Reggie Watts has been removed from the Comedy Bang! Bang! podcast intro and dropped from at least three music festival lineups following a Rolling Stone investigation that detailed alleged controlling and abusive behavior toward a former girlfriend who later died by suicide.
According to Billboard, Rolling Stone reported Monday that the Watts-composed Comedy Bang! Bang! theme song was absent from the podcast's latest episode, despite serving as the intro music since 2011. In its place was what Rolling Stone described as "a generic British woman's voice" that simply stated the episode's number.
Also following the report, the 2026 lineups for Greenbelt Festival, Shambala Festival and Electric Picnic no longer display Watts' name. He had been scheduled to perform at all three events during the weekend of August 27 through 30.
The original Rolling Stone investigation detailed allegations from numerous sources that Watts pressured his former partner, Katherine McCollough, into using heavy amounts of ketamine and other dangerous substances in order to remain emotionally close with him during their relationship, which lasted from approximately May 2024 to October 2025. McCollough was a Cornell law student who eventually produced some of Watts' comedy work. A few months after their breakup, she traveled to Peru to obtain a euthanasia agent and ended her life.
People close to McCollough told Rolling Stone that she had only previously used drugs in small quantities before dating Watts, who is described in the report as a vocal advocate of ketamine as a means of spiritual enlightenment. One anonymous source claimed Watts is "incredibly reckless" with how he "administers" dosages of ketamine to others. An anonymous former classmate told the publication: "I'm confident if she never met Reggie, she'd be alive."
Watts' attorney, Andrew Brettler, denied all claims that his client was ever abusive toward any romantic partner and called it "dangerously false" to connect McCollough's suicide to her relationship with Watts. The lawyer told Rolling Stone that McCollough "did not need any so-called 'encouragement' from him" to take drugs, describing her as an already experienced drug user before the two met.
Billboard reported that Watts' representatives had not returned requests for comment.
