Wendy Williams’ Guardian Files Lawsuit Against Lifetime

Wendy Williams - YouTube, Lifetime

The Lifetime documentary following Wendy Williams and her life under her guardianship premieres this weekend. Ahead of its debut, Wendy’s guardian has filed a lawsuit against Lifetime’s parent company, A&E Television Networks, in an attempt to stop the airing of the upcoming docuseries. Keep reading to learn more about the lawsuit and what it means for the weekend television event.

Guardian Files To Halt The Release Of Lifetime Documentary

TMZ revealed the guardian’s name to be Sabrina Morrissey. Morrissey filed the suit under seal on Thursday, just two days before the documentary is supposed to air on Lifetime.  She has said that she is filing the lawsuit in her capacity as guardian of W.W.H., which is assumed to be Wendy Williams Hunter.

With the suit being under seal, the public can’t view what the reasoning behind the filing is. Documents obtained by TMZ indicate that there is some type of connection between the suit and the upcoming two-part docuseries Where Is Wendy Williams? It is known that Sabrina Morrissey is seeking a temporary restraining order. Generally, this is used to stop the release of a movie or TV project, such as the upcoming Lifetime documentary.

Wendy Williams - YouTube, Lifetime

Image: YouTube/Lifetime

Because the release date is this weekend, it is fairly safe to assume that is what the lawsuit is seeking to do. It is impossible to know for sure because the documents are still under seal. There is a hearing date next week where a judge will determine whether or not the docs will remain under seal or not.

The lawsuit likely came as a surprise to many people at Lifetime and A&E. Mark Ford, the executive producer for Where Is Wendy Williams?, said that the former talk show host’s attorneys were consulted before the project moved forward.

“The film was signed off on by Wendy, her management, her attorneys, the guardianship,” he told People. “They were aware of the filming all the way through. So, we did go by the book and get all the permissions that we needed to get. We went into this film thinking it was one thing, and the truth turned out to be another. Once we started seeing the truth of the situation, we couldn’t ignore it. And the film had to go in the direction of the truth.”

Wendy Williams’ Sister: ‘How Did We Get Here?’

When the documentary was meant to follow Wendy Williams’ comeback. At the time, she was preparing to launch her own podcast. However, it quickly turned into something else entirely. The crew began to capture a Wendy Williams that no one had ever seen before.

They caught emotional moments documenting Wendy’s struggle with Graves disease and lymphedema as well as tough times while she was in the middle of alcohol addiction. The filming came to an end in April 2023 when she was admitted into an assisted living facility due to “cognitive issues.”

Wendy Williams - YouTube, Entertainment Tonight

Image: YouTube/Entertainment Tonight

Her son, Kevin Hunter, shared that he was given a diagnosis by her doctors at the time. Essentially, they believed that she had alcohol-induced dementia.

Yesterday, Wendy Williams’ medical care team publicly announced what her official diagnosis is. She has primary progressive aphasia and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Wendy Williams remains in the assisted living facility and, according to her family, her guardian is the only person with unlimited access to her.

“The people who love her cannot see her,” Wendy’s sister Wanda said about the situation. “I think the big [question] is: How the hell did we get here?”

Where Is Wendy Williams? is slated to debut on Lifetime on February 24 at 8 p.m. EST.

Amanda Blankenship

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