Wendy Williams Paid $82K For Lifetime Docuseries That “Shamelessly Exploited” TV Star, Says Guardian

Representatives for Wendy Williams filed an amended complaint accusing Lifetime parent company A+E Networks of making millions out of a special Williams lacked the mental or legal capacity to consent to. 

Williams’ legal team claimed the controversial Lifetime special “Where Is Wendy Williams?” which documented her deteriorating mental and physical state, “viciously and shamelessly exploited” the daytime television maven. The complaint demands that proceeds of the show be used to pay her medical bills for the remainder of Williams’ life, per People. 

Court documents state Wendy Williams was “highly vulnerable and clearly incapable of consenting to being filmed, much less humiliated and exploited.” 

The complaint continues, alleging Williams’ court-appointed Guardian, Sabrina Morrissey, discovered the defendant’s “true intentions” were to portray Willaims “in a highly demeaning and embarrassing manner.” Morrissey claims she “immediately sought to protect and to preserve her dignity.” However, the defendants fought to move ahead… without a valid contract and released without the Guardian’s consent.” 

The outlet notes court documents state Wendy Williams was only paid $82,000 for the special, reportedly Lifetime’s biggest nonfiction debut in two years. 

“Not surprisingly, the public reacted with disgust and revulsion at Defendants’ blatant and vicious exploitation of W.W.H,” the complaint states. “By willfully taking advantage of a severely impaired, incapacitated person, Defendants have made millions on W.W.H.’s back, while W.W.H. has received a paltry $82,000” from the documentary.” 

Additionally, the amended complaint notes Williams “tragically, suffers from dementia and, as a result, has become cognitively impaired, permanently disabled, and legally incapacitated.”  

The complaint further claims that docuseries took advantage of Williams, “deliberately” destroying her “credibility and image” for financial gain. It also alleges the special portrayed Williams as a “laughingstock and drunkard, implicitly responsible for her own continued suffering,” adding that Williams would have “never, ever consented” to some scenes in the documentary. 

 In February, Williams revealed she was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia and aphasia. She had previously revealed that she was battling Graves’ disease and lymphedema and was placed under court-ordered guardianship in 2022.