Wendy Williams “How you doin?”
There has been much said about the new Lifetime four-part series “Where Is Wendy Williams?”
The unfiltered documentary follows Wendy’s life after the end of her iconic daytime show, her health and substance abuse battles and poses the looming question: Where is Wendy Williams? After being placed under a financial guardianship, Williams gives a documentary crew unprecedented access to her life as she attempts a career comeback. As the mystery surrounding her health struggles grows, new questions arise about Wendy’s career and her family life.
To me, it is a disturbing look into Wendy’s life now—years after she relinquished her daytime gossip fest of a show in 2022 to Sherri Shepherd, who is now in that spot.
I call the series disturbing, because Wendy has had some health challenges, namely Graves’ disease, which is a disorder of the immune system that causes the thyroid gland to make too much thyroid hormone — a condition called hyperthyroidism.
Common effects are bulging eyes (exophthalmos), heat intolerance, increased energy, difficulty sleeping, diarrhea and anxiety.
Wendy’s eyes do appear to be bulged, and she also suffers from lymphedema, a condition that causes swelling in her legs and feet.
And to add to her struggles, which are more than financial—it is reported that Wells Fargo has frozen her bank accounts due to what they view as unauthorized spending—just recently Wendy announced her diagnosis of primary progressive aphasia and frontotemporal dementia.
This film is also unflattering because many facets of it should have been kept private. However, in true Wendy fashion, the documentary is great fodder for viewers. It is reported that although Wendy and others participated in this documentary, she had unsuccessfully sued to block its airing on the Lifetime Network.
Her niece, Alex Finnie, was on “The View” last week and said that Wendy wanted to do this documentary; it is also the last of a three-film deal to which Wendy was obligated.
She mentioned that Wendy is under a financial guardianship and that she hasn’t seen her in years. She did say that she doesn’t know where she is (even though it seems as if Wendy is in New York) and that she recently had a four-hour phone conversation with her aunt.
In the documentary, Wendy is maligning people, but folks are disrespectful to her, as well.
She admits a cocaine habit during the 90s when she was still a radio host, and she scowls at the idea that her sister and son, Kevin Hunter, Jr., who was born in 2000, would rather she didn’t drink vodka, her favorite beverage.
Wendy says she loves that folks are still interested in her life even though she has been out of the public eye. “It’s gorgeous, sexy and fabulous that I’m still the center of attention,” she said.
And with this attention, she realizes her girlhood dream of being famous and not wealthy.
To see more of this account of Wendy’s health issues and her quest to continue her podcast, tune in again on March 1 and 2 for the repeat of “Where Is Wendy Williams?” Check your local listing for Lifetime’s schedule.
This matter was conducted under seal. Any claims against Wells Fargo have been dismissed.
