Where is Wendy Williams? executive producers Mark Ford and Erica Hanson opened up about their concerns about Wendy Williams' health while they were filming Lifetime documentary.
At a price consideration panel in Los Angeles, Ford and Hanson said they were “concerned” about Williams' conditions during production. through People. They noticed that she was living alone, with no food in the refrigerator, and tried to contact her family.
“The deeper we got into it, we didn't want to let Wendy go until we got her back in touch with her family,” Ford said. “Because we felt like at some point that's the one who's going to be there for her to take care of her.”
Towards the end of production on the documentary, Ford recalled that the producers became “very, very concerned” and told her manager, the only other person who entered her apartment, that something had to be done to help her.
“This is becoming very dire and frightening,” he added. “And because she was under guardianship, her family couldn't just fly over and hang out and decide to become involved in her medical care. They were removed from that process by the court so they could face legal consequences if they tried to get too involved.”
Sabrina Morrissey became Williams' court-appointed guardian in 2022 after Wells Fargo claimed she was a “disabled individual” and a “victim of undue influence and financial exploitation.” The former talk show host disputed the guardian appointment at the time, noting that her health had improved and that she was “absolutely” of sound mind after treatment for Graves' disease and thyroid problems. It was later revealed that her son, Kevin Hunter Jr., was responsible for the financial exploitation.
During the panel discussion, Ford said that's when the documentary started to take a turn and tried to “show what these guardianships are like” when the family isn't involved. Hanson added that it felt “incomprehensible” that her son didn't know where she was and couldn't call her, even though he had previously tried to “help his mother with all her addiction problems.”
“I just think at the end of the day you really see what happens when a guardian has complete control and the family is left out and they don't know how she's being treated medically,” Hanson explained. “And they don't know what happened to her finances.”
Ford said: “It's a very complicated process [her family]. But I think you can see in the film that it's a nice group of people who care about their sister, daughter and mother and want the best for her, and who can be involved in her care better than those people, not a stranger. “
Morrissey tried to prevent the documentary from being broadcast file a lawsuit against Lifetime's parent company A+E Networks, arguing that the contract entered into to film the project was not valid because Williams had neither the legal nor mental capacity to authorize her participation. However, the first Wendy Williams Show host was an executive producer on the project alongside Hunter Jr. and her jeweler turned manager, William Selby.
The guardian's complaint alleged that the four-and-a-half-hour documentary was a “blatant exploitation of a vulnerable woman with a serious medical condition who is loved by millions within and beyond the African American community.” Morrissey's temporary restraining order was issued before being overturned by a higher court for violating the network's First Amendment rights.
When the court documents were released in March, they indicated that Williams' guardian, who reportedly wouldn't answer the producers' phone calls during production, had only fought to keep the documentary from airing after she saw the film . trailer for the movie on February 2. The almost four-minute look at Where is Wendy Williams? made it clear that Morrissey would not be portrayed positively.
“It wasn't until I saw the trailer for the documentary and her role in Ms. [Williams’] life could be criticized if Mrs. Morrissey had turned to the courts to unconstitutionally silence that criticism,” A+E networks attorney Rachel Strom wrote at the time.
This was announced days before the project aired Williams had been diagnosed with aphasia And frontotemporal dementiain addition to her Graves' disease and lymphedema, which is the accumulation of fluid in soft body tissues.
In a interview with The Hollywood Reporter After the document's release, Ford said that “if we had known Wendy had dementia, no one would have rolled a camera,” adding that “it got to the point where we were more concerned about what would happen to Wendy to happen.” if we stopped filming, then if we continued.”