Wendy Williams Resurfaces After a Year-Long Disappearance and Struggles With Fame and Family
Wendy Williams is gearing up for a semi-return to television some time after bowing out of the spotlight. But an emotional Williams confided that her multimedia empire might’ve crumbled in the wake of her hiatus.
Wendy Williams previews her potential return to the spotlight
Williams has virtually been a ghost over the past year. The controversial show host finished her hit series, The Wendy Williams Show, in 2021 due to a mixture of behavioral and mental health issues. A glimpse of the star’s physical state could be seen years ago when she fainted live on air. According to The Hollywood Reporter, those who worked with Williams gave firsthand accounts of what Williams was like at the height of her troubles. One employee recalled a moment when Williams’ speech became slurred and uncoordinated while entertaining an audience.
“She gets on and she starts rambling about ‘I’m really fine, it’s going to be fine,’ and it’s like, ‘What are you saying?’” the employee recalled.
“People were sort of freaked out. She was saying things like, ‘Oh, I can’t wait, I’ll be back with you really soon,’ but it was obvious to anyone watching that she was not going to be back really soon,” another producer recalled.
It appears that the show host’s condition only managed to worsen as time went on.
Today, a trailer for an upcoming lifetime Wendy Williams documentary put the internet on hold. The trailer shows two sides of the celebrity’s life. For the first few minutes of the trailer, it revisits the Williams that fans are very familiar with. The show host is vibrant and colorful, thriving in glamorous dresses and smiling alongside her legion of fans.
“From 6 years old, all I wanted was to be famous,” Williams can be heard saying in the Where Is Wendy Williams? trailer.
Wendy Williams might have to choose between fame and family
After a while, in true rags-to-riches fashion, the trailer takes a bleaker turn. The show host’s internal battles have taken a clear toll on her, so much so that specialists question her psychological well-being. There’s one instance where a reflective Williams confides she has no idea where she is, despite being a native New Yorker for years.
Williams also appears sitting in her very familiar purple chair, which fans would occasionally see her with on The Wendy Williams Show. But this time, it seems her only audience is her, and the star can be seen emotionally breaking down on the prop she made iconic.
Perhaps the bombshell of the trailer drops when the star asserts that her finances have taken as much of a hit as her health.
“I have no money,” she says in the heartbreaking other half of the trailer. “And I’m gonna tell you something, if it happens to me, it can happen to you.”
The video also features excerpts from her own family members, sharing how difficult it was watching Williams unravel. A brief clip shows Williams’ family member holding a bottle of vodka. After he asks if Williams drank the entire bottle, she orders him not to take the bottle away.
“Keep it there,” she says while lying in bed.
The video seems to become more and more cryptic, and there are many instances where Williams can’t keep it together. There are scenes sprinkled out with her crying, and her family trying to support the star. At one point, it’s revealed that her own team could be responsible for her financial troubles, chipping away at her $40 million net worth.
One of her family members feels Williams surrounded herself with enablers that only encouraged her self-destructive lifestyle. A constant theme in the trailer suggests that instead of a team, she needs to surround herself with family more than anything else.
Toward the end of the trailer, Williams repeats her desire to be famous. But she also adds to that anecdote how important her loved ones are.
“I love being famous, but family is everything. Everything,” she says.
The way the trailer’s set up, it can make audiences wonder if she’ll have to eventually choose between fame or family in the end.
The Lifetime special will be a two-parter, and reportedly air on Lifetime between Feb. 24-25.
