The tragic story of Wendy Williams

Critics said it was "hard to watch" (Joel Keller, 'Decider') and that "the cameras should have stopped rolling in Williams' life the moment she left her show's set for the last time" (Aramide Tinubu, 'Variety'). Four episodes in the Lifetime documentary series 'Where is Wendy Williams?' (2024) tell the harsh truth of the talk show host's life. And there has been a lot of tragedy, indeed.

The American broadcaster from Asbury Park, New Jersey started as a DJ in Washington DC in 1987. She soon became a public favorite and moved to  New York City to continue her career. By 1993, she was the highest-rated radio host of her time.

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In 1998, Williams talked increasingly about personal topics in her radio shows. It made her ratings go up even further than before. Aside from her own daily issues, she continued to report on the celebrity gossip for which she was known from the start.

From 1994 to 1995, Wendy Williams was briefly married to a salesman in New York, Bert Girigorie. She then married her agent, Kevin Hunter, in 1999. Williams, then 33 years old, wanted to be a mother. She had had several miscarriages before, People magazine reported, but eventually, she gave birth to their son Kevin Samuel in 2000.

At the same time, Williams was struggling with addiction. She turned her hardship into something useful and wrote books about her life, addictions, and marriages. In 2003, she published her autobiography 'Wendy's Got the Heat'.

With her three books, radio shows, and collaborations with clothing lines, wig makers, and jewelry stores, Williams built a commercial empire. She even partnered with the Home Shopping Network (HSN).

Of course, by dedicating herself to telling celebrity gossip on and off the air, she made many enemies in show business. Wendy was considered a 'Mean Girl'.

Meanwhile, TV channels loved to air Wendy's uncensored opinions. In 2008, she made 'The Wendy Williams Show', aired in 4 cities. With her unpredictable character, not holding any punches, she got The New York Times to call her show a "breakthrough in daytime."

After a successful first season, Fox began broadcasting 'The Wendy Williams Show' nationally in 2009. Within ten years, it would be airing in 54 countries. Williams competed with 'The Ellen Degeneres Show,' getting 2.4 million viewers on average.

To get the most out of her TV success, Wendy Williams and her husband Kevin Hunter founded their own production company in 2013. Wendy Williams Productions was a reality TV producer.

Wendy's personal life was reality TV material. Her husband was unfaithful and abusive to her, Wendy claimed after the marriage ended in 2020. She revealed that she had wanted to ask for a divorce from the second year of the marriage. They would last 21.

According to Business Insider, Wendy recalls that "Kevin was a serial cheat. He cheated when I dated him. He cheated when I married him. He cheated while I was on bed rest during the entire nine months of me being pregnant."

In the picture, she poses with her son, Kevin Hunter Jr.

The main problem with why Wendy waited for 21 years to get divorced is that her professional life was completely tied to Kevin. He was her manager, co-owner of the production company, and the producer of 'The Wendy Williams Show'.

"I couldn't [leave] because the bigger the talk show got, and the more I would look into my son's eyes... the more I decided to give of myself," she told Business Insider.

For Wendy, marriage was sacred. On 'Watch What Happens Live' with Andy Cohen she said "There was really no option in my mind, and still isn't. Being married is the Holy Grail."

After they finally divorced, Williams said: "Hunter will always be my friend because we must be civil to each other because we are Kevin's parents. I don't regret meeting Kevin. I don't regret falling in love. I don't regret staying with him for all 25 years - 21 of them married."

In 2021, the TV host announced on 'The Wendy Williams Show' that she was suffering from Graves disease. As The Mayo Clinic describes it, Graves "is an immune system disorder that results in the overproduction of thyroid hormones (hyperthyroidism)".

Williams assured the audience that the illness didn't cause her any psychological problems. "Along with hyperthyroid and Graves’ disease, it promotes nervousness," she told her co-host. But: "No, I’m not nervous. Anxiety. Please. I'm over 30 years in this game."

However, the signs that something was off in Wendy Williams' behavior and private life began to increase. From 2018 through 2021, she took breaks from her show several times. Then, in January 2022, Wells Fargo froze her bank account with approximately $20 million in it. What had happened?

According to The Sun, the bank claimed "that she was the victim of exploitation, dementia, or undue influence in explosive court filings." The revelation was explosive, indeed. It turned out the TV host was both suffering from some sort of impairment and that others were taking advantage of it - to the extent that her bank shut down her account.

As reported by The Sun, a second source indicated that she was getting money through a "financial guardian." At the same time, the allowance was not "the level of money Wendy Williams would need to get by in New York City. Her manager is footing the bill for a lot of her personal upkeep right now."

Williams also had a secret bank account, The Sun reported, but according to a source in the paper, she had no idea how to use it. "She opened this account, and the thing she doesn't understand is that people can't transfer money to it without her bank account information."

Previously the star who spread gossip about others, Wendy Williams was now the subject of rumors herself. Either the star had problems with her cognitive abilities, or she had simply never learned to manage a bank account because her husband had done everything for her.

Meanwhile, Wendy Williams had taken her last break from her show. In 2021, co-host Sherri Shepherd took over the program that Williams had hosted since 2008.

Although fans were hoping for Wendy's return, the producers decided to let Sherri Shepherd take her place for good. In September 2022, 'Sherri' began airing in the timeslot of 'The Wendy Williams Show' on Fox.

Meanwhile, Wendy Williams appeared to keep a low profile. But nothing was further from the truth. Cameras were following her every step in 2022 and 2023, even filming her as she got serious diagnoses of dementia and aphasia in 2023.

Due to her illnesses, the documentary about her life, 'Where is Wendy Williams,' promised to be so painful that her guardians sued A&E Television to stop it from airing in 2024. Williams herself, meanwhile, appeared on Instagram in early 2024 to reassure people that she was doing fine.

When in February 2024, the news broke that Wendy Williams had dementia and aphasia in addition to Graves disease and addiction, her team made a statement to do away with the rumors about her state of mind. "Many have speculated about Wendy's condition, particularly when she began to lose words, act erratically at times, and have difficulty understanding financial transactions," the statement read.

"Unfortunately, many individuals diagnosed with aphasia and frontotemporal dementia face stigma and misunderstanding, particularly when they begin to exhibit behavioral changes but have not yet received a diagnosis." In other words, the diagnoses of dementia and aphasia explained a lot of bad things that had happened in Wendy Williams' life, both on and off-screen.

In the end, the documentary 'Where Is Wendy Williams?' premiered on February 24, 2024, despite attempts by her family to stop it. As painful as it may be for her environment, Williams appears to see it as a way to explain that her conditions could have happened to anyone. "I'm going to tell you something, she says. "If it happens to me, it could happen to you."