Wendy Williams

Wendy Williams HunterTemplate:Efn-la (Template:Nee; born July 18, 1964) is an American former talk-show host, media personality and author. Williams began her career as a radio DJ and quickly became known as a shock jock in New York City. She gained notoriety for her confrontational interviews of celebrities. The VH1 reality series The Wendy Williams Experience broadcast events surrounding her radio show in 2006. From 2008 to 2021, she hosted the nationally syndicated television talk show The Wendy Williams Show.

Williams was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 2009. On her 50th birthday, the council of Asbury Park, New Jersey, renamed the street on which she grew up to Wendy Williams Way. Due to health complications, Williams retired in 2021. She was placed under a guardianship one year later and was diagnosed with aphasia and frontotemporal dementia in 2023.<ref name=":5">Template:Cite press release</ref> A neurologist challenged Williams’ dementia diagnosis in 2025 after the findings of a court-ordered medical evaluation were released.<ref name=":6">Template:Cite web</ref>

Williams's other endeavors include authoring several books, appearances in various films and television shows and touring her comedy show.<ref name=":0" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She has also created a fashion line, a wig line and a jewelry collection.Template:TOC Limit

Early life

Wendy Joan Williams was born on July 18, 1964, in Asbury Park, New Jersey.<ref name="Newsmakers"/> She is the second of three children born to Shirley (Template:Nee) and Thomas Dwayne Williams.<ref name="APP 1988"/> The couple had a combined three master's degrees;<ref name="Fishman">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Shirley was a special education teacher while Thomas was a teacher and school principal who in 1969 became the first black school administrator in Red Bank, New Jersey.<ref name="APP 1988">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=":1">Template:Cite news</ref> Following race riots in Asbury Park in 1970, the family moved to the predominantly white, middle income suburb of Wayside in Ocean Township, New Jersey.<ref name="Fishman"/><ref name="Schulman">Template:Cite magazine</ref> They attended a Baptist church<ref name=":2">Williams and Hunter, p. 114</ref> and visited the town of Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts, each summer.<ref name="Trebay 2009">Template:Cite magazine</ref> As a child, doctors recommended Williams be medicated to control her hyperactivity.<ref name="Hunter-Hodge 1993">Template:Cite news</ref> She suffered from poor body image due to the diet her parents put her on after gaining weight in elementary school.<ref name="Schulman"/> Williams was a Brownie in the Girl Scouts and volunteered as a candy striper.<ref name="Trebay 2009"/> Her parents believed she would become a nurse.<ref name="Schulman"/>

File:Wendy Williams 1980.png

Williams as a sophomore in Ocean Township High School's 1980 yearbook

Williams acted as an announcer at her younger brother's Little League Baseball games.<ref name="Fishman"/> She graduated from Ocean Township High School in 1982 among four black students, ranking 360th in the class of 363.<ref name="Newsmakers"/><ref name="Schulman"/> Her academic performance contrasted with that of her older sister, who received a university scholarship at the age of 16.<ref name="Strauss"/> As she was able to use "white" diction instead of African-American Vernacular English, Williams's white classmates considered her one of their own and freely used the word nigger around her.<ref name="Schulman"/><ref name=":3">Template:Cite book</ref> She did not get along with the other black students and said their only commonality was smoking cannabis.<ref name="Fishman"/><ref name="Schulman"/> According to Williams, she did not listen to hip hop music and instead listened to rock bands like AC/DC because they were popular with her classmates.<ref name="Hunter-Hodge 1993"/> Due to her suburban upbringing, Williams considers herself "a multicultural woman who happens to be Black".<ref name="Strauss"/>

Williams attended Northeastern University in Boston with the intent of becoming a television anchor.<ref name="Current Biography">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="LLoyd 1989">Template:Cite news</ref> Less than a month after starting, she switched from television communications to radio because she could advance her career faster<ref name="LLoyd 1989"/>—a move which her parents disapproved.<ref name="Strauss">Template:Cite news</ref> Williams graduated in 1986 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in communication and, to appease her parents, a minor in journalism.<ref name="Current Biography"/><ref name="B&C 2012">Template:Cite magazine</ref> She was a disc jockey for the college radio station, WRBB, where rapper LL Cool J was her first celebrity interviewee. As an intern for Matt Siegel at contemporary hit radio station WXKS-FM, Williams recapped the soap operas Dallas and Dynasty on air.<ref name="Newsmakers"/><ref name="Schulman"/> In 2021, Williams revealed that she was date raped while in college.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Media career

