Former daytime talk show host Wendy Williams signed a contract to take part in a docuseries that critics have called exploitative without her financial guardian present, a legal filing NBC News obtained Tuesday alleges.
Williams was impaired — but had not yet been diagnosed with a neurological condition that affects her ability to communicate and understand others — when she agreed in November 2022 to take part in a two-part Lifetime docuseries, the guardian, Sabrina Morrissey, said in court documents filed Feb. 21 in New York State Supreme Court and unsealed Thursday. The docuseries aired in two parts on Feb. 24 and 25.
“She was not, and is not, capable for consenting to the terms of the documentary Contract,” the papers state. “And no one acting in [Williams’] best interest would allow her to be portrayed in the demeaning manner in which she is portrayed in the Trailer for the documentary.”
Even though Williams is listed as the executive producer of “Where is Wendy Williams?” Morrissey asked the court to declare the contract null and void and bar A&E Television Networks and Entertainment One Reality Productions from “releasing the documentary and any associated footage.”
The day the court documents were filed, Williams’ management team announced in a statement that she was in a treatment facility, diagnosed with primary progressive aphasia and frontotemporal dementia, the debilitating ailment that actor Bruce Willis was diagnosed with in 2022.
It was all for naught.
Citing the First Amendment, a judge on Feb. 23 dismissed Morrissey’s request for a restraining order to block the show from airing but did not dismiss her lawsuit.
Morrissey said in the court papers that Williams was depicted in a “demeaning and undignified manner.” The two-part docuseries sparked outrage from Williams’ friends and fans.
Morrissey, whom a New York state judge appointed as Williams’ guardian in February 2022, is still suing A&E.
In her lawsuit, which was first obtained by NBC News and had been sealed to protect Williams’ privacy, Morrissey said the contract was signed in November 2022 by “the “CEO” of The Wendy Experience, Inc.” It’s unclear who the CEO of this company, formed in June 2022, is, and Morrissey said that while the company was formed after she was appointed guardian, she did not authorize its creation.
In addition, Morrissey calls the CEO signature into question in the court papers, saying, “The name in the signature is not clearly legible; however, it is highly distinguishable from [Williams’] signature.”
In a statement to NBC News on Thursday evening, A&E said, “We look forward to the unsealing of our papers as well, as they tell a very different story.”
The production company behind the project, Entertainment One Reality Productions LLC., did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The guardian was aware that a film crew was working with Williams on a comeback project and that there had been a couple of days of filming, but she was not aware Williams had signed a contract, a source close to the matter said.
Morrissey said in the court documents that Williams’ manager, William Selby, said he would have “final creative control” over the documentary and that she allowed the project to go forward “with the understanding that nothing would be released without review and final approval of the Guardian and the court.”
Selby declined a request for comment.
Earlier, in an interview with TODAY.com, the filmmakers said they were not aware of Williams’ diagnosis during production, though they acknowledged: “Some days, Wendy was on and very Wendy. Other days, she wasn’t.”
They moved forward with the project because, according to showrunner Erica Hanson, “[w]e all felt this was a complex and sensitive story to tell, and we all felt a great responsibility to do it with dignity and sensitivity.”
Morrissey said “Where is Wendy Williams?” was anything but dignified or sensitive.
In the court filing, Morrissey called the docuseries “humiliating” and “demeaning” and charged that it is “unconscionably exploiting [Williams’] condition, and perhaps even disclosing her personal and private medical diagnosis, for perceived ‘entertainment value’ and the prurient interest of television viewers.”
“This blatant exploitation of a vulnerable woman with a serious medical condition who is beloved by millions within and outside the African American community is disgusting and it cannot be allowed,” the filing says.
In an interview last month, Williams’ publicist, Shawn Zanotti, slammed the producers of the docuseries.
“I did not agree with what was going on with this documentary,” Zanotti said. “I made it very clear to the guardian. The production company was aware of that.”
Zanotti said she “didn’t agree with the way this was moving and shaking.”
“And instead of them dealing with me, they decided to ignore me,” she said. “They ignored me from that moment, and I never heard from them again.”
Williams, 59, hosted the “The Wendy Williams Show” from 2008 to 2021, performing well in ratings. In its 10th season, the show averaged more than 1.6 million viewers a day, Deadline reported.
Speculation about Williams’ health began in 2017, after she fainted live on the air.
Williams has been open with her audience about her struggles with addiction. In 2019 she told viewers that she was living in a sober house and that she had sought treatment for drug use.
Months later, Williams revealed she was taking time off because of Graves’ disease, which is an autoimmune disorder.
Williams was also absent from her show in 2021 and 2022 because of health reasons, Variety reported. Sherri Shepherd took over the time slot in 2022, before “The Wendy Williams Show” was eventually canceled.
It was while Williams was off the air that her bank, Wells Fargo, petitioned to have her placed under a financial guardianship, claiming she was “incapacitated” and “a victim of undue influence and financial exploitation,” claims Williams pushed back against.