CNN
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When Wendy Williams’ widespread discuss present was canceled in 2022, the primary individual to disclose the information to her was her niece and goddaughter, Alex Finnie.
“I acquired severe, and I stated, ‘I wish to actually clarify one thing to you to be able to get this,’” Finnie recalled in an interview with CNN this week. “’There’s no extra ‘Wendy Williams Present.’ They determined to cancel it. After so many fabulous seasons, this curtain has come down.’”
Williams didn’t appear to know the truth of the state of affairs, in response to her niece.
”Are you conscious?” Finnie recalled asking her aunt. “And I keep in mind her saying, ’What are you speaking about? In fact, I’ve the present.’”
“It took a bit of little bit of convincing and conversations with the powers that be from her present for her to essentially perceive that the present is not any extra,” Finnie added.
Williams’ response involved Finnie, she stated. In hindsight, it was, maybe, an early indicator of what the general public realized this week.
A care group for Williams introduced Thursday that in 2023 she was recognized with aphasia and frontotemporal dementia, circumstances which might influence character and communication, in response to the Mayo Clinic.
Previous to her analysis, Williams confronted different well being struggles that precipitated her to overlook present tapings earlier than her collection got here to an finish. After 13 influential seasons of candid – and infrequently controversial – cultural dialog, Williams all however disappeared from the general public eye. Now her household is detailing their efforts to assist Williams in a brand new Lifetime documentary, “The place is Wendy Williams?”
The documentary, which has been seen by CNN, purports to be a painfully trustworthy depiction of Williams’ life in recent times – displaying her reminiscence loss and temper swings, together with alcohol abuse. In a number of scenes, Williams is proven handed out in mattress with an empty bottle of liquor beside her. At one level, manufacturing needed to cease down for months over heightened issues for Williams’ well-being when producers stated they discovered her in her raveled New York Metropolis residence together with her eyes rolled again in her head.
Williams is at present in an inpatient therapy facility for cognitive care, her niece, the documentary’s govt producer and a spokesperson for Lifetime advised CNN. Vocal about her previous struggles with substance abuse, Williams can be in search of assist for alcohol habit, her niece and different members of the family stated within the documentary.
Finnie, who describes Williams as a second mom, advised CNN that she is in common communication together with her aunt and spoke together with her this week. Nevertheless, as a result of Williams is at present beneath a court-ordered guardianship, her household doesn’t know the situation or another info relating to the ability the place Williams is being handled, nor have they got entry to name Williams instantly.
CNN has been unable to talk with Williams concerning the venture or confirm her household’s account of their conversations. A consultant for Williams’ care group declined to touch upon the Lifetime documentary, and it’s unclear whether or not this care group is working with Williams’ guardian.
“What I can let you know is that she sounds nice. I solely discuss to her when she calls me,” Finnie stated of Williams’ present state. “Wherever she is now, she has been there for a number of months, and he or she is sounding good.”
Finnie stated that Williams hopes “she will come out of the place she is now, wholesome, glad and he or she’s speaking about probably desirous to get again to work.”
In 2017, Williams fainted on dwell TV throughout a Halloween episode, attributing the incident to feeling overheated. Two years later, she revealed in an emotional on-air monologue that whereas she was internet hosting her day by day discuss present, she was dwelling in a sober home.
That revelation got here inside one month of Williams filing for divorce from her longtime husband and govt producer, Kevin Hunter Sr., who had a toddler with one other lady and subsequently parted methods from his spouse’s present that he had overseen since its inception. Williams, who gained fame for her unfiltered and infrequently polarizing opinions on celebrities, instantly discovered herself as the scorching subject.
Previous to her employment at CNN, the creator of this story appeared on “The Wendy Williams Present” as a visitor and paid contributor on 11 events between 2018 – 2021.
Williams took numerous health-related hiatuses from her present throughout this time, some because of her Graves’ disease analysis. The autoimmune condition could cause bulging eyes and lymphedema-related swelling. Williams was unable to host her present all through the 2021-2022 tv season.