1986–1994: Career beginnings, WQHT, and WRKS

Two weeks after graduating from Northeastern, Williams began her career as a disc jockey working for the small, calypso and reggae-oriented WVIS in Frederiksted, U.S. Virgin Islands,<ref name="Current Biography"/><ref name="CBB">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="Stanley 2009">Template:Cite book</ref> but disliked the role because she did not learn as much about radio from her colleagues as she expected.<ref name="LLoyd 1989"/> Due to low pay and isolation from her family, Williams began sending resumes and demo tapes of herself to other radio stations.<ref name="Current Biography"/><ref name="LLoyd 1989"/> She left WVIS after eight months and obtained a position at Washington, D.C.'s WOL, but found its oldies radio format incompatible with her personality.<ref name="LLoyd 1989"/><ref name="Stanley 2009"/> Williams continued sending tapes to other stations and on November 1, 1987, began as a weekend fill-in on New York City's WQHT.<ref name="LLoyd 1989"/> After the urban contemporary station hired her full-time to work overnight shifts, she left WOL.<ref name="Newsmakers"/><ref name="LLoyd 1989"/>

Williams was fired from WQHT after two years<ref name="Collins 1993">Template:Cite news</ref> and briefly worked overnight shifts at WPLJ before being hired by WRKS.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Initially working as a fill-in, WRKS gave Williams a non-compete clause and permanent morning position in May 1990 after WBLS began poaching its employees.<ref name="CBB"/><ref name="Billboard 1990">Template:Cite magazine</ref> She joined Jeff Foxx and Spider Webb as part of the station's "Wake-Up Club".<ref name="Schulman"/><ref name="Billboard 1990"/> There, Williams began gossiping about rappers and celebrities during a segment called "Dish the Dirt". Those she talked about, such as Bill Cosby and Russell Simmons, called the station and (unsuccessfully) demanded she be fired.<ref name="Schulman"/> As she grew into a popular radio personality, WRKS moved Williams to host the evening drive time slot in April 1991.<ref name="Schulman"/><ref name="Billboard 1991">Template:Cite magazine</ref> By 1993, she was the highest-rated host in her time slot in the New York City market<ref name="Hunter-Hodge 1993"/><ref name="Collins 1993"/> and received a Billboard Radio Award for R&B Major Market Radio Air Personality of the Year.<ref name="Billboard 1993">Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Williams co-hosted American Urban Radio Networks' syndicated Top 30 USA song countdown program in 1993 and USA Music Magazine in 1994.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> By mid-1994, WRKS had suffered a ratings decline amid competition from hip hop-oriented WQHT, which was owned by Emmis Broadcasting. In an effort to reverse the trend, WRKS moved Williams back to mornings on September 26, 1994, where she hosted a program titled "Wendy and Company".<ref name=":4">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Collins 1994">Template:Cite news</ref> However, Emmis purchased WRKS less than three months later and transferred Williams to WQHT, where she began hosting the evening drive time slot on December 12, 1994. As WRKS was reformatted into an urban adult contemporary outlet geared toward older audiences, they believed Williams would better reflect WQHT's younger demographic.<ref name="Collins 1994"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

1994–2001: WQHT, website, move to WUSL

By this time, Williams attended parties to gain information which she would report on air in addition to reading tabloid newspapers.<ref name="Schulman"/> She continued gossip segments and gave relationship advice to teenage girls during "Ask Wendy". Williams's ratings increased dramatically after she read aloud a magazine article about an anonymous rapper confessing to being gay.<ref name="Moore"/> She became known for speculating about his identity<ref name="Schulman"/> and spread rumors that there was not one, but multiple gay rappers who were not open about their sexuality.<ref name="Smalls">Template:Cite book</ref> Among her insinuations was that Tupac Shakur was raped in prison, which he denied.<ref name="Schulman"/><ref name="Williams">Template:Cite news</ref> Williams employed the term "pinky's up" when alleging someone was gay and regularly used the slur faggot, which she considered to be inoffensive.<ref name="Moore"/> Her comments contributed to an increase of homophobia in hip hop culture.<ref name="Smalls"/>

