-hour interview with ESPN's "First Take" correspondent Shannon Sharpe on his podcast, "Club Shay Shay." The interview has racked up more than 83 million views on YouTube as of publication and is the most watched interview in YouTube's history. Sharpe, a former Denver Bronco and ex-NFL analyst for CBS Sports, asked Williams about being raised in Florida. "I try to join the Marine Corps and they won't accept me because I'm too young, and I've lied and told them I'm 16 and my family is moving down and I don't have my ID but it's coming.
And so they [the Marines] let me go to the boot camp," said Williams. Similarly, on comedian Marc Maron's podcast last year, Williams said, "And then I attempt to join the Marine Corps, and I go off to boot camp and I pass, and then they reveal that I'm too young, and ...