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Where is Wendy?
Courtesy of a lifetime
Newly revealed court filings in Wendy Williams’ lawsuit against Lifetime’s parent company, A+E Networks, over the publication of the Where is Wendy Williams? The documentary chronicling his deteriorating physical and mental state appears to show that the company allegedly filmed the film without obtaining consent from the former talk show host’s court-appointed guardian. The project documented Williams’ life for the better part of a year and showed her downward spiral as she struggled with family, fame and excessive alcohol consumption.
The complaint, which was unsealed Thursday, claims that the contract A+E Networks negotiated to film the documentary was invalid since Williams did not have the legal or mental capacity to authorize his participation in the title at the time. She was allegedly told that the film would be “positive and beneficial” for her image. It is still unknown who created the company that signed a contract with the network that allowed Williams to be in the film.
“This blatant exploitation of a vulnerable woman with a serious medical condition, loved by millions inside and outside the African American community, is disgusting and cannot be allowed,” the complaint states.
The controversial four-and-a-half-hour documentary, which contains footage from about seven months of Williams’ tumultuous final years until he entered a health facility to treat cognitive problems last year, aired as planned and earned ratings of great success, with an average of just over a million viewers. during the two nights it aired on February 24 and 25. Lifetime said it was the biggest nonfiction debut in two years. Williams, her son, Kevin Hunter Jr., and her jeweler-turned-manager, William Selby, are credited as executive producers.
The legal battle stems from Sabrina Morrissey, acting in her capacity as Williams’ temporary guardian, filing a lawsuit last month in New York County Supreme Court against A+E Networks to block the documentary’s release. She requested a temporary restraining order, which was granted before it was overturned by a higher court.
Appellate Judge Peter H. Moulton concluded that preventing the company from airing the documentary would be an “impermissible prior restraint on speech that violates the First Amendment of the Constitution.” Since the case remained sealed, Morrissey’s arguments for preventing the network from airing the title remained unknown.
Morrissey declined to comment, citing court orders prohibiting communications with the press. A+E Networks did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
According to the open complaint, the documentary footage was filmed pursuant to a contract signed in January 2023. Williams, however, lacked the capacity to enter into the agreement, the lawsuit says. Morrissey, pointing to a court-appointed conservatorship that Williams was placed under in 2022, claims that the former talk show host was “incapable of managing her own businesses and personal affairs and was, in fact, placed under conservatorship and under the supervision of this court. “
William Selby, acting as Williams’ manager for the project, made representations to Morrissey that he would have final creative control over the final cut and that he would portray Williams in a positive light, “like a phoenix rising from the ashes” after from your television. The show was canceled due to his medical condition, according to the complaint. Based on these statements, Morrissey allowed the project to continue, with the understanding that nothing would be published without his and the court’s approval.
Instead, a trailer for the documentary was released without warning, Morrissey says.
“The Guardian was appalled by the publication of the trailer and its content, which falsely depicts WWH’s behavior as a result of intoxication rather than his medical condition, which has been diagnosed by Weill Cornell doctors,” the complaint states. . state. “Selby informed The Guardian that he too was surprised by the February 2, 2024 release and that he had not reviewed or approved either the trailer or the documentary prior to the trailer’s release.”
According to the complaint, it is unclear who authorized the creation of The Wendy Experience, which entered into a contract with Entertainment One to license footage of Williams in the documentary. The company was allegedly formed after Williams was placed under conservatorship. Morrissey was not involved in its creation and did not learn of the agreement until months after it was signed, according to court documents.
“The Agreement appears to have been signed on January 25, 2023 by the ‘CEO’ of The Wendy Experience, Inc,” the complaint states. “The name on the signature is not clearly legible; However, it is very different from the WWH signature.”
The agreement allegedly included provisions in which Williams waived all doctor-patient privileges in connection with the filming of the documentary.
The documentary was originally conceived as a behind-the-scenes look exploring Williams’ return through a new podcast. The filmmakers, who began following her in late August 2022, changed the focus of the project given her health.
Days before the documentary aired, Williams’ team shared that he has primary progressive aphasia and frontotemporal dementia. She had already been diagnosed with Graves’ disease and lymphedema, which is the buildup of fluid in the soft tissues of the body. Along with her addiction to alcohol, her ailments are chronicled in the film.
Where is Wendy Williams? said producer Mark Ford The Hollywood Reporter that “if we had known Wendy had dementia, no one would have rolled a camera.” He added: “At one point we were more worried about what would happen if we stopped filming than if we continued.”
When asked if she ever met Morrissey, executive producer Erica Hanson responded: “No, no, no. “She didn’t answer my calls.” Ford added: “There were many attempts before and during. Honestly, we either had a brief problem or a very brief and unpleasant exchange.” He stressed that “everything was approved.”
“She (the guardian) was communicating with Will Selby, Wendy’s manager,” Ford explained. “Will was the point of contact with her guardian throughout the entire process and would have to go to her to sign documents, get placement agreements, and book her out-of-state travel. All of these things were things that the guardian had to approve at all times. So, our understanding is that she was very aware of everything throughout the entire process.”
In 2022, Williams was placed under financial conservatorship after Wells Fargo claimed she was an “incapacitated person” and a “victim of undue influence and financial exploitation.” She challenged the appointment of a guardian, saying that her health had improved and that she was “absolutely” of sound mind after receiving treatment for Graves’ disease and thyroid problems. The documentary revealed that allegations of financial abuse by the bank arose from purchases her son, Kevin Hunter Jr., made while his mother was in the care of her family in 2021 until she returned to New York for related court proceedings. with his tutelage.
“My mother gave me power of attorney because, at that time, the banks began to accuse the family of doing things that were not true and to say that my mother was not in a position to make decisions,” he says in the film. “The court tried to frame it as if she was making all these charges for my own happiness.”
It is unknown if any member of Williams’ family asked the court to appoint him guardian. In the fourth part of the documentary, Williams’ sister Wanda suggested that she was up for it. “They asked me, would he consider tutoring? And I said, ‘I don’t know what being a tutor entails,’” she tells the producers. “They told me it involved taking some kind of class and I said, ‘Yes, I’ll do it.’ I told him, ‘Whatever I have to do, I’m going to focus on Wendy’s health.’ And then, suddenly, the wall fell and there was nothing left.”