Williams created a website, www.gowendy.com, as an offshoot of her radio program. Featuring photos and rumors of celebrities, it received up to 100,000 views per day.<ref name="Moore"/> In April 1997, WQHT suspended Williams for one week after mentioning her website on air, which displayed a doctored image of Bad Boy Records executive Sean Combs naked from the waist down having sex with another man.<ref name="Moore"/><ref name="Williams"/><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> The station suspended Williams again in September 1997 for online comments insinuating that her colleague Angie Martinez's boyfriend Q-Tip was gay.<ref name="Schulman"/><ref name="Moore"/> Upon her return after deleting the post a month later, Williams called the Bad Boy Records girl group Total "broke hoes" after their comments favoring her suspension. WQHT permanently removed Williams, and her fans protested outside of their offices. By this time, Williams had received more than 50 letters from the station regarding her "lack of good judgment". She speculated her removal was due to pressure from music industry executives and stood by her comments, stating: "I stopped caring about artists when I realized it's more lucrative to talk about them than with them."<ref name="Moore">Template:Cite news</ref>

She was fired from Hot 97 in 1998.<ref name="Fishman"/> Williams was hired by a Philadelphia urban station, WUSL ("Power 99FM"). She was very open about her personal life on air, discussing her miscarriages, breast enhancement surgery,<ref name="Fishman"/> and former drug addiction.<ref name="vibe2003">Template:Cite webTemplate:Dead link</ref> She helped the station move from 14th place in the ratings to 2nd.<ref name="Fishman"/>

2001–2008: WBLS

In 2001, Williams returned to the New York airwaves when WBLS hired her full-time for a syndicated 2–6 p.m. time slot. Williams' friend, MC Spice of Boston, offered his voiceover services to the show, often adding short rap verses tailored specifically for Williams' show. The New York Times stated that her "show works best when its elements – confessional paired with snarkiness – are conflated".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> By 2008, she was syndicated in Redondo Beach, California; Shreveport, Louisiana; Wilmington, Delaware; Toledo, Ohio; Columbia, South Carolina; Emporia, Virginia; Lake Charles, Louisiana; Tyler, Texas; and Alexandria, Louisiana, among other markets.Template:Citation needed Williams left her radio show in 2009 to focus on her television program and spend more time with her family.

Media outlets have described Williams's 2003 interview with Whitney Houston as her most infamous. After Williams asked Houston about her marriage and breast implants, they began a shouting match and Houston said she would have fought Williams if she were younger.<ref name="Trebay 2009"/><ref name="Wood 2009">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Strauss"/> In a later interview with Williams, Houston's confidant Robyn Crawford said they planned to confront Williams years earlier after she talked about Houston and her relationship with Crawford on air.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Wu-Tang Clan performer Method Man had a personal and publicized conflict with Williams in 2006 after she revealed details about his wife's cancer diagnosis.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

2008–2016: Breakthrough with The Wendy Williams Show

In 2008, Debmar-Mercury offered Williams a six-week television trial of her own talk show. A syndicated daytime talk show hosted by Williams titled Wendy's World was poised to debut in fall 1997, but never aired.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> On July 14, 2008, Williams debuted her daytime talk show, The Wendy Williams Show, in four cities during the summer of 2008. During the tryout, The New York Times remarked that the show created a "breakthrough in daytime" by introducing the genre of the "backtalk show".<ref name="Stanley2008">Template:Cite news</ref> After a successful run, Fox signed a deal with Debmar-Mercury to broadcast the show nationally on their stations beginning in July 2009. In addition, BET picked up cable rights to broadcast the show at night. In 2010, BET started airing the show internationally in 54 countries through BET International.<ref>*Template:Cite news

• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite news</ref> The show attracted 2.4 million daily viewers on average, with Williams trading off daily with Ellen DeGeneres as the number one female host on daytime television.<ref name="Bloomberg">Template:Cite news</ref>

