Photo Credit: Reggie Watts by Gage Skidmore / CC by 2.0
A report suggests that Reggie Watts’ “reckless” view of drugs may have contributed to his ex-girlfriend’s troubling final years.
Reggie Watts is suddenly persona non grata after a Rolling Stone report that alleged the comedian and musician’s attitude toward drugs in his relationships may have contributed to his ex-girlfriend’s ketamine addiction. Watts, a longtime advocate for the drug, ended his relationship with Katherine McCollough in October 2025 after she experienced a “drug-induced manic episode” earlier in the year. In March of this year, McCollough took her own life.
Watts’ attorney, Andrew Brettler, told Rolling Stone that the claims outlined in the article were “dangerously false” and that it was a “preconceived narrative” to indicate that Watts had a role in her path to suicide.
However, since that report, Watts’ “Comedy Bang Bang” theme song was nixed from Monday’s episode of the podcast. The song has served as the show’s intro since 2011. Show organizers did not acknowledge the replacement and have not yet commented on the accusations against Watts, who starred in the TV version of the podcast from 2012 to 2016.
Even more damning, upcoming music festivals have removed Watts’ name from their lineups. These include the Shambala and Greenbelt festivals, both located in Northamptonshire, England. Watts was scheduled to perform at both this week, but his name has been scrubbed from their websites.
A representative for Greenbelt Festival confirmed that Watts would not be appearing, while a representative for Shambala acknowledged that the musician was no longer scheduled. Strangely, a set of shows by frequent Watts collaborator and surrealist electronic band CAPYAC was canceled in Bristol over the weekend, but there was no acknowledgement from the venue nor any of the parties involved.
In the Rolling Stone piece, published on Thursday, numerous loved ones of the late McCullough claimed that Watts had encouraged her to take an array of heavy drugs, particularly ketamine, throughout their relationship. Friends alleged to have witnessed abusive aspects of the relationship, including financial dependence and the withholding of emotional support.
“He cultivated a dynamic and a relationship where she felt like she could only truly access intimacy, closeness, and empathy from him if they were both using [drugs] together,” one friend was quoted saying.
Several people who knew McCullough said they believed that had she never met Watts, she wouldn’t have developed an addiction to ketamine and would not have taken her own life. Rolling Stone spoke to five women who previously dated Watts, three of whom claimed they also experienced Watts encouraging them to take drugs (including ketamine) with him. Two of the women alleged that Watts ignored their established boundaries “to satisfy his own needs.”
Through his attorney, Watts said that any suggestion that he had been an “abusive” partner was false. However, he has not yet directly commented on the accusations against him.