A long-running federal lawsuit against comedian and actor Katt Williams was dismissed.
The judge in the case said that arguments by women suing Williams that alleged it was a challenge to sue him within a legally-obligated time period due to his celebrity status were not valid to let the case continue.
The case was filed in 2022, a redo of an earlier case from 2016, where four women alleged Williams had assaulted, battered, falsely imprisoned, slandered, and intentionally distressed them emotionally.
Put simply, the lawsuit filed against Williams wasn’t served to him or a representative of his until 22 days after the statute of limitations had expired, thus rendering the case unable to proceed.
Despite the dates, the court case continued until Nov. 7, nearly three years after it began.
The delay in service created by how the plaintiff’s legal team filed the lawsuit was accompanied by what a federal judge called “multiple arguments that attempt to justify” it, but “none of these arguments have any merit.”
Court documents say the plaintiffs tried to argue that Williams’ status as a celebrity with private security made it difficult to serve him with the lawsuit and summons to appear in court.
However, the judge ruled that the four plaintiffs suing Williams could not use that as a reason for the delay, writing that it is up to the plaintiffs to exercise the “greatest possible diligence” in serving the defendant.
With that not having been done, in the court’s opinion, Williams’ motion for summary judgment was approved, and the court case was dismissed.
Now, the plaintiffs are on the hook for paying Williams’ legal costs.
The judge did not weigh in on the merits of the lawsuit’s claims against Williams.
