Lifetime’s Wendy Williams documentary series premiered this weekend, offering a glimpse of the former talk show host’s current reality of health problems, doctor’s visits, isolation, and heavy drinking.
The two-night movie event titled Where is Wendy Williams? was shocking, eye-opening and sad.
The docuseries debuted just two days after Williams’ “care team” issued a press release on Thursday, Feb. 22, saying she was officially diagnosed in 2023 with primary progressive aphasia and frontotemporal dementia.
The day of the announcement, the TV star’s court-appointed independent guardian filed a lawsuit against Lifetime’s parent company A&E Networks, in an effort to prevent the film from airing. The legal maneuver was unsuccessful and the movie debuted on Saturday, Feb. 24.
Related Story: Wendy Williams Diagnosed With Dementia, Caregivers Say
Daily Routine
The film shows Williams, 59, spends her days in bed, constantly drinking, and arguing with her business manager and jeweler, Will Selby.
In one scene, Selby confronts Williams and asks why she has a nearly-empty bottle of vodka in her bedroom.
“Did you eat something, or did you have a liquid lunch? Because I came into your room, and all of a sudden, out of nowhere, I happen to notice one of your specialty items. Did you drink this whole thing today?” Selby asks.
“Keep it there!” Williams tells him as he removes the bottle from her room.
“I don’t know if you need this right now,” he responds.
Throughout the film, Selby assures Williams he’s working on securing a podcast deal after her popular daytime talk show was canceled in 2022, because Williams was unable to work. Her last appearance on the show was July 16, 2021. Producers filmed the 13th and final season with guest hosts in her absence.
“I’m here to make sure that she’s represented correctly, that I clean everything up, and that we see the Wendy that we’ve grown to love,” Selby insists.
But that’s far from what’s shown in Where is Wendy Williams?
Shocking Health Problems
Lifetime says filming began in August 2022. The project was initially intended to document Williams’ “comeback” and the launch of her podcast. The focus changed when the crew filmed her life spiraling out of control.
Williams has several physical ailments, including the autoimmune disorder Graves’ disease, thyroid disease, and lymphedema, which has caused her feet to swell and become disfigured.
“I can only feel six percent of each foot,” Williams shares in part one of the series. In the final episode, she says she only feels two percent in her feet.
She frequently removes her shoes to show people her feet, especially when she’s under the influence of alcohol.
It’s unclear who is supplying Williams with alcohol, since the TV star can’t walk without assistance and she says she has no access to her money.
The film crew tells her family there is no food in Williams’ refrigerator, even though her publicist, manager and glam team make frequent visits to the star’s New York City apartment. It’s unclear why no one buys groceries, but there’s always alcohol in the apartment.
When Williams is not sleeping, her staff presents her with designer clothing options, a makeup artist paints her face, and a nail technician gives her manicures.
They also hold frequent business meetings although Williams suffers memory loss and doesn’t think clearly. She forgets details about her life and berates her staff.
In one scene, Williams calls her publicist Shawn Zanotti a “dumbass” and tells her she needs liposuction.
Williams asks her driver to take her by the location where her talk show was filmed. She forgets that they just drove past the building and lashes out at the driver.
“I don’t know what the hell is going on,” the frustrated driver says. “I think she’s losing memory. She doesn’t know who I am sometimes.”
Williams offers to show the Lifetime crew her breasts (which they decline). She cries on camera, and banishes the crew from her bedroom when they ask questions she doesn’t like.
Depression and Mental Health Struggles
Selby says it’s natural that the superstar would be depressed — she lost her beloved mom, her show was canceled, her now ex-husband Kevin Hunter, 52, had a baby with his mistress, and her only son went away to college.
Williams’ lifelong friend Regina Shell is interviewed in the film and says Kevin Sr.’s cheating “caused her to drink even more.”
Williams says she used to do cocaine “five days a week,” but she now prefers alcohol.
Her older sister Wanda Finnie, the media mogul’s niece Alex Finnie, her nephew Travis Finnie, and her son Kevin Hunter Jr. were all interviewed for the documentary.
The TV star’s legal guardian and court-appointed health care advocate declined interviews, Lifetime notes.
The radio legend says she loves her 23-year-old son dearly, but hasn’t seen him in eight months.
Williams says she has no interest in spending time with her relatives because they don’t allow her to drink.
“I love vodka,” Williams says, adding that her son “hates liquor” and her sister “hates that I love alcohol.”
Her nephew Travis reveals Williams was found unresponsive and nearly died from alcohol poisoning during COVID lockdowns in May 2020.
“Kevin was her medical proxy and called an ambulance,” Travis says. He adds that Williams needed “three blood transfusions” to save her life.
Kevin Jr. reveals he took his mom in for medical testing in 2021, and she was diagnosed with alcohol-induced dementia.
Guardianship Details
The docuseries sheds light on Wells Fargo’s petition to a New York court in 2022, to have Williams placed under guardianship amid concerns that she was “the victim of undue influence and financial exploitation.”
The bank blocked access to her account and her son was cut off financially.
“From what I understand, Wells Fargo froze her account to find out what was happening, because it looked as if someone has been nefarious close to her,” Williams’ friend Regina Shell says on camera.
Text on screen adds, “No wrongdoing by the bank has been found.”
“When I was in Miami [with family], all of a sudden my American Express card wasn’t working,” Williams shares.
The legal case is sealed, leading a Lifetime producer to ask Williams’ nephew Travis what exactly prompted Wells Fargo to intervene.
“There have been questions that the family may have exploited her financially,” the producer tells Travis.
Travis says Wells Fargo got involved after flagging Williams’ account for unusual activity.
“The court tried to frame it like her son was using too much of her money,” Travis says. “I think the amount of money that they questioned Kevin about spending was like $100,000.”
Travis then offers a tally of the spending.
“To put it all in perspective, Kevin’s birthday party that his mom threw that year was like $120,000. Kevin’s rent was $80,000. Kevin’s Uber Eats probably exceeded $100,000 that his mom approves,” Travis says.
He calls the bank’s decision to get the courts involved “very questionable.”
At the time, Williams’ son had power of attorney. But a judge had her legally removed from the care of Kevin Jr. and her family.
Kevin Jr. says his mom is accustomed to a life of luxury. (Although she currently has no income stream to support that lifestyle).
“My mom has never been a cheap person,” Kevin states.
A Lifetime producer asks Kevin if he’s ever taken money from his mom’s bank account.
He responds, “Not without her consent.”
At the end of the series, Williams is taken to Florida to visit her family. They keep her away from alcohol, and discourage talk about returning to work. She appears happy and healthier with her loved ones.
Williams’ sister says the guardianship is up for review this year and she’s hopeful things will change.
Where is Wendy Williams? is produced by Entertainment One (eOne) and Creature Films for Lifetime. Wendy Williams is an executive producer, along with Kevin Hunter Jr, Will Selby, Tara Long, Mark Ford, Pat Lambert, and Erica Hanson. Brie Miranda Bryant executive produces for Lifetime.
Watch a clip from the docuseries below:
