Was YouTube Right to Censor and Allow Plagiarism of Katt Williams
Promoting a Condensed Version Dilutes the Message
I began hearing about the Katt Williams interview with Shannon Sharpe of Club Shay Shay long before I watched it. Social media rumors credited Williams with launching attacks on Rickey Smiley, Cedric the Entertainer, Kevin Hart, and Steve Harvey and catching a few strays like Tyler Perry, P Diddy, and Harvey Weinstein. Williams said he wasn't being messy if he was correcting lies. Maybe not, but he certainly did a good imitation.
I sought the video out yesterday afternoon and watched it throughout the day. The original video was 2 hours and 46 minutes long with almost 20 million views, so I gave it a few minutes and ended up watching the whole thing. When my wife came home, I tried looking it up on YouTube so we could watch it in bed. There it was, and I clicked on it, paying no attention to the length of the video. It turns out it was a condensed version, focusing on what someone determined were the "good parts." Who knows what criteria were used in deciding what to keep and what belonged on the cutting room floor?
I looked through the various YouTube offerings related to the Katt Williams interview. There was a 35-minute version focusing on comedians Katt blasted (5 million views), a 3-minute version focused on Kanye West and Kim Kardashian (300k views), and a 3-minute clip focused on Jonathan Majors (700k views). It seems everyone and their mother has taken portions of the recording, added their comments, and acted like it was new material. Ironically, so much of the original video was about stealing material, and the result was a bunch of stolen material.
The version I played for my wife was almost an hour long and contained much of Williams's criticism of other comics. Among the things that got cut was Katt describing the time he spent in Miami, where he interviewed many drug users, none of whom had a good story to tell. He explained how he was "scared straight" and didn't use hard drugs, which might be a valuable lesson for some. He also discussed his use of legalized prescription marijuana, so there's that.
Williams had a lot to say about individuals demanding sex in return for professional advancement, including Harvey Weinstein and P. Diddy. Given some of the recent accusations levied against Diddy by women and men, Williams's story might be given more credence. William's tale might be worth hearing for those considering entering the industry or a career in entertainment of any kind.
People will judge whether Williams was right to go on a podcast and put the people he did on blast. He mostly went after those he says lied on him first. He has seemingly provided receipts for many of his claims. Whatever his goal, Williams will have increased ticket sales for his ongoing tour and has people waiting for his next Netflix special, scheduled for May 2024. I, for one, will be right there with popcorn ready.
