Former Late Late Show With James Corden bandleader Reggie Watts has denied having any responsibility for the suicide of his ex-girlfriend Katherine Early McCollough.
Rolling Stone published a lengthy investigative report on Thursday, August 20, about McCollough’s death at age 36 in Peru last March. The outlet interviewed Katherine’s younger sister, Colleen McCollough, and multiple friends who suggested that she developed an addiction to ketamine and experienced a mental health crisis once she started dating Watts, 54.
“I feel very strongly that the sister that I knew before this relationship would still be here if she had never met him,” Colleen told Rolling Stone.
Watts’ lawyer, Andrew Brettler, insisted that it was “dangerously false” and a “preconceived narrative” to suggest the comedian was in any way responsible for Katherine’s suicide. Brettler described Katherine as an “experienced” drug user who “did not need any so-called ‘encouragement’” from Watts to experiment with drugs.
The comedian is an outspoken supporter of ketamine use, having opened up about his experience using the powerful prescription drug during a 2025 interview.
“You leave [when you’re on ketamine]. You’re just pure consciousness observing itself,” Watts said. “It’s also so close to observing itself that it’s almost on the edge of paradox. It’s like dancing on the edge of a black hole. That experience when you’re coming out of it is very interesting because you’re becoming lucid but you’ve just been through one of the most hyper-real experiences, at least for me.”
Katherine’s loved ones told Rolling Stone that, while she’d experimented with drugs before dating Watts, she later told a friend that she’d tried “LSD, MDMA, DMT, MMCs, cocaine, Ritalin, Adderall, ketamine, Xanax, Valium, and Modafinil” in the years before her death.
“He really took her to the edge,” that friend alleged.
In August 2025, Katherine experienced a mental breakdown during an alleged drug-fueled trip to Berlin with Watts. Her friends say that Watts eventually agreed to bring her home to Los Angeles where she could receive psychological care.
Watts’ lawyer acknowledged that he did not accompany Katherine’s friends to take her to the hospital, where she was placed on a psychiatric hold. Per his legal representative, Watts eventually visited Katherine during her hospitalization. (Katherine was diagnosed with bipolar disorder during her stay in treatment.)
When the couple later broke up, friends say that Katherine was distraught because she had nowhere to live and was in dire financial straits due to putting her own legal career on hold to work as Watts’ unpaid assistant.
In March, Katherine cut off contact with family and friends and traveled to Peru, where she took her own life. A note she left behind apologized to loved ones that her “peace came at [their] expense.”
Watts mourned Katherine in a March Instagram post without directly acknowledging that they’d previously split up. (He later deleted the post at the request of Katherine’s family.)
“Katherine, I will miss you so much. I know you were in pain, and while I tried everything I could to reflect the light you brought into this world, the sorrow became too much to overcome. You changed my life,” Watts wrote at the time. “You opened up my vulnerability and taught me how to receive love from someone so close.”
He went on, “We built a life together, went on adventures, and we took chances together. You had a natural radiance that people could feel from so far away — a light you carried despite the difficult path you walked from childhood. I’ve been processing so much. I know you can hear me, and I honor the intentionality of your journey. You planned your time in Lima beautifully — the coast, the art, the meals shared with a friend. While it is so difficult for those of us left behind, I understand your need for peace.”
Per Katherine’s sister Colleen, Watts told his ex’s family a week later that he discovered details about her final days in Peru by looking through her iCloud. Watts had allegedly initially accessed Katherine’s iCloud to help her family locate her in Peru.
“It was torturous to not know anything, and he knew the entire week,” she said. “He didn’t consider her family at all. He didn’t care. He was like, ‘I have this information, and I’ll decide who needs it and who doesn’t.’”
Watts’ attorney insisted that he never had any idea that Katherine was suicidal.
“Not once during that period did Katherine or any of her family members or friends, ever suggest to Reggie that she was suicidal,” the lawyer stressed.
The Rolling Stone investigative report also includes interviews with multiple women who recalled that Watts encouraged them to experiment with drugs recklessly when they were together. Watts has denied any wrongdoing in those instances.
Watts is best known for performing an improvisational blend of comedy and music during his eight years as the bandleader on The Late Late Show with James Corden. He also served as the in-house musician on IFC’s cult hit series Comedy Bang! Bang!.
Us has reached out to Watts’ legal representative for comment.
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org.
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
