It’s been almost three years since Wendy Williams graced our TV screens on her iconic talk show. But this past weekend, Wendy returned to her stomping grounds with the two-part premiere of the Lifetime documentary ‘Where Is Wendy Williams?’
But the sharp, witty, and sometimes shady persona that made her show stand out wasn’t front and center in the premiere. Instead, fans got a look at Wendy’s personal, legal, and medical struggles since the end of her talk show. That includes her recently revealed diagnoses of aphasia and dementia.
Part One of the documentary highlights her strong desire to return to TV, but that quickly gives way to her recent state. The project features interviews and commentary from her manager, Will Selby, her publicist, Shawn Zanotti, her son, Kevin Hunter Jr., her niece and nephew, and other friends and family.
Keep scrolling to see trending moments from the ‘Where Is Wendy Williams?’ documentary.
Documentary: Wendy & Her Manager Share Words About Her Alcohol Intake
In one scene of the documentary, Wendy is seen lying in bed, under the covers, while her manager, Will, addresses a nearly empty bottle of vodka in her room. He asks Williams if she drank all of her “specialty item” that same day. At first, Wendy says yes, then quickly says no. Will reacts by sitting on the edge of her bed and questioning her about the amount she drank.
“Let’s just have a quick conversation about this. Don’t you feel like maybe this is a bit excessive? I don’t know if you need this right now,” Will said, mentioning their pending “business” after Wendy asked “why.”
When he tells her he doesn’t think drinking LIKE THAT is a “good idea,” Wendy gives him a blank look and responds, “F**k you.” When he asked Wendy if she thinks she’s “perfectly fine” drinking as much as she wants, the former host said “perfectly.” Her eyes widened when Will suggested he was taking the bottle downstairs to “keep it cool.” Wendy quickly and aggressively told him to “keep [the bottle] there.”
Watch the interaction below.
Elsewhere in the doc, Will alleges that Wendy has become “more aggressive” as time passes. The documentary delivers several scenes to that testimony, including her snapping on a nail tech, a driver, and her management team.
Wendy’s nephew, Travis Finnie, also notes that he’s seen a change in Wendy’s personality in the last decade.
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Wendy's Son Kevin Reacts To His Mother Having A Guardian
In the documentary, her one and only son, Kevin Hunter Jr., seemed opposed to having a guardian in place.
“I think that my mother should have family. The family’s side of the story hasn’t been told so it’s kind of like this space of who’s really telling the truth, what’s really going on. I’ve always wanted the best for my mom. I just stay strong, I just understand that nobody’s perfect. No matter how many times somebody may fall down, you gotta let them back up. But I feel that the situation she’s in right now isn’t really the best situation for her journey of trying to heal.”
For context, ahead of the documentary, Wendy Williams’ family revealed that her current whereabouts are unknown to them. But she’s reportedly at a treatment facility and able to reach her family by phone.
Apparently, the only person with physical access to the former Purple Chair Queen is her guardian, whom the court put in place to oversee her health and finances in May 2022. The following month, her show was canceled. Then, according to PEOPLE, filming for the documentary began in August 2022. She had a brief stint in a wellness start beginning in September of that year. However, by April 2023, the documentary crew stopped filming Wendy when they found her in her apartment with her eyes rolled back.
After that point, she entered another facility to treat “cognitive issues.” This reportedly came after multiple pleas from Wendy’s guardian to get her help, including from the doc’s executive producer, Mark Ford. The guardian is the only person who can authorize Wendy’s release from the facility.
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Kevin Hunter Jr. Denies Taking Advantage Of His Mother's Finances
Elsewhere in the documentary, Kevin revealed that before her having a guardian, he was taking her to appointments and learning about her medical struggles, including her alcohol influenced her dementia. This was before Wells Fargo successfully petitioned for Wendy to be appointed a guardian.
In the project, Kevin denied taking any of his mother’s money without her consent amid accusations that he took advantage while caring for her.
“As one can imagine, it’s not a cheap lifestyle. The court tried to frame it as though I was making all these charges for my own happiness. My mom has never been a cheap person, whether it’d be flying her back and forth on private planes or even paying for appointments,” Kevin said.
His cousin, Travis, agreed that the total of expenses the court mentioned, about $100,000, wasn’t out of the ordinary for Wendy to spend on her son.
“For them to have a court case and rip him away from taking care of his mother, it’s very questionable,” Travis Finnie said.
Ahead of the documentary’s release, Wendy’s guardian filed a lawsuit against A&E over the project.
Meanwhile, in her recent interview with PEOPLE, Wendy’s sister, Wanda Finnie, said the former talk show host is in a “wellness, healing type of environment.” She assured concerned fans that Wendy is “not the person that you see in this film.”