File:Wendy Williams 2011.png

Williams on The Wendy Williams Show in 2011

Williams hosted a game show for GSN called Love Triangle (2011) for which she and her husband Kevin Hunter served as executive producers.<ref>"GSN Signs acclaimed television personality Wendy Williams to host new original series 'Love Triangle,' premiering April 18, 2011", GSN. Template:Webarchive</ref> Williams played a judge on the Lifetime network show Drop Dead Diva (2011) and served as a guest judge on The Face (2013).<ref name="Eur Web #2">Template:Cite web</ref> Williams was paired with Tony Dovolani as a contestant on the twelfth season of Dancing with the Stars; she was eliminated second. Williams later alleged the show's producers portrayed her as an angry black woman, a racial stereotype.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Williams appeared in the film adaptation of Steve Harvey's book, Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man, titled Think Like a Man (2012), and its sequel, Think Like a Man Too (2014). In 2012, it was announced Williams would enter into a "production alliance" with producers Suzanne de Passe and Madison Jones to create movies and television shows aimed at multicultural audiences.<ref name="News One">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Hollywood Reporter">Template:Cite news</ref> These projects will appear under the heading "Wendy Williams presents"<ref name="Hollywood Reporter" /> and their first project will be VH1 adaptation of a Star Jones novel.<ref name="News One" />

In February 2013, it was announced that Williams and her husband and manager, Kevin, were launching a reality television production company, Wendy Williams Productions.<ref name="Clutch Magazine">Template:Cite web</ref> that will produce unscripted content, including reality television and game shows.<ref name="Variety">Template:Cite news</ref> Williams was an executive producer on the show Celebrities Undercover (2014).<ref name="Eur Web #2"/> Williams also executive produced a biographical film for Lifetime, Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B, which premiered on November 15, 2014.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> The film attracted controversy due to its casting and depiction of Aaliyah's relationship with R. Kelly.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and received predominantly negative reviews from critics.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In September 2015, the documentary series Death By Gossip with Wendy Williams premiered on the Investigation Discovery channel, both hosted and produced by Williams.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2013, Williams was cast to play the role of Matron "Mama" Morton on the Broadway musical Chicago.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> She began her tenure on July 2<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and finished her seven-week run on August 11, 2013. Her preparations for the musical were documented in the TV Guide docuseries Wendy Williams: How You Doin', Broadway?!,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> which was produced by her own production company, Wendy Williams Productions.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Williams was accused of victim blaming singer Kesha in 2016 after questioning why she did not film the alleged sexual abuse by record producer Dr. Luke against her.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Williams later apologized for the remarks and stated "unfortunately a lot of people lie about rape so I was just being skeptical".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

2017–2021: Personal and professional issues, end of talk show

File:Wendy Wiliams 2019 WBLS Interview.png

Williams in 2019

Williams's health issues caused her to take multiple hiatuses from hosting her show, including three weeks in 2018 and six weeks in 2019.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

During this time, Williams received criticism for several remarks she made on her show. In January 2018, Williams was criticized by activist Tarana Burke after saying an alleged 14-year-old sexual assault victim of R. Kelly gave him consent and that she was tired of the #MeToo movement.<ref name="Butler August 2018">Template:Cite news</ref> Williams stood by her comments, saying "I feel like I know things about R. Kelly that he's told me himself that I promised I would keep in confidence."<ref name="Butler August 2018"/> While talking about actor Joaquin Phoenix in January 2020, Williams used her finger to pull up a part of her lip to resemble a cleft palate, which Phoenix denies having. Although Williams said she found it attractive, critics claimed that it appeared as if she was mocking him. After a Change.org petition in favor of firing her garnered over 70,000 signatures, Williams apologized on Twitter and her show donated to cleft palate charities.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The following month, Williams was criticized for making homophobic comments. While talking about the fictional holiday "Galentine's Day", she criticized gay men for wearing skirts and high heels and falsely assumed they aspire to be women. Williams later apologized for her remarks.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> While talking about the murder of Amie Harwick shortly thereafter, Williams made a joke referring to Harwick's ex-fiancé Drew Carey and his job on The Price Is Right, saying that show's catchphrase, "Come on down!", in response to news that Harwick was thrown to her death.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Williams hosted her show remotely from March to May 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, after which she took a hiatus due to fatigue caused by Graves' disease. She returned to a studio broadcast in September of that year.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> The next month, Williams competed in season four of The Masked Singer as "Lips" where she was mostly sitting on something due to the weight of the costume and was eliminated after her first appearance.<ref name="Masked Singer">Template:Cite magazine</ref>

In July 2021, Williams received criticism for her tone while covering the murder of 19-year-old TikTok star Swavy. After comparing their social media followers, Williams said, "I have no idea who this is", and casually informed her studio audience of his death.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Williams did not return to her show after that month due to health issues; guests hosted in her absence.<ref name="Porter">Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name="Elber">Template:Cite news</ref> She tested positive for a breakthrough infection of COVID-19 in September 2021.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Production of The Wendy Williams Show concluded in 2022 due to Williams's ongoing health issues.<ref name="Elber"/>

