Why Wendy Williams Is One of the Most Controversial Talk Show Hosts
Despite personal turmoil and rumors that her show was ending after it’s next season, The Wendy Williams Show is back and the buzz is even hotter than ever.
The Wendy Williams Show will be back for its 11th season on Monday, September 16.
Season 10 was rocky, to say the least, with the breakdown of her 20 plus year marriage and the talk show host taking over a month hiatus, with other celebrity hosts filling in.
But Williams promised her show would return and fans are eager to see how she would do following last year’s shakeup.
The ‘Wendy Williams Show’ controversy
Much of The Wendy Williams Show focuses on tabloid gossip and her “Hot Topics” segment, where she gives her opinion on celebrities personal lives. Her cutthroat opinions have not worked in her favor and have caused plenty of feuds.
Atlanta Housewife, Nene Leakes has made her dislike of the talk show host known for years before they reconciled as friends.
Williams has also been in an ongoing feud with rapper 50 Cent and at one time the Kardashian-Jenner family after Wendy accused Kim and Kanye’s marriage of being a hoax.
But, Wendy made enemies in the entertainment long before she was a talk show host.
She spent the first half of her career in radio, giving the same opinions that were perceived as harsh and intrusive to her celebrity guests, who often felt attacked and ambushed during interviews. And, she famously fought with Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, and even Judge Mathis before transitioning to television.
Wendy becomes a ‘Hot Topic’
Many believe Wendy got a taste of her own medicine in Season 10 after The Daily Mail revealed a detailed report after a two-year investigation that her husband, Kevin Hunter was in the midst of a decade’s long affair and that his mistress was set to give birth to his child.
Other sources also alleged years of physical and mental abuse that Wendy and her staff endured at the hands of her husband, who was executive producer of the show.
Williams denied the rumors and shot back at blogger, Love B Scott, sending him a Cease and Desist and demanded a retraction — which Scott refused.
Williams refused to speak on her marriage or absence from the show, with criticism on the horizon from fans and her Hollywood peers.
“Worry about your husband, not me,” Howard Stern snapped after Williams accused him of being stuck up. “F–k you and your dumb show and your mystery illness. She disappears for two months, nobody knows why, and now she’s questioning me? Nobody likes you, that’s why you can’t go Hollywood,” he continued, claiming, “People do not like her. [The staff] was doing a dance over at The Wendy Williams Show when she was out. She’s a big pain in the ass.”
Some even took the opportunity to laugh at Williams’ pain.
Williams later went on air after returning from her hiatus and publicly stood by her man.
“I want to shout-out to my husband. I’m still wearing my ring,” she said. “Believe me you, when you’ve been with somebody for 28 years, married for 25 years … we know each other. He’s my best friend, he’s my lover …”
She also exposed that she had been living in a sober house in an emotional announcement on her show and that Hunter was her greatest source of support.
That obviously was not enough as she eventually filed for divorce.
Williams reveals all about her personal life
After Wendy put the ax on her marriage, she began a media tour of her own to set the record straight about what really went down in her marriage.
Williams told Andy Cohen on his radio show that she was never in the dark about her husband’s infidelity but that she needed to take the time to get her independent life lined up without media attention.
She also addressed her time in the sober house, explaining that it was a strategic move on her end.
She told the ladies of The View that her time in the house was “like rehab without wine” or “rehab where they take your phone and lock it in a safe, so people can’t call me and inject their opinions on my life.”
“It’s been a very, very difficult time,” she expressed. “I couldn’t talk to my mom. Who wants to burden her? I couldn’t talk to my sister. And most of my girlfriends would have said, ‘You should have left him a longggg time ago.'”
Williams’ refused to leave her marriage sooner because of her commitment to her son.
“I said, I will stay here,” she explained. “I will make sure his braces get tightened properly. I will cook the best I can at night. I will moisturize. I will drive him to the SAT prep courses. I will help him do his essays for college. And now he goes to college in Miami, and now it’s time to pull the trigger. And the trigger has been pulled.”
Now, Williams is living her best life and ready to share. She insists she won’t change her approach to dishing out celebrity news.
