Katt Williams is from my hometown. He has been held up on a high pedestal for being one of the few that have made it out of our small Ohio city and go on to have actually, really done something amazing for themselves. The current roster contains his name, along with John Legend and Dave Chappelle – and, as you can see, that totals only three guys out there doing it. So to all of us on the home team, that is saying a lot!

Katt took a city’s hopes and dreams and lived them out. It saddens the community that he has spiraled down a murky path as of late, and many hope that he will decide to return home so he can find insulation and protection from those who apparently are preying on his sickness. To many, he is just a comedian with problems, or maybe even one of the funniest guys they know of, but where he’s from, he is a part of a legacy. This is worth remembering, because the fear is that people will be saying these words at his funeral if he doesn’t get some major help soon.

I traveled to Seattle in the same week that Katt found himself suddenly announcing his retirement. The fact that he did so in the middle of the street, as he was being thrown out of yet another hotel in the Seattle area, was sad. The fact that people in Seattle had formed a very different opinion of his accomplishments than those from our hometown – as a result of constant arrests and not being able to remain sober enough to tell the jokes he was sent there to tell – was even sadder. But knowing that Katt has reduced himself to being the punchline in the jokes he used to tell about the people in Hollywood is the saddest fact of all.

I spoke to Nicole Higgins of Seattle, and she expressed her disappointment with the last three shows: “Every single time we paid to go to his show, he either didn’t show up or was so out of it that he couldn’t follow his own jokes! He would start to tell a story, and then trail off and start saying things that made no sense. It was so weird! He’d say ‘My mother is such a trip that, she umm, yeah, it’s just crazy how that goes.’ We were looking at him like, ‘That isn’t a joke, that wasn’t even a complete thought!’ He just couldn’t keep it together.”

Carlos Imaini of South Seattle said, “The rumor about last week’s show was that he actually was backstage at the show that night, but was allegedly so high that they couldn’t get him to physically walk up on the stage, let alone leave him to entertain the crowd.”

If this is the case, and Katt was that terribly sick/high, that serves as even more evidence that there are people out here who will continue to push artists of all types to their deaths if they send mentally unhealthy people out into the streets. Add the spotlights, and you further showcase their illnesses. I mean, are they selling tickets to concerts, or sideshow attractions? At the end of the day, stars like Katt are human beings that have families and lives. They are being treated as chattel. The exploiters know these people need help, but they would rather make a buck off the morbid curiosity of onlookers. It’s sad.

So, if Katt Williams returns to my little hometown in a coffin, there will be plenty of “friends” and “colleagues” with blood on their hands. Don’t pretend to care about this man if you stand by and watch as we tragically lose him to his demons. Demonstrate that you love him by getting him the help he needs now, before it’s too late. This nation can’t take too many more fallen stars and funeral tears from those who “loved” their meal tickets. If you really love Katt, tell him ‘no,’ before that option is gone, before Katt is gone. Don’t allow him to continue to be a joke, when he used to master the art of the joke.

“It’s on your nose” stopped being funny a long while ago.