Wendy Williams admitted to downing an entire bottle of vodka in the first part of a disturbing new documentary that saw a film crew follow the former talk show host for the best part of a year.
On Thursday, it was revealed how the 59-year-old had been diagnosed with primary progressive aphasia and frontotemporal dementia only days before the four hour Lifetime documentary aired.
But on Saturday night the formal diagnosis by doctors went some way in explaining Wiliiams’ often irrational and erratic behavior that saw her sleeping the day away in bed, before lashing out at staff and family members over the slightest transgression.
The documentary lurched from one confrontation to the next as Williams’ workers including her manager, personal assistant and driver, alongside members of her own family were verbally berated and belittled by the once popular television personality.
At times, it was all too much for Williams who would either ramble incoherently before breaking down in tears when she had a moment of self-awareness and perhaps, a moment of realization, that she may never grace American television screens in quite the same way ever again.
Wendy’s team announced on Thursday that the former talk show host has been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia (FTD) as well as aphasia
Williams manager quizzes her as to whether she has drunk an entire bottle of vodka in a day
Williams, 59, admitted to consuming an entire bottle of vodka
Williams’ manager, Will Selby, admits that getting to stop Williams drinking is an uphill battle
Either way, it is clear something is very wrong.
In one of the more shocking incidents of the documentary, which details her struggles with alcohol abuse and mental health in recent years, Williams is confronted by her manager Will Selby, who asks why she has an almost entirely empty bottle of vodka in her bedroom.
‘So, did you eat something, or did you have a liquid lunch? Because I came into your room, and all of a sudden, out of nowhere, I happen to notice one of your specialty items. Did you drink this whole thing today?’ Selby asks.
‘Yes’, Williams replies before quickly saying ‘no’.
‘I don’t know if you need this right now’, Selby continues self-assuredly.
‘I’m not drunk!’, Williams protests.
‘I never said you was drunk, but I just don’t know if this is a good idea,’ Selby continues. ‘So, you think you’re perfectly fine having as many drinks as you want?’
‘Perfectly’, Williams retorts bluntly. ‘F**k you!’
‘I’m just gonna put it downstairs to keep it cool’, Selby suggests.
‘Keep it there!’ Williams demands, ensuring she has visual sight of the alcohol.
‘I don’t know how much alcohol she consumes, but I threw the damn liquor away. And I’m just gonna be honest with you. I don’t know if it’s gonna stop her’, Selby tells the camera directly following the encounter.
‘I never feel powerless, but I do feel like I just need help because I can’t do this alone. I would be lying to you if I would think that I could conquer alcoholism alone.’
Williams is then asked point blank if she plans to stop drinking.
‘No’, Williams responds. ‘Will [Selby] drinks. We all drink. Why can’t I?’ she says, justifying her position.
The film shows Williams at what should have been the ideal opportunity for a career revival as she prepared to launch a podcast shortly after the cancellation of The Wendy Williams Show which ran from 2008 until 2022.
Instead, the film serves to capture her struggles with alcohol abuse, together with her ever-increasing cognitive difficulties and sheer confusion of the world around her.
Williams appears virtually unable to answer the producers’ repetitive questions and is often reduced to tears as the topics of alcohol abuse and her financial worries keep returning.
The film highlights Williams’ erratic behavior couples with family concerns and legal interventions including the appointment of a financial guardian
Williams’ son Kevin Hunter Jr. was accused of charging $100K to her AmEx, but he claimed it was all approved by her
Her Wells Fargo accounts were frozen in 2022, and the bank petitioned successfully to have her put under a guardianship to avoid her being exploited
Later in the documentary, some of Williams’ family members appeared including her nephew Travis Finnie and 23-year-old son, Kevin Hunter Jr.
In May of 2022 the New York State court system appointed an independent guardian to manage Williams’ finances.
The guardianship started when Williams’ bank Wells Fargo froze her accounts after her financial adviser at the time allegedly raised concerns that she was of ‘unsound mind,’ according to Williams’ subsequent court filings.
Wells Fargo then petitioned a New York court to have the talk show host put under a guardianship, which a judge approved later in January 2022.
At the time, the bank claimed it feared that Williams’ ‘cognitive issues’ put her at risk of being exploited financially.
Her son, Kevin, was accused of charging $100,000 to her American Express card, but he defended himself and in the documentary clarified that he had never spent a penny without his mother’s consent.
