• Celebrity
    • Daniel Kaluuya Digital Cover
    • Digital Cover Method Man
    • Digital Cover Zazie
    • Celebrity News
    • ‘Yes, Girl!’ Podcast
    • Entertainment
    • Black Celeb Couples
    • Celebrity Moms
    • Red Carpet
    • If Not For My Girls
  • Fashion
    • ESSENCE Fashion House 2022
    • Fashion News
    • Street Style
    • Accessories
    • Fashion Week
  • Beauty
    • Black Beauty Awards 2022
    • ESSENCE Hair Awards 2022
    • AVEENO Skin Health Startup Accelerator
    • Beauty News
    • Skin
    • Makeup
    • Nails
    • Girls United: Beautiful Possibilities
  • Hair
    • Hair News
    • Natural
    • Relaxed
    • Transitioning
    • Weave
    • 4C
  • Love
    • Love & Sex News
    • The Solve Podcast
    • Weddings
    • Parenting
    • Relationships
  • Lifestyle
    • Black History Month
    • ESSENCE Gift Guide 2022
    • ESSENCE + smartwater Live Well Challenge
    • Build Your Legacy 2022
    • Dream & Plan with Confidence Prudential
    • AMEX Platinum Travel
    • Homecoming Season 2022
    • Lifestyle News
    • Health & Wellness
    • ESSENCE Eats
    • Money & Career
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Travel
    • Food & Drink
    • Black Travel Guide
  • News
    • Paint The Polls Black
    • Sponsors Recognition Page 2022
    • Latest News
    • Raise Your Voice
    • Culture
    • Politics
  • Video
  • Festival
    • 2023 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2022 Fest Videos
  • Events
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2022 Girls United Summit
    • 2022 ESSENCE Fashion House
    • 2022 Black Women In Hollywood
    • 2022 HOLLYWOOD HOUSE
    • 2022 Homecoming Season
    • Wellness House
    • She Got Now
    • Dear Black Men
    • I Am Speaking
    • Power Tools
  • Studios
  • Girls United

WHERE BLACK WOMEN COME FIRST

Every day we're serving Black women deeply. Come get a plate of goodness! Sign up for daily content and exclusive offers you'll love!

Your email is required.
Your email is in invalid format.
Confirm email is required.
Email did not match.
By clicking Sign Up, you agree to our Terms of Use and that you have read our Privacy Policy
Skip to content
SUBSCRIBE
  • MAGAZINE
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Celebrity
    • Daniel Kaluuya Digital Cover
    • Digital Cover Method Man
    • Digital Cover Zazie
    • Celebrity News
    • ‘Yes, Girl!’ Podcast
    • Entertainment
      • Paint The Polls Black
    • Black Celeb Couples
    • Celebrity Moms
    • Red Carpet
    • If Not For My Girls
  • Fashion
    • ESSENCE Fashion House 2022
    • Fashion News
    • Street Style
    • Accessories
    • Fashion Week
  • Beauty
    • Black Beauty Awards 2022
    • ESSENCE Hair Awards 2022
    • AVEENO Skin Health Startup Accelerator
    • Beauty News
    • Skin
    • Makeup
    • Nails
    • Girls United: Beautiful Possibilities
  • Hair
    • Hair News
    • Natural
    • Relaxed
    • Transitioning
    • Weave
    • 4C
  • Love
    • Love & Sex News
    • The Solve Podcast
    • Weddings
    • Parenting
    • Relationships
  • Lifestyle
    • Black History Month
    • ESSENCE Gift Guide 2022
    • ESSENCE + smartwater Live Well Challenge
    • Build Your Legacy 2022
    • Dream & Plan with Confidence Prudential
    • AMEX Platinum Travel
    • Homecoming Season 2022
    • Lifestyle News
    • Health & Wellness
    • ESSENCE Eats
    • Money & Career
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Travel
    • Food & Drink
    • Black Travel Guide
  • News
    • Paint The Polls Black
    • Sponsors Recognition Page 2022
    • Latest News
    • Raise Your Voice
    • Culture
    • Politics
  • Video
  • Festival
    • 2023 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2022 Fest Videos
  • Events
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2022 Girls United Summit
    • 2022 ESSENCE Fashion House
    • 2022 Black Women In Hollywood
    • 2022 HOLLYWOOD HOUSE
    • 2022 Homecoming Season
    • Wellness House
    • She Got Now
    • Dear Black Men
    • I Am Speaking
    • Power Tools
  • Studios
  • Girls United
Home · Entertainment

