“The Man With the Golden Voice” Ted Williams briefly captivated the nation in 2011. When a video of the once-homeless man’s smooth, radio-friendly voice quickly gained popularity online, people couldn’t get enough of him.
Williams gradually gained notoriety as more and more stories about him surfaced, turning his rise from the streets to some extremely lucrative gigs into a real-life rags-to-riches story.
His rise to the top, nevertheless, wasn’t without severe setbacks because the formerly drug-dependent Ohioan had trouble managing his newfound stardom.
What specifically happened to Williams when his autobiography became well-known? Williams’ circumstance has changed as a result of his national notoriety. To hear more about what happened after Williams’ huge break, keep reading.
Let’s summarize: After The Columbus Dispatch published this clip in 2011, Williams’ unexpected rise to fame began. Williams was pleading for help on the streets of Ohio at the time while wearing a sign that read, “I have a God-given gift of voice.” Williams was homeless at the time.
His distinctive voice gained notoriety. The Cleveland Cavaliers, MSNBC, Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, and countless other contenders made offers after that, along with a $375,000 book deal.
Williams’ broadcasting career had been ended by years of drug and alcohol abuse, but he had been granted a second chance at life. That rising success, though, proved to be unstable.
Williams admitted to still drinking to talk show host, Dr. Phil McGraw, about a week or two after he became well-known and said he was prepared to enter a rehab facility.
Williams’ decision was prompted by a violent event involving one of his children, a Dr. Phil Show representative claimed, according to CNN. Williams was only kept there for 12 days before leaving of his own will.
Around four months later, Williams reentered therapy and committed to a 90-day program. Once he began treatment, the Cleveland Cavaliers made the decision not to pursue a financial relationship with him, and the book contract and other commitments were also postponed.
Williams apologized to Dr. Phil for misrepresenting himself to him throughout the duration of the therapy, even when it came to his sobriety.
In May 2012, Williams appeared on the Today show to talk about the release of his book, A Golden Voice: How Faith, Hard Work, and Humility Brought Me from the Streets to Salvation.
The biography revealed a number of alarming facts, including that Williams was a poor parent and had even “helped his partner get prostituted so he could acquire money for narcotics,” according to the memoir.
Williams also discussed his ongoing battle with alcoholism, telling Today anchor Matt Lauer that when he got to Hollywood, he switched out alcohol for hard drugs in the hope that “Nobody would know.” While Ted’s drinking would go unreported, his usage of crack would be well known.
Williams claimed that in spite of his challenges, he was still sober and that this time, he had surrounded himself with better people, including a new lawyer. “I take it one day at a time,” he added.
Nearly four years after the release of his life-changing video, in an extensive interview with The Columbus Dispatch in October 2014, Williams admitted that he had been struggling to make ends meet despite keeping his contract with Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, securing a six-figure book deal, and obtaining additional radio and voiceover work.
He said, “I’m a little under the weather financially. I probably shouldn’t have agreed to a number of the early contracts I made in 2011. There were many individuals in my life at the time who shouldn’t have been there.”
Williams, who narrated the 2013 movie Houseless, later acknowledged he didn’t even own a single piece of furniture.
“I am nothing. I don’t even have a car at the moment.” He was planning on having a car, a license, and a place of his own in the future.
Williams said he was still sober, which was good.
Williams’ rise to fame produced many outlandish stories, but none were as surprising as the declaration that he would run for president of the United States. According to USA Today, Williams made the announcement in June 2015 while taking part in Scott Spears’ Now radio program on WWGH-FM in Marion, Ohio.
He asserted that I was created to effect change. “I want to make it big. Why not make the most drastic changes conceivable when I saw everyone else running?”
Far-fetched? Maybe. Williams cited Republican candidate Donald Trump as one of his reasons for running, and he has recently delivered a number of motivating talks. “If he can do it, I can do it.”
Sadly, his presidential campaign was unsuccessful by the end of that summer. He told NBC News, “I wanted to focus on other things. I tried to inspire and uplift others.”
Williams stated that Alfred Battle, his old manager, tried to get him to join a heroin smuggling plot, which would have prevented his return.
Battle was apprehended on July 21, 2016, at Newark Airport after arriving by plane from Addis Abeba, Ethiopia, “with 18 pounds of heroin, with an estimated value of $512,000.”
The Daily Mail said that Williams claimed he had been asked to accompany Battle to Africa with the promise of being “treated like a king” and “rewarded at least $10,000.” Fortunately, Williams’ current manager Scott Anthony forbade it.
Williams hypothesized about Battle’s motivations: “He might have put some drugs on me. Or perhaps he would have made me the fall man in some way. Even if I had been simply walking next to him and had not known what he was planning, they would have imprisoned me for life.”
According to The Columbus Dispatch, Battle “pleaded guilty as part of a plea deal to a felony charge of possession with intent to distribute a prohibited dangerous drug.” It is projected that he will serve eight years in prison.
Williams provided the voiceover for Pepsi’s relaunched “Joy of Pepsi” campaign. “Alright everyone, if this doesn’t have your toes tappin’, then check your pulse,” he says in the opening of the commercial. Tori Kelly, the singer of “It Should Have Been Us,” then gave a brand-new performance of the commercial’s famous melody. The original jingle was sung by Britney Spears.
According to PepsiCo, which claimed in a statement that the new version “reflects Pepsi’s lengthy tradition in pop culture,” the company has successfully established itself as a market leader and partnered with the best talent in both sports and entertainment.
Prior to his appointment, Williams had never worked with a well-known beverage corporation. We believe that Williams made a sizable profit from his voiceover contract given the size and scope of the cola company, the fact that the advertisement ran during the 2016 Super Bowl, and other factors.
Five years after the release of his well-known video, The Columbus Dispatch profiled Williams once more to see how he had changed. Fortunately, the news was good this time!
Williams disclosed that he has begun hosting The Golden Voice Show, a weekday radio program in Columbus, Ohio. According to The Columbus Dispatch, it was broadcast on WVKO-AM, the same radio station where Williams began his career back in the 1980s.
A follower of faith Williams said, “See how God works,” to the audience.
Williams is clearly aware of how fortunate his circumstances were. According to Christian Today, Williams allegedly added, “I’m almost like a poster kid for redemption,” while smiling, during one of his speeches.
In 2016, Williams appeared on Oprah’s Where Are They Now?
Williams broke down in tears as he recounted his ascent, following decline, and ascent, expressing his desire to leave a lasting legacy that his supporters and family could be pleased with.
He now works for charities that help the homeless, such Friends of the Homeless, whose shelter he had frequently used when he was in need.
“I was right there at the front of the line, ready for my handout,” Williams recalled. “I am now very loyal in this area as a result. They act in this way because they are aware that five years ago, I was in their position.”
The Good News Center asserts that Williams has even loftier altruistic objectives. He said, “I want to build up a homeless laundromat,” referring to “a laundromat where volunteer attendants wash and dry homeless people’s clothes so they have an opportunity to get back to work as he did.”
In October 2016, Ted Williams registered to vote at the Franklin County Board of Elections in Columbus, Ohio, and NBC4 just so happened to capture the event. “Vote or don’t complain,” he yelled to the cameras in his trademark upbeat manner.
Williams, however, registered to vote for reasons other than just supporting the candidates; he did so in order to reclaim his voice as an American citizen after years of being muted due to his poverty.
Williams stated in an interview with NBC4 that exercising his civic duty was a big accomplishment for him because it had been more than 20 years since he had done so.
“This is important, do you get it? I’m voting today for the first time in 25 years.”