Other ventures

File:Wendy Williams 2018 WBLS Interview 4.png

Williams in 2018

Authorship

Williams is the author of three non-fiction books. She released an autobiography co-written with New York Daily News journalist Karen Hunter in August 2003 titled Wendy's Got the Heat. It focuses on her life, including childhood troubles, drug addiction, and marriages.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Published by Atria, it debuted at number nine on The New York Times Best Seller list for nonfiction.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The autobiography was reprinted in paperback in August 2004,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> a month before the debut of Williams' second book, The Wendy Williams Experience, which contains celebrity gossip and interviews.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In May 2013, Williams released an advice book, Ask Wendy.<ref name="Marr">Template:Cite news</ref> Over the years, Williams wrote columns for Honey and Life & Style magazines.<ref name="Marr"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Williams has also written several fiction books, including a trilogy about the life and career of radio shock jock Ritz Harper. She co-authored the first two novels, Drama Is Her Middle Name (2006) and Is the Bitch Dead, or What? (2007), with Hunter.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Zondra Hughes co-wrote the third installment Ritz Harper Goes to Hollywood! (2009).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Booker 2009">Template:Cite news</ref> Media outlets considered Ritz Harper similar to Williams.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2014, Williams released a romance novel, Hold Me in Contempt.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> She said it was co-authored with an English professor ghostwriter.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Music and comedy

Williams interviewed Blu Cantrell in 2003; the conversation was released as a DVD on the singer's album Bittersweet.<ref name="CBB"/> Williams and Virgin Records released a compilation album, Wendy Williams Brings the Heat: Volume 1, in June 2005 featuring various rap acts, including M.O.P., Jadakiss, and Young Jeezy.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> It sold 29,000 copies by November of that year according to Nielsen SoundScan.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

In 2014, Lipshtick called Williams to participate in their first all-female-based comedy series at the Venetian in Las Vegas. Williams made her sold-out comedy debut on July 11, 2014.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref> Williams' comedy tour was called "The Sit-down Comedy Tour". Williams returned to Lipshtick on October 31, 2014, and November 1, 2014, after she made a sold-out debut in July.<ref name="broadwayworld.com">Template:Cite news</ref> Williams hosted her "How You Laughin'" Comedy Series at NJPAC on November 15, 2014, featuring Luenell, Jonathan Martin, Pat Brown, Hadiyah Robinson, and Meme Simpson.<ref>[1] Template:Webarchive</ref> In 2015, Williams announced a 12-city comedy tour called "The Wendy Williams Sit Down Tour: Too Real For Stand-Up."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Philanthropy and activism

In 2005, Williams funded a $1,000 scholarship for a black female high school student who sought to major in communications in college.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Subsequent recipients in 2006 and 2007 also received internships at WBLS.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> She led an effort to donate money and school supplies to Asbury Park Middle School in 2009.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Williams is pro-choice for abortion.<ref>Williams and Hunter, p. 104</ref>

Following the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in 2012, Williams visited her hometown of Asbury Park and paid for the hot meals of 300 people, face painting, and balloon animals for children.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She supported Barack Obama in that year's presidential election,<ref name="Guthrie" /> and promoted an NAACP voter helpline.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Williams posed for PETA's "I'd Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur" campaign in 2012, stating "we should all try to be comfortable in our own skin and let the animals keep theirs."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Williams also headlined during Philly Pride that year.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2013, she participated in The Heart Truth fashion show to raise awareness for women's breast cancer.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite press release</ref> Williams supported the 2015 removal of the Confederate battle flag from the South Carolina State House.<ref name="Armonaitis" /> In 2018, she promoted Be Here (behere.org) while on a 10-city tour with a goal to raise $10 million in 5 years for drug and substance abuse victims.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Williams attended Los Angeles Pride in June 2019 with Blac Chyna, and rode on a float in July at the WorldPride parade in New York.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In September, Williams became an ambassador and honorary board member of the Lymphatic Education & Research Network.<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref>

