What happened to Katt Williams during BET show?

The comedian was supposed to host the awards event but was nowhere to be found. Atlanta rapper/singer T-Pain was called to take his place.

The AJC's Sonia Murray is tracking down the story. In her blog, she cited a "breaking news" post from BET.com staff member Nile Ivey, quoting BET Executive Vice President of Entertainment, Stephen Hill:

"It was crazy. We were all out at the club Friday night; T-Pain, Katt Williams, an Emmanuel Lewis impersonator and me, fluids flowing, music all loud. Suddenly Pain, having bought us some drinks, challenged Katt to a breakdancing battle. I'd seen Katt get down before so I was ready to put all my money on Mr. Williams. His pop-lock is legendary. Pain was like 'Nah ... Not money. I wanna host the show. The 2008 BET Hip-Hop Awards. Like, tomorrow.' Katt and I looked at each other. EASY win for Mr. Williams, we thought. If Katt won, Pain would have to un-lock his hair and put it in a press-curl. Both agreed and the battle was on."

The BET Web site also quoted Williams: "I've had a great time hosting the show for the last two years. I've been integral to establishing the show amongst all awards shows ... and was looking forward to hosting this year. I never thought T-Pain would win a breakdancing battle with me. And I gotta say, I think it was a bit unfair for him to use the vocoder to give him the advantage even in a DANCE battle!!!"

The thing is, as Murray pointed out in her blog, T-Pain said on the red carpet and on the show that he was called at 4 a.m. the morning of the show to host.

Here are what some Web sites are speculating:

One of MediaTakeOut.com's "insiders claims to know what went down," the Web site states:

"I know a dancer who was suppose to open up at with Katt Williams at the BET awards. I heard that they were told that Kat Williams will not host; therefore, they did not need her. She informed me that KAT WILLIAMS caught his girlfriend getting intimate with one of the other dancers; therefore, he quit."

The Web site theboombox.com also reported the breakdancing battle and offered a couple of other ideas:

"Other theories behind why Williams did not host was due to a financial dispute between the comedian and the network, or that he was possibly arrested early Saturday morning."

The folks at hustlersmedia.com had to weigh in, too:

"Sources that have asked to be anonymous have told HipHopDX ... that the host change may have come from a disagreement. Katt Williams was reportedly salaried over $50,000 for the hosting role, with scripted writers. Specific motives were not provided from the sources, but it was implied that Williams is disgruntled."

Then the Web site added:

"UPDATE: It has been reported by sources close to the comedian that Williams was arrested early Saturday morning."