Comedian Ms. Pat Opens Up About Abusive Mother And TV Deal With Lee Daniels

Comedian Ms. Pat Opens Up About Abusive Mother And TV Deal With Lee Daniels
The Washington Post/Getty Images
By Danielle Kwateng-Clark · Updated October 26, 2020

Patricia Williams has one of those life stories worthy enough for a show. Well, actually, it will be a show. The comedian who grew up in Atlanta shares her life story in Rabbit: The Autobiogrpahy of Ms. Pat, a biography co-written with Jeanine Amber.

“She approached me with a girlfriend, and the girlfriend was like, ‘Oh, you should write a book,'” Williams told ESSENCE about initially meeting Amber. “I said, ‘Yeah, but I don’t have time. I got a GED, and I got kids at the house.’ She said, ‘Well, my friend is a journalist and she can do it for you.’ And I said, ‘Yeah, everybody say that.'”

Adding, “You know, in this business, you hear all kinds of stuff of what people can do for you. I just don’t believe it. I come from a place where you don’t believe half the sh-t you see and none of the stuff you hear. She [Amber] called me in two weeks and said, ‘I got you an agent.’ Out of nowhere, we were writing a proposal and we sold the book to Harper Collins.”



In the 245-page book Williams touches on every aspect of her rough upbringing that included church hopping to get free food, constantly moving, the welfare system, dealing with an alcoholic mother, sexual assaults, time as a drug dealer, getting pregnant at age 14 and a prison stint.

Williams astonishingly remembers it all in great detail, and holds nothing back— even when it comes to her mother.

“To be honest with you, I hated my mother,” Williams said. “I hated my mother because she looked the other way, there’s so much that didn’t even make the book. When she died, I was 16, I put her in that negligee because she always wanted to look like Katherine Chancellor from The Young And The Restless.”

“When I put her in the ground, I had this knot in my chest. And I’m like, what is this knot? You know you can just feel a certain way? And I said, ‘Oh my god, I hate her.’ And I asked God to show me how to forgive her and that knot went out of my chest and I realized then. I hated her for not protecting me and allowing me to go through all of this sh-t in my life. That’s not what a parent’s supposed to do, but I forgave her. That’s why I can smile today.”

After reading the book, Lee Daniels approached Williams about potentially making the book into a Fox Network television series. But like every other huge opportunity to come her way, she’s staying incredulous and humble.

“It’s a half hour comedy,” Williams said about the project. “I met Lee a year and a half ago and we hit it off good. He’s a great person. I enjoyed working with him, when I do get to work with him on the project and it’s fun. If it don’t happen, it don’t. If it do, it do. That’s how I look at life.”

COMPANY INFORMATION
  • Our Company
  • Customer Service
  • Essence Ventures
  • Change Your Address
  • Contact Us
  • Job Opportunities
  • Internships
  • Media Kit
  • tag
SUBSCRIBE
  • Newsletters
  • Give a Gift of ESSENCE
  • Magazine Tablet Edition
FOLLOW US
MORE ON ESSENCE
  • Home
  • Love
  • Celebrity
  • Beauty
  • Hair
  • Fashion
  • ESSENCE festival

ESSENCE.com is part of ESSENCE Communications, Inc.

Essence may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.

©2023 ESSENCE Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Essence.com Advertising Terms

Get The ESSENCE Newsletter and
Special Offers delivered to your inbox

By clicking Sign Up, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

Get The ESSENCE Magazine
by subscribing below
subscribe now