The Hunter Foundation

Williams and her ex-husband created The Hunter Foundation in 2014, a non-profit organization that funded anti-poverty programs and provided resources to people as they transitioned from drug addiction to recovery.<ref name="Corinthios">Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> During the Holiday season in 2016, the couple hosted dinners for over 1000 for those in need through the foundation.<ref name=":2" /> In 2017, the organization donated $1000 for the opening of an emergency food pantry.<ref name=":3" /> In 2018, the organization paid for a student's college tuition. During March 2019, The Hunter Foundation launched a 24/7 national hotline, 1-888-5HUNTER, for those struggling with addiction.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Foundation was dissolved following Williams' divorce from Hunter in May 2019. Following the dissolution, Williams partnered with SNAX-Sational Brands and Operation Backpack with the objective to raise funds to provide backpacks filled with various school supplies for children in New York homeless and domestic violence shelters.<ref name=":1" /><ref name="Corinthios" />

Products and endorsements

While working for WRKS, Williams was a spokesperson for a hip-hop clothing brand.<ref name="Hunter-Hodge 1993"/> In 2006, she became a spokesperson for George Veselles champagne and Alizé liqueurs.<ref name="CBB"/> Williams debuted a jewelry and shoe line on shopping channel QVC called "Adorn" in 2012.<ref name="Guthrie">Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Williams' started a "Save the Twinkie" campaign amidst the parent company's filing for bankruptcy, setting up a Facebook page and promoting the snack on The Wendy Williams Show.<ref name=":4" /> The shoe manufacturer's lawyer alleged she never paid the production cost.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2013, Williams released a wig collection to online retailers.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> She sold a self-titled clothing line in 2015 on shopping channel HSN and continued the partnership the following year by releasing shoe and winter clothing collections.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Personal life

In 1994, Williams married her first husband, Bertrand "Bert" Girigorie.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Williams and Hunter, p. 113</ref> She said they separated after five months and divorced about 18 months later.<ref>Williams and Hunter, pp. 109, 125</ref> Williams met her second husband, Kevin Hunter, in 1994;<ref name="Schulman"/> they married on November 30, 1999.Template:Efn-la Her husband became her agent.<ref name="Fishman"/> She suffered multiple miscarriages before giving birth to their son in August 2000.<ref name="Strauss"/> In April 2019, Williams filed for divorce due to irreconcilable differences<ref name="Griffith 2019" /><ref name="Butler 2019" /> after Hunter fathered a baby with a mistress.<ref name="Schulman" /> Although the divorce was finalized in January 2020,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> her legal surname remains Hunter.<ref name="Maas">Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Health issues

Williams has been open about her cocaine addiction in the late 1980s and early 1990s, for which she never received treatment.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Butler March 2019">Template:Cite news</ref>

In late October 2017, Williams fainted during a live broadcast of her show from dehydration.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Williams was often in the news for the next two years because of her health issues and relationship with Hunter.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> In February 2018, Williams disclosed that she has Graves' disease which causes hyperthyroidism,<ref name="Park 2018">Template:Cite news</ref> conditions she had been diagnosed with nearly two decades prior.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Due to the increased pressure behind her eyes, they sometimes have a pronounced bulging appearance.<ref name="Park 2018"/> Williams wears wigs in public because her thyroid condition thins her natural hair.<ref name="Schulman"/> She fractured her shoulder in December 2018.<ref name="Butler March 2019"/> In March 2019, Williams said she had been living in a sober house "for some time"<ref name="Butler March 2019"/> and that she has vertigo.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Later that year, Williams revealed she had been diagnosed with lymphedema, a condition that causes swelling in her ankles.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Dementia diagnosis and guardianship

Wells Fargo froze Williams’ accounts due to her deteriorating health in January 2022 and queried the New York Supreme Court if a guardianship was necessary.<ref name="Maas" /> Williams denied these claims; however, a judge appointed Sabrina Morrissey as Williams’ temporary financial guardian in March and confirmed her in May.<ref name="Cho">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Williams entered a wellness facility to treat her health issues. She returned to the public eye in November and prepared to launch a podcast. However, it was never released to the public.<ref name="Del Rosario">Template:Cite news</ref>

