The theme song Reggie Watts wrote for "Comedy Bang Bang" was missing from Monday's episode of the podcast, days after a Rolling Stone report accused the comedian and musician of "reckless and selfish" behavior regarding drugs in his past relationships. The song had aired as usual before the episode released on Aug. 17, but was absent from Monday's installment, which featured "Portlandia" stars Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein.
The Rolling Stone report, published Thursday, centers in part on Watts' late ex-girlfriend, Katherine McCollough, who the story alleges developed a ketamine addiction while dating him — Watts has long been a public advocate for the drug. According to the report, their relationship ended in October 2025 after McCollough went through a drug-induced manic episode that summer. In March of this year, McCollough traveled to Peru, where she took her own life.
Watts' attorney, Andrew Brettler, pushed back on the allegations in a statement to Rolling Stone, calling them "dangerously false" and describing them as part of a "preconceived narrative" suggesting Watts bore responsibility for McCollough's death. Brettler said McCollough was already an "experienced" drug user who did not need "any so-called 'encouragement,'" and denied any claim that Watts was an "abusive" partner.
McCollough's family and friends told Rolling Stone that her drug use "drastically increased" after she began dating Watts and became "central" to their relationship. They said they "firmly believe that if McCollough had never met Watts, had he not pushed his extreme views on psychedelics and substances on her and had McCollough not adopted those views, that she'd still be alive today," according to the report.
Beyond McCollough's story, the report includes accounts from five women who previously dated Watts, all alleging a pattern of "reckless and selfish" drug-related behavior in their relationships with him. Two of the women described their relationships with Watts as "emotionally and psychologically abusive."
Watts starred in the television version of "Comedy Bang Bang" from 2012 to 2016 and later served as bandleader on James Corden's "Late Late Show." He composed the theme song for the Scott Aukerman-hosted "Comedy Bang Bang" podcast, which began as a radio show in 2009. Representatives for Watts, "Comedy Bang Bang" and Aukerman did not immediately respond to Variety's request for comment.
Photo: PopTech, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
