The latest episode in the Katt Williams saga is a video tape showing him sucker-punching a teenager and the teenager reacting by wrestling him to the ground and putting him in a chokehold. Since TMZ first promoted the story, there have been longer video versions, an interview with the teen who wrestled him to the ground and endless “tweactions” on Twitter.
At 41, Katt Williams has been around the block a few times and should have known what any ten year old who has seen their fair share of fights knows: he shoulda had the SMACK down. He should have known the things that will lead to a sure ‘nough fight. SMACK. I’m not talking about the usual “talkin’ smack”, the trash talk that we all know is a lead-in to most brawls. I’m talking about the five things that individually have the potential to cause folks to “square up,” but unleash them together and you have a guaranteed throwdown.
He shoulda had this list in the pocket, the brotha shoulda had this down. S.M.A.C.K.
SPORTS
In the longer video version, he was playing soccer with some of the young people in the neighborhood and it got a little heated between himself and the teen that eventually wrestled him to the ground. Even the person recording it can be heard saying, “I’m surprised they ain’t fight nobody.” The guy with the camera phone knew that people getting angry during sports can lead to fights. Katt didn’t know?
MEDIA
Even though mainstream media wasn’t around, everyone’s a cameraman these days. So everyone is media. Any event large, small or insignificant is a cause for pushing play and post.
Katt Williams just showed up in the neighborhood, everybody with a camera phone came running, which means the “media” was present and ready to capture any craziness he was bringing. People trying to “Capture Katt Craziness” could lead to a fight. Katt didn’t know that?
AGITATION
You can hear that Katt is exchanging words with this young man as they walk away from the soccer game together. The young man says that Katt was telling him to hit him and he responded by giving him a chance to square up and go one on one. Both of them were already agitated about whatever went down in the soccer game. So now he was just throwing fuel to the fire. Katt knows how to throw fuel. He didn’t know it could lead to a fight?
CROWD
In every society on the planet, a crowd means the same thing. There is something to see and if there isn’t anything happening yet then as MJ said, “you wanna be startin’ something.” A crowd started to form as soon as there was the first hint of a fight about to happen and that hint came early in the game. In fact, you can hear the cameraman amping it up when he first spots Katt and the young man leaving the game. So when Katt looked around and saw a crowd surrounding them… are you going to tell me that he didn’t know that there could be a fight?
KORNERED
With a K for Katt who had to know that when you allow yourself to be backed up against a wall by someone who you angered in a sports event, who you are being filmed on everybody’s camera phone with, who you talked trash to and are now center stage in the middle of a crowd with, there is about to be a fight. At that point, everybody in the great state of Georgia knew exactly what was about to take place and so did you, Katt Williams long before you threw that punch.
As an adult, the responsibility for resolving this conflict peacefully was on Katt. The warning signs were there. The opportunity to de-escalate where it began, at the end of the soccer game was real and available. Imagine the example he could have been to this young man if he had given him the opportunity to witness a celebrity who understood the tough choices he faces as a teen when things get heated but chose to use skills to resolve the conflict without throwing hands.
The choices that were made indicate that Katt Williams needs to get his S.M.A.C.K. down and learn what “my Momma an’ them” used to say.
“Don’t start none, won’t be none!”
