Wendy Williams' parent has slammed Lifetime's parent company, saying the company allegedly took advantage of a “severely disabled individual” and reportedly paid the former talk show host just $82,000 for a controversial documentary about her.
On Monday, Sept. 16, Williams’ guardian, Sabrina Morrissey, filed a lawsuit in New York Supreme Court, seven months after the premiere of Lifetime’s documentary “Where is Wendy Williams?”
The complaint is against Lifetime's parent company, A&E Television Networks, Lifetime Entertainment Services, eOne Productions, Creature Films and its executive producer Mark Ford.
In court documents obtained by The Post, the 75-page complaint alleges that Williams was “extremely vulnerable and clearly incapable of consenting to being filmed, let alone humiliated and exploited.”
The documents also claim that the “true intent” of the documentary was to portray Williams “in a highly derogatory and shameful manner.”
aired on 24 and 25 February, after Morrissey's “Where is Wendy Williams?” Tried to stop the premiere date in court,
One scene in the documentary shows the 60-year-old Williams driving around her hometown of Asbury Park, New Jersey, and pointing to her childhood street, but a stranger tells her that street is on a different street.
Another scene showed Williams yelling at his driver and former publicist to buy him a vape pen. When they arrived at his usual smoke shop, a confused Williams stormed out in anger.
Shortly before the series premiere, Williams' family told PEOPLE that the former talk show host — who was placed under financial conservatorship in May 2022 after her bank, Wells Fargo, claimed she was “incompetent” — is in a care facility. Her loved ones also claimed they can only speak to her when she calls them.
“Of course, if we had known Wendy had dementia, no one would have turned on the camera,” said Ford told the Hollywood Reporter Those days.
The court documents allege that Morrissey “immediately sought to protect and preserve (Williams') dignity. But (A&E) fought back and proceeded without a valid contract and was released without (Morrissey's) consent.”
Williams, who hosted “The Wendy Williams Show” from 2008 to 2022, has been living under a legal court-ordered conservatorship since May 2022. It oversees her finances and health.
In February 2023, Williams' team revealed that he had been diagnosed with primary aggressive aphasia and frontotemporal dementia the previous year.
Aphasia affects language and communication abilities, while frontotemporal dementia affects behavior and cognitive functions.
Hollywood superstar Bruce Willis also suffers from similar medical issues. He retired from acting in 2022 due to his aphasia and was diagnosed with FTD in 2023.
Williams' care team released a statement in February 2024, explaining, “As Wendy's fans know, in the past she has been open with the public about her medical struggles with Graves' disease and lymphedema, as well as other significant challenges related to her health.”
“Over the past few years, questions have been raised multiple times about Wendy's ability to process information and many people have speculated about Wendy's condition, particularly when she became unable to speak, behaved erratically at times, and had difficulty understanding financial transactions,” the statement further said.
In the suit, filed Sept. 16, Morrissey and civil rights attorney Roberta Kaplan claim the network and the defendants took advantage of Williams and should pay for his medical care and supervision for the rest of his life.
The complaint alleges that the documentary “cruelly exploited” Williams, and states, “By knowingly taking advantage of a severely disabled, incapacitated individual, Defendants have made (Williams) millions while (Williams) has received a mere $82,000.”
The complaint states that the case stems from “the cruelly calculated, deliberate actions of powerful and cowardly opportunistic media companies that, in collusion with a producer, knowingly exploited (Williams), an acclaimed African-American entertainer who unfortunately suffers from dementia and, as a result, has become cognitively impaired, permanently disabled, and legally incompetent.”
It further claims that the network was “eager to sensationalize and profit” from Williams' “cognitive and physical decline” and exploited the former talk show host “for its own financial gain in the cruelest, most obscene manner that truly shocks the conscience.”
The Post has contacted A&E for comment.