Williams was diagnosed with aphasia and frontotemporal dementia in 2023<ref name=":5" /> and entered a long-term care facility. A documentary chronicling Williams's life since 2022, Where Is Wendy Williams?, aired on Lifetime in February 2024.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Morrissey unsuccessfully sued to prevent its release, claiming the documentary exploited Williams.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Legal documents filed by Morrissey issued in November 2024 described Williams as "cognitively impaired, permanently disabled and legally incapacitated."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Williams denied these claims in an appearance on the radio show The Breakfast Club in January 2025. She likened her experience to "emotional abuse" and criticised the restrictions placed upon her by the terms of the guardianship.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Her niece, Alex Finnie, also appeared on the show to express support for Williams and disputed that she was legally incapacitated.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Finnie encouraged people to use the hashtag #FreeWendy or to donate to a GoFundMe account she set up for Williams.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Later, Williams was interviewed by Nightline co-host Byron Pitts. In the interview, Williams explained she was placed in the unit for those with memory difficulty and criticised this decision.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In March, Williams received a cognitive test at a hospital to assess the necessity of the guardianship.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On March 12, she appeared on The View to discuss her case, stating that she had quit alcohol use.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

It was reported that Williams's ex-husband, Kevin Hunter, filed a lawsuit on behalf of Williams against the judge and her legal guardian in her case on June 18, accusing them of abuse, neglect and fraud in handling Williams's guardianship.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Doubt was later cast on Williams' dementia diagnosis; in November, a neurologist challenged the diagnosis, using the findings of a recent court-ordered medical examination of Williams as evidence.<ref name=":6" />

Achievements

City University of New York professor Tanisha C. Ford credits Williams for creating the format by which other personalities conduct gossip segments of their own.<ref name="Schulman"/> The scholars ThedaMarie Gibbs Grey and Bonnie J. Williams-Farrier contend Williams is among the African American women who, through their television programs, popularized the term "sipping tea".<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Williams's voice is a popular sound on the social media service TikTok; her quote "That's what she said, and you know what? I— what was that? ...OK ...James" is used in over 100,000 videos. Other phrases, such as "Oh she passed away?" and mispronunciation of singer Dua Lipa's name as "Dula Peep" became internet memes. YouTube users uploaded compilation videos of various Williams-isms to the platform,<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> such as her misinterpreting the word "corona" as "cornova".

Williams was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 2009.<ref name="Carras 2019">Template:Cite news</ref> On her 50th birthday in 2014, Asbury Park renamed the street on which she grew up Wendy Williams Way.<ref name="Armonaitis">Template:Cite news</ref> She was honored with the 2,677th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on October 17, 2019.<ref name="Carras 2019"/> A wax figure of Williams is located at Madame Tussauds New York.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In Washington, D.C., various artifacts related to Williams's career such as a microphone, outfit, and wig used by her are located at a television exhibit in the National Museum of American History.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> A documentary, Wendy Williams: What a Mess!, and a TV movie, Wendy Williams: The Movie, are based on her life.<ref name="Schulman"/>

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2004	The Cookout	Reporter #2
2011	The Cookout 2	Herself
2012	Think Like a Man	Gail
2013	World War Z	Herself
2014	Think Like a Man Too	Gail
	Santa Con	Pastor Ruth	TV movie
2016	Ice Age: The Great Egg-Scapade	Condor Mom (voice)	TV movie
	Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates	Herself
2018	Homegrown Christmas	Herself	TV movie

