The first trailer for Lifetime's Wendy Williams documentary is really upsetting
The former talk show host has been absent from the public eye amid an ongoing struggle with alcohol abuse and Graves' disease
After an extended hiatus from both social media and the public eye, beloved gossip queen and former talk show host Wendy Williams returned to the internet today in the first trailer for her upcoming Lifetime documentary, Where Is Wendy Williams?. Williams’ eponymous talk show was canceled in 2022 amid growing concerns for the host’s physical and financial well-being, all of which resulted in her being placed under a guardianship by Wells Fargo the same year. Now, her family says they don’t even know exactly where she is.
“I have no money. I’m gonna tell you something. If it happened to me, it could happen to you,” Williams says from her iconic purple, plush chair in the documentary’s trailer. (Williams is credited as an executive producer on the film.) The preview goes on to show a number of—frankly pretty disturbing—clips of the commentator in various states of distress. In one, she breaks down in tears during a formal interview. In another, the camera finds her on the couch berating a family member for moving her liquor bottle, after he asks whether or not she had drunk the whole thing that day. It’s all pretty challenging to watch.
“My mom has done a great job making it seem like everything is okay always, but in reality, there is something wrong” Williams’ son, Kevin Hunter Jr., comments in the trailer. “My mom always talks about how she wants to work, but I think she’s worked enough. She has people around her who are ‘yes’ people that have allowed this to continue.”
“I think that the guardianship system is broken,” her sister, Wanda, weighs in. “We are her family, and you tell me that I’m not capable of taking care of my sister? What would you do?”
Williams also made an unexpected return to Instagram with a photo posted to the account for her long-rumored podcast, The Wendy Experience, which still has yet to materialize. (This past March, Williams’ publicist denied reports that the podcast had been canceled altogether.) In the photo, captioned “Welcome Everyone…,” Williams poses in a gray dress next to a tall bookcase. The setup for this shot can also be seen in the trailer above.
Audiences will finally be able to see Williams’ side of the story when the documentary premieres in two parts on February 24 and 25 at 8 p.m. ET on Lifetime.