Wendy Williams’s family is opening up about the talk-show host’s health battle ahead of the release of a new Lifetime documentary, Where Is Wendy Williams. The two-part series traces Williams’s departure from the spotlight as she struggles with alcohol use, Graves’ disease, and cognitive issues, leading to her eventual guardianship. Williams’s family shared just how “shocking and heartbreaking†it was to witness the icon’s deteriorating condition. “How did she go from this aunt or sister whom we love and is healthy one minute to this person who’s in and out of the hospital?†Williams’s sister Wanda asked in a People report published February 21. “How is that system better than the system the family could put in place? This system is broken.†She added that the court papers for Williams’s guardianship case have been sealed, making the court’s decision a mystery. “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,†Wanda said.
While the family has not been able to contact Williams directly since she checked in to a treatment center in 2023, they claim she appears to be doing much better than what is shown onscreen. “I don’t know what is working, but I do know that when she did reach out to me, it was a person who is remarkably different than what we see in that documentary,†Wanda said, according to People. Where Is Wendy Williams originally set out to follow the star as she launched a podcast in 2022, but it changed course when her health condition led to the cancellation of her talk show.
A trailer for the documentary shows how when the world needed her most, she vanished. Who else but Wendy Williams could dissect the Nicki Minaj and Megan Thee Stallion beef, the frigid air between Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake, or any other high-profile celebrity drama that happened in the time she’s been absent from screens? “From 6 years old, all I wanted was to be famous,†she says in the emotional trailer. We see shots of Williams at the peak of her career, stepping out of black cars to greet fans ahead of taping her talk show and celebrating her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Eventually, that joy is curdled when health problems arise and she’s taken off-air. “I have no money,†she says in an on-camera interview from her iconic purple throne. “If it happens to me, it could happen to you.†The doc premieres February 24 and 25 on Lifetime.
This post has been updated throughout.