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1992	Martin	Herself	Episode: "Radio Days"
1995	New York Undercover	WGHT DJ	Episode: "You Get No Respect"
2006	The Wendy Williams Experience	Herself/Host	Main Host
2007	Dice: Undisputed	Herself	Episode: "Dice Back on TV: It's Showtime?"
2008–22	The Wendy Williams Show	Herself/Host	Main Host
2009	Biography	Herself	Episode: "Boyz II Men"
2010	BBC Breakfast	Herself/Chat Show Host	Episode: "June 10, 2010"
	Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List	Herself	Episode: "Kathy's Smear Campaign"
	Bret Michaels: Life as I Know It	Herself	Episode: "Episode 3"
2010–11	The A-List: New York	Herself/Host	Main Host
2010–12	Bethenny Ever After	Herself	Guest Cast: Season 1 & 3
2011	One Life to Live	Phyllis Rose	Regular Cast
	Drop Dead Diva	Judge Mary Rudd	Episode: "Hit and Run"
	Dancing with the Stars	Herself/Contestant	Contestant: Season 12
	Love Triangle	Herself/Host	Main Host
	Braxton Family Values	Herself/Host	Episode: "Braxton Family Reunion"
	Mob Wives	Herself/Host	Episode: "Reunion Special"
2012	30 Rock	Herself	Episode: "My Whole Life Is Thunder"
	Sesame Street	Herself	Episode: "Afraid of the Bark"
	Tamar & Vince	Herself	Episode: "Are You Ready for Tamar?!?"
2013	Home by Novogratz	Herself	Episode: "Wendy Williams Audience"
	The Face	Herself	Episode: "Red Carpet Ready?"
	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Herself	Episode: "Funny Valentine"
	Belle's	Herself	Episode: "Runaway Bride"
	The Neighbors	Shirley	Episode: "The One with Interspecies F-R-I-E-N-D-S"
2014	Trisha's Southern Kitchen	Herself	Episode: "Straight Up Comfort Food"
	The Kitchen	Herself	Episode: "The Chicken Rotisserie Show"
	Hell's Kitchen	Herself/Restaurant Patron	Episode: "16 Chefs Compete"
	Soul Train Music Awards	Herself/Host	Main Host
2015	American Masters	Herself	Episode: "The Women's List"
	Best Time Ever with Neil Patrick Harris	Herself	Episode: "Reba"
	Death by Gossip with Wendy Williams	Herself/Host	Main Host
2016	The Dr. Oz Show	Herself/Guest Co-Host	Episode: "Episode #7.93"
	The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore	Herself/Panelist	Episode: "North Korean Satellite & Realistic Barbie"
2017	Nightcap	Herself	Episode: "Go-Fund Yourself"
	Odd Mom Out	Herself	Episode: "Blood Bath"
	Wild 'n Out	Herself/Team Captain	Episode: "Wendy Williams/Blac Youngsta"
2018	The View	Herself/Guest Co-Host	Episode: "Episode #21.81"
	Saturday Night Live	Herself	Episode: "Adam Driver/Kanye West"
2019	Surviving R. Kelly	Herself	Main Guest: Season 1
	Project Runway All Stars	Herself/Guest Judge	Episode: "Pedal to the Medal"
2020	The Real Housewives of Atlanta	Herself	Recurring Cast: Season 12
	The Masked Singer	Herself/Lips	Contestant: Season 4
2021	That Damn Michael Che	Herself	Episode: "Only Built 4 Leather Suits"
2024	Where Is Wendy Williams?	Herself	Main Cast

Documentary

Year	Title
2009	Kiss and Tail: The Hollywood Jumpoff
2018	Fahrenheit 11/9
2021	Wendy Williams: What a Mess!
	You're Watching Video Music Box

Accolades

Template:Sronly

Award	Year	Category	Nominee	Result	Template:Abbr
Billboard Radio Award	1993	R&B Major Market Radio Air Personality of the Year	Herself	Template:Won	<ref name="Billboard 1993"/>
Daytime Emmy Award	2015	Outstanding Entertainment Talk Show Host		Template:Nom	<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
		Outstanding Talk Show Entertainment	The Wendy Williams Show	Template:Nom
	2016	Outstanding Entertainment Talk Show Host	Herself	Template:Nom	<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
		Outstanding Talk Show Entertainment	The Wendy Williams Show	Template:Nom
	2017	Outstanding Entertainment Talk Show Host	Herself	Template:Nom	<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
	2019	Outstanding Entertainment Talk Show Host		Template:Nom	<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Hollywood Walk of Fame	2019	Template:N/a		Template:Won	<ref name="Carras 2019"/>
NAACP Image Award	2012	Outstanding Talk Series	The Wendy Williams Show	Template:Nom	<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
	2015			Template:Nom	<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
	2016			Template:Nom	<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
National Radio Hall of Fame	2009	Template:N/a	Herself	Template:Won	<ref name="Carras 2019"/>
People's Choice Award	2016	Favorite Daytime TV Host		Template:Nom	<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
	2019	The Daytime Talk Show of 2019	The Wendy Williams Show	Template:Nom	<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
	2020	The Daytime Talk Show of 2020		Template:Nom	<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Radio & Records Industry Achievement Award	1999	Urban Personality of the Year	Herself	Template:Won	<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
	2000			Template:Won	<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
	2002	Urban Personality/Show of the Year		Template:Nom	<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
	2003			Template:Nom	<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
	2004			Template:Nom	<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
	2006	Urban AC Personality/Show of the Year		Template:Won	<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
	2007			Template:Won	<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
	2008			Template:Nom	<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Bibliography

Nonfiction

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Fiction

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References

Works cited

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External links

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