Last Friday, after a New York appellate judge ruled that the Lifetime network could proceed with its plans to air the two part-documentary Where Is Wendy Williams?, the series aired its episodes on Saturday and Sunday, revealing a portrait of longtime iconic TV host Wendy Williams struggling mightily with what her adult son Kevin Hunter Jr. referred to as “alcohol-induced dementia.”
“[Doctors] basically said that because she was drinking so much, it was starting to affect her headspace and her brain,” Hunter Jr. clarified in Sunday’s episode. “So, I think they said it was alcohol-induced dementia.”
Last week, Williams’ team revealed a diagnosis of frontotemporal dementia and language disorder aphasia in an attempt to “correct inaccurate and hurtful rumors about her health.”
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In a statement on Friday, Williams herself expressed “immense gratitude for the love and kind words” she had received following that news. “The messages shared with me have touched me, reminding me of the power of unity and the need for compassion,” she added. “I continue to need personal space and peace to thrive. Please just know that your positivity and encouragement are deeply appreciated.”
The documentary, however, paints a disturbing picture of her current mental state. In one scene, while lying in bed, Williams tells her assistant that she’s “going back on TV in September.” Asked to explain what she means, Williams adds, “According to my apartment.”
Elsewhere, Williams can be seen crying as she explains that due to lymphedema, she now only has 2 percent feeling in her visibly swollen feet. She berates a nail technician for applying a clear base coat of polish to her nails, asking her, “Are you stupid?”
And in another clip, Williams’ assistant asks the host if she would want to go to the Oscars that weekend. “Oscars?” Williams replies. “What’s the Oscars?”
“Well, the award show,” the assistant replies. “Would you want to go to an awards show and walk the red carpet?”
“Yeah,” Williams answers hesitantly, seeming confused. “I wanna wear this,” she adds, gesturing to her t-shirt.
“No, you wouldn’t be able to wear that, though,” her assistant replies. “You would have to be glammed up, like in a dress.”
Later, Williams claims that her officially appointed guardian, Sabrina Morrissey, is stealing money from her. “There’s no money for me at Wells Fargo,” Williams elaborates. “None.”
It was Morrissey who had filed the lawsuit against A&E last week in an attempt to prevent the documentary from airing at all. The first episode of Where is Wendy Williams? emphasizes that Morrissey and a separate “health care advocate” for Williams refused to speak to Lifetime at all for the documentary.
