According to Wendy Williams’ family, she is not OK. Two years after her show was officially canceled, her close family and friends say the show’s end, coupled with her personal health and substance abuse issues, have been debilitating.
“We’ve all seen the images over the last few months — and, really, few years — of what has seemed like a spiral for my aunt,” says Williams’ niece Alex Finnie, who also appears in the new Lifetime documentary, Where Is Wendy Williams?. She also worked with her aunt, which Williams boosted on the show.The docuseries will premiere on Feb. 24.
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Finnie added, “It was shocking and heartbreaking to see her in this state.”
The series began filming in spring 2022 and ended a year later. The same month filming ceased, Williams entered a facility to treat “cognitive issues.” Her son and only child, Kevin Hunter Jr, reveals in the documentary that doctors say her health issues are directed to her ongoing alcohol use. Williams’ struggles with cocaine and alcohol are long documented. The fall from grace for Williams has been difficult to watch for Williams’ fans. The former queen of “Hot Topics” remains in the facility to this day, with her family noting a court-appointed legal guardian is the only person who has unfettered access to her.
“The people who love her cannot see her,” says Wendy’s sister and Alex’s mom Wanda, her beloved sister notes. “I think the big [question] is: How the hell did we get here?” Kevin Jr. says despite reports, he’s never taken advantage of his mother in a vulnerable state.
“I’ve never taken [money] without her consent,” he says in the documentary, though never speaking with media outlets. He’s reportedly given his mother ultimatums due to her substance abuse issue. Williams alleges in the documentary that her guardian, whose identity remains private, has stolen money from her, though there’s reportedly no evidence.
Amid her troubles, Kevin Jr. says he kept his mother away from alcohol and had her on a strict vegan diet, and working with a trainer. Her family wanted to extend her visit, but says her now-canceled talk show executives, despite her obvious troubles.
“I said [to the producers], ‘No, she’s not coming back up because she needs to get better,’” Kevin Jr. says in the documentary. “I made sure that business was always on the back burner and that health was the number one priority.”
But Williams’ drinking couldn’t be hidden. “She would be drunk on air,” a source close to the show’s production said. the show source. “Slowly, we started being like, ‘What’s going on with her?’”
Her divorce, due to her ex-husband and former manager, Kevin Hunter Sr., and his love-child, is said to have taken her over the edge.
In 2017, she fainted in a live broadcast while wearing a Statue of Liberty costume during her Halloween episode. She later claimed it was due to her Graves’ disease. “That was the first sign something was really wrong,” says her niece Alex, 33, now.
The show’s co-executive producer Suzanne Bass also saw Williams’ issues up close. “I knew she was struggling. How could I not?” says Bass, whose husband was also the stage manager. “As her situation grew worse, she pushed us away.”
