wendy williams
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Former radio and talk show host Wendy Williams has been diagnosed with dementia and aphasia, as expressed in an announcement to fans.
On Thursday (February 22), it was revealed that media personality Wendy Williams was diagnosed with primary progressive aphasia and frontotemporal dementia, with both afflictions affecting her ability to communicate and her cognition. “The decision to share this news was difficult and made after careful consideration, not only to advocate for understanding and compassion for Wendy, but to raise awareness about aphasia and frontotemporal dementia and support the thousands of others facing similar circumstances,” a press release issued by her team said.
The diagnosis of frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and aphasia is similar to the same one that veteran TV & film actor Bruce Willis received last year. Williams is also dealing with the health challenges of Graves’ disease and lymphedema.
Despite those issues, the 59-year-old is “still able to do many things for herself,” and is receiving cognitive treatment at Weill Cornell Medicine. “Most importantly she maintains her trademark sense of humor and is receiving the care she requires to make sure she is protected and that her needs are addressed,” said the press release. “She is appreciative of the many kind thoughts and good wishes being sent her way.”
The news of Williams’ health comes as Lifetime will air the two-part documentary Where Is Wendy Williams? on February 24 & 25. Since stepping back from hosting her television show in 2019, Williams has mostly kept out of the limelight since the show went off the air in 2022, which was the same year that she entered into a guardianship at the urging of her bank believing that she was being taken advantage of. The guardian, who has been identified as Sabrina Morrisey, filed a lawsuit against Lifetime’s parent company, A&E Networks. “The film was signed off on by Wendy, her management, her attorneys, the guardianship,” said Mark Ford, executive producer of the documentary. “They were aware of the filming all the way through. So, we did go by the book and get all the permissions that we needed to get.”
The situation has led to a further cloud of confusion, with family members claiming they’ve been unable to speak to Williams. “All I know is that Wendy and her team walked into the courtroom one way, and they walked out, and the family is completely excluded,” said Wanda Williams, Wendy’s sister in an interview with PEOPLE.
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Former radio shock jock/talk show host Wendy Williams has remerged in a new 2-part documentary coming to Lifetime, and it already has people talking.
The trailer for Where Is Wendy Williams? shows the 59-year-old struggling with her health while her family and friends try to support her and the issue with her court-appointed guardianship.
The trailer features clips of a very sick Williams, who is dealing with apparent mental issues as well. Williams says in one part of the trailer, “I have no money, and I’m gonna tell you something. If it happens to me, it could happen to you.”
In another clip, her son, Kevin Hunter Jr., says, “Mom has done a great job making it seem like everything is OK always, but in reality, there is something wrong. My mom always talks about how she wants to work, but I think she’s worked enough. She has people around her who are ‘yes’ people that have allowed this to continue.”
The documentary, which also claims to have had “unparalleled access” to Williams, also touches on her battle with alcohol abuse. In one scene, a person grabs a bottle, asking her if she drank the whole thing, and she tells him to: “keep the bottle there.”
The official synopsis for the documentary reads:
“After Wendy Williams was placed under a financial guardianship and her hit talk show was unexpectedly canceled, she was determined to make a career comeback.
Opening the doors to her private life like never before, cameras chronicled her comeback journey to reclaim her life and legacy despite facing health issues and personal turbulence.
With unparalleled access granted by Wendy to film with her and her family for nearly two years, what was captured was not what anyone expected.
The documentary provides a raw, honest, and unfiltered reality of Wendy’s life after she was placed under financial guardianship, shedding light on the vulnerabilities that has turned Wendy into the Hot Topic herself. Suffering mental and physical issues, Wendy’s delicate state of mind, erratic behavior, and declining health were all captured by the cameras.
Where Is Wendy Williams? is the story of Wendy’s journey to resurrect her career and what filmmakers discovered along the way. But many questions remain — who truly has Wendy’s best interest at heart? Is she healthy now?”
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Social Media Users Have Early Thoughts About Where Is Wendy Williams?
The reactions to the documentary’s trailer are pouring in, with people saying they will watch it but are very suspicious about the process of making it.
“Wendy said it best in the trailer, “This is all too much.” I hope she gets back to health in her finances and life,” one person on X, formerly Twitter, wrote.