In February 2022, across the time that her discuss present was canceled, Williams was positioned in a court-ordered monetary guardianship. The id of Williams’ court-appointed guardian has not been publicly launched, in response to Lifetime and Williams’ niece. (CNN has reviewed the case quantity related to Williams and Wells Fargo on the New York Supreme Court docket and all filings are sealed.)
The guardianship took place after Wells Fargo froze Williams’ accounts when a former monetary adviser for the host reported to the financial institution that Williams was of “unsound thoughts,” in response to courtroom paperwork referenced within the Lifetime documentary. Williams’ lawyer and publicist on the time stated that she “denied all allegations about her psychological well being and well-being.”
CNN has reached out to her former lawyer and publicist for remark.
After Williams’ discuss present was canceled, she got down to resume her topical conversations in a podcast format and deliberate to supply a documentary to focus on her comeback venture. As cameras started rolling, producers shortly realized the story they initially got down to seize can be a lot completely different.
“The place Is Wendy Williams?” – a four-part documentary airing February 24 and 25 – is the end result. As an govt producer on the collection, Williams is being compensated for the venture, launched together with her participation and with approval from her guardianship, in response to Lifetime.
“The documentary advanced into an trustworthy and forthright depiction of Wendy’s dire well being state of affairs and whether or not or not she was receiving ample care,” govt producer Mark Ford advised CNN.
“As a result of unprecedented nature of the documentary, the producers have been in a relentless state of re-evaluating the strategy to the venture and tips on how to inform Wendy’s story in probably the most accountable and truthful approach,” Ford stated. “We all know it could be exhausting for a few of her followers to look at. However we imagine this documentary captures the reality of Wendy’s life over the year-and-a-half we filmed it.”
Williams and her supervisor, who can be an govt producer on the venture, weighed in on what was being captured every day, Ford stated.
“We by no means filmed something they didn’t approve,” he added.
By the top of filming, Ford stated producers turned so involved about Williams’ well being that they urged her administration group to get her new medical care. The venture’s producers haven’t been in direct contact with Williams for greater than six months, and Ford and Finnie stated they have no idea whether or not Williams has seen the documentary earlier than it was permitted by her guardianship.
“We’ve talked about it briefly. It’s a extremely delicate subject. I take her lead on that as a result of it’s not fairly and he or she’s in a vivid place proper now, when it comes to the well being and therapeutic, and I strive to not say something that would rattle that for her,” Finnie stated of the venture.
Whereas her members of the family are happy that Williams now appears to be getting the assistance she wants, they’ve issues about her guardianship – particularly that they’ve been blocked out of the whole state of affairs, they declare.
Within the documentary, Finnie’s mom, Wanda, who’s Williams’ older sister, stated that she was prepared to be Williams’ authorized guardian earlier than the courtroom appointed one.
“Some stuff that persons are going to see on this documentary, it’s simply not including up,” Finnie stated. “I feel lots of people are going to have questions. The place is the guardian? The place is the oversight? How are these individuals capable of seep into her life and primarily simply management a girl?”
She hopes the venture will assist encourage change resulting in extra transparency in instances of guardianship and ship a message past her aunt’s struggles.
“I feel that this documentary will shine a lightweight on the whole subject material on the subject of guardianships and conservatorships,” Finnie stated. “I do actually hope that individuals stroll away seeing my aunt as a human being, feeling for her and praying and hoping that she’s going to return out higher than ever, but in addition with an understanding of the whole system that actually is operating her life proper now, not only for her, however for therefore many different individuals which might be additionally on the heart of it.”
In sharing Williams’ diagnoses, her care group stated they hope to boost consciousness, too.
“Sadly, many people recognized with aphasia and frontotemporal dementia face stigma and misunderstanding, significantly once they start to exhibit behavioral adjustments however haven’t but obtained a analysis,” the assertion from Williams’ care group learn partially. “Wendy continues to be capable of do many issues for herself. Most significantly she maintains her trademark humorousness and is receiving the care she requires to ensure she is protected and that her wants are addressed. She is appreciative of the various type ideas and good needs being despatched her approach.”