Ain’t That a Bitch

Show business has been “berry, berry good” to Garrett Morris. Mostly. Ain’t That a Bitch pulls back the curtain on all of it: the excess, the lows, the laughs, and the stories his lawyer wishes he’d left out.

In 1975, Garrett made history as one of SNL’s original “Not Ready for Prime Time Players” and the show’s first Black cast member. Alongside Chevy Chase, John Belushi, Gilda Radner, Jane Curtin and Laraine Newman, he created unforgettable characters like Chico Escuela and the interpreter for “News for the Hard of Hearing.” He also starred in classics like Cooley High and Car Wash. But before SNL, he’d already spent nearly twenty years building a career in an industry reluctantly opening its doors to Black voices. 

Born to a teenage mother in New Orleans, Garrett made his way to New York City with five dollars and a dream. He slept on streets and rooftops until a run-in with a judge led to a room at the Harlem YMCA, and an acting class with fellow students Cicely Tyson and James Earl Jones, and a gig touring with Harry Belafonte. But fame’s spotlight could be soul-crushing.

Ain’t That a Bitch, is a no-holds-barred, side-splitting, and surprisingly soulful memoir. Garrett opens up about his decades-long cocaine addiction, the relationships he sabotaged, his near-fatal 1994 shooting, and how a spiritual awakening and therapy helped him embrace sobriety. Equal parts Black Hollywood folklore, wild wild west, and hard-won wisdom, this is the story of a scrappy, tenacious artist whose rise led to five decades of credits, catchphrases, and iconic characters, and opened countless doors—including  a few he probably should’ve kept shut.