Another X user added, “In the trailer her son says people are exploiting Wendy for money/clout. But what is this documentary doing? Cuz showing her in this seemingly very painful, unhealthy place can’t be good for her mental health either.”
Where Is Wendy Williams? the two-night documentary event goes down on February 24 and 25 at 8 pm ET/PT on Lifetime.
You can see more reactions to the doc in the gallery below.
1. Very much so.
2. Complicated
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Media personality Wendy Williams has been confirmed to be undergoing treatment in a facility, and her manager defended her while being hopeful about her status.
According to ET Online, the former television host is currently undergoing treatment at a wellness facility. This was confirmed by her manager, Will Selby, Wednesday (June 7). “Wendy is at a facility doing her best to be her best. She’s taking it day by day,” he said of the star before addressing speculations by fans and media. “And that’s another thing, too, does anybody even ask like, ‘How’s she doing? Does anyone even care… I feel like everyone just puts out negative information about her and that’s the focus. Why don’t we just stop for a moment and just say, ‘Hey, how is she? Is she doing OK today?’ Why is that not the focus? Why isn’t that what we’re talking about on a daily basis?”
The news comes as her publicist, Shawn Zanotti, had previously refuted claims made in a report from the Daily Mail last month that Williams was briefly hospitalized in a New York medical facility. “I can confirm that Wendy is not in the hospital, as reported. I can also confirm she is not in New York, as reported,” Zanotti stated at the time.
The 58-year-old’s manager said that she is intently focused on getting better as she deals with lymphedema and Graves’ Disease and has her focus on the future. “She’s only thinking about things that she wants to do in her life,” Selby expressed. “She’s only thinking about Wendy 2.0 and her new chapter of her life, and the things that she wants to accomplish, and that’s our focus.”
He also took time out to address the concerns of Kevin Hunter Jr., Williams’ son that were presented in an interview published by the U.S. Sun Tuesday (June 6). Hunter claimed that he felt his mother’s team was taking financial advantage of her as she struggles with alcoholism. “Taking advantage of her for what? To get what? To do what? I’m not here to brag, but I was doing just OK before Wendy came along and I insisted on helping her because she requested my assistance,” Selby stated.
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It’s been a long and tough road to recovery for Wendy Williams, and with word that she might be readying for a return to daytime television, her son, Kevin Hunter Jr., fears that his mother is still in pretty bad shape.
In an exclusive interview with The Sun, Kevin Hunter Jr. slammed the Wendy Williams team for how they’ve been handling things while she’s been struggling with severe alcoholism and fears that she might be closer to death than most of us are aware of.
Stating that her team is prioritizing profits over her health, Hunter explained that he believes they’d sooner see his mother crash and burn before missing out on potential business opportunities.
The Sun reports:
Kevin told The U.S. Sun: “I know there are all sorts of things happening that I know in her right mind she would never agree to.
“As hard as it is seeing her being taken advantage of, I know that if I’m making sure she, as a person, is okay, that is the important thing.
“Because eventually, she’s going to realize the craziness that’s been going on.”
Hunter is referring to the fact that her team is allowing her to be filmed for a reality TV series while she struggles with her mental and physical health. Something that most people would rather remain private.
Continuing to get into what he fears is the case, Hunter adds, “What’s been made more important by the people around her is that while her health may not be great, she needs to keep on earning income, and in my opinion that should not be a priority at all. And whoever has been hired – they are taking advantage of someone who needs to get better.”
Hunter further explained that his mother’s alcoholism has gotten so drastic that it doesn’t affect her as it would the average person and that for her it could be, “fatal because it affects her way worse than a normal person since it stays in her system.”
Though Williams did spend three months at a Malibu, Calif. rehab center in 2022, Hunter says she spent that time signing working contracts during and after her stay at the center. He even feels that Williams’ team has been encouraging her alcoholism in one way or another.
“If they aren’t providing it, they are definitely enabling a type of personality and giving her the green light to drink,” Hunter said.
This just seems like a sad situation all around.
While Wendy Williams continues to try to get back to her old self with the help of her “team,” her son is hoping that eventually someone in her inner circle helps point her in the right direction for her own and her family’s sake.
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