‘Do you think your mother should have a guardian?’ the show’s producer asks Hunter Jr.
‘I think that my mother should have family. The family’s side of the story hasn’t been told, so it’s kind of left this gray space of who’s really telling the truth or what’s really going on. I’ve always wanted the best for my mom. You know, I just stay strong,’ Hunter Jr. stated.
‘No matter how many times somebody may fall down, you got to lift them back up, but I feel like that the situation that she’s in right now isn’t really the best situation for her journey of trying to heal.’
In another bizarre moment, Williams, who turns 60 in July, can be seen admiring her slim figure in a bedroom mirror.
‘Oh, my God! All I was doing was saying, oh, my God, how sexy I look. Look, a thigh gap. Look, even when I do this, you see a thigh gap? And I have tears .In a good way. I love my family.’
In a bizarre moment, Williams, who turns 60 in July, can be seen admiring her figure in a mirror
Williams appears excited that she has a ‘thigh gap’ between her legs
At one point, Williams instructs the show’s producer to leave her bedroom after becoming upset by his line of questioning
Williams can be seen breaking down several times throughout the documentary
Williams is then asked whether she is still supporting her son – but the question sends her spiraling into a place of emotional turmoil.
‘First of all, asking, ‘Do I support’ – Is the wrong word. Who the f**k Are you?’ Williams asks the documentary producer as she breaks down in tears.
‘I didn’t mean to upset you,’ the filmmaker says apologetically.
‘Leave me alone. Go away!’ Williams orders. ‘This is my third time crying. And I cried the other day, and I’m not a crier. I’ve got so much money. I want it for my son,’ Williams says through tears.
During the second hour of the documentary, Williams is seen being taken on a tour of her old stomping ground close to the Chelsea television studios that was her home for 13 years.
Williams appears utterly confused as she instructs her driver to keep on driving around the block as they pass the studios twice where Sherri Shepherd has now taken her place.
Jammail has been Williams’ driver for just over a year but has noticed a change in behavior
Williams rants and rambles to the camera at several points in the documentary
Williams sends her assistance, Shawn, into a smoke shop to fetch her a vape pen
Williams appears unhappy at the choice of vape pen she receives and tosses it to her assistant
Williams appears utterly confused as she instructs her driver to keep on driving around the block as they pass the studios where Sherri Shepherd has now taken her place
Eventually, Williams and her team have to simply return home to her apartment
Williams then instructs her driver to pull over at a smoke shop she knows in order for her assistant to buy her a vape pen.
‘I don’t see my spot. Uh, this doesn’t look like anything familiar when I’m going to ‘The Wendy Williams Show.’ Why did it take so long?’
There follows a discussion of several minutes as members of her team discuss with Williams whether they have purchased the correct vape pen for her.
All the while, Williams appears to becoming more and more erratic and agitated before eventually filming is stopped completely.
‘She had a beautiful personality. Now it’s just like, I don’t know what the hell’s going on,’ her driver Jammail tells the camera, caught up in Williams emotional whirlwind.
‘I don’t know what she’s going through, but it’s getting very intense, whatever she’s going through, I think she’s losing her memory. Like, she just blanks out.
‘You’ll talk to her, she’ll blank out. Sometimes she doesn’t even realize who I am. I’ve picked her up many times, and she’s like, ‘Hey, who are you again?’ Dealing with something like that is very hard. You know, on a daily basis to be around Wendy, that-that needs to be a super paycheck.’
Williams appears to becoming more and more erratic and distressed before eventually filming is stopped
On Friday, Williams broke her silence for the first time after her recent health diagnoses was revealed.
‘I want to say I have immense gratitude for the love and kind words I have received after sharing my diagnosis of Aphasia and Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD). Let me say, wow! Your response has been overwhelming,’ she shared in a statement
Wendy ended her statement writing, ‘I continue to need personal space and peace to thrive. Please just know that your positivity and encouragement are deeply appreciated.’
The statement noted that Williams had been diagnosed back in 2023. The talk show host has reportedly been living in a treatment facility since April 2023.
Her team also revealed that her health struggles ‘have already presented significant hurdles in Wendy’s life’ and have behavioral and cognitive impacts, according to their statement.
The two-part documentary filmed Williams from August 2022 until April 2023, when Williams entered the treatment facility where she remains to this day.
