Wendy Williams' Guardian Accused Of Mishandling $400K For Controversial Documentary

BYGabriel Bras Nevares670 Views
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Chiara Boni - Front Row - September 2019 - New York Fashion Week: The Shows
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 07: Wendy Williams attends the Chiara Boni front row during New York Fashion Week: The Shows at Gallery II at Spring Studios on September 07, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Dominik Bindl/Getty Images for NYFW: The Shows)
The Wendy Williams documentary is causing a stir in the courtroom.

Wendy Williams' court-appointed legal guardian, Sabrina Morrissey, is reportedly in a legal battle with the production companies behind the Where Is Wendy Williams? documentary, according to a Tuesday (November 26) report from The Sun. For those unaware, the TV host was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia and aphasia in May of 2023, about a year after a guardianship started to manage her health and finances. While the February 2024 documentary – which Lifetime, A&E, and others produced – intended to portray a comeback through a podcast, it revealed a lot of controversies around her mental state and who was really looking out for her.

Furthermore, Sabrina Morrissey sued Lifetime, A&E Television Networks, Entertainment One, and Creature Films for this "blatant exploitation" of Wendy Williams' struggles, per court documents reportedly obtained by The Hollywood Reporter. Morrissey's legal team alleged that Williams' "permanent incapacitation" means that she could not consent to the series. In addition, they accused producers of tricking her into thinking this would be a celebratory and flattering depiction. "She thought we were focusing on the comeback of her career," Williams' longtime publicist Shawn Zanotti told NBC News. "Wendy would be mortified if she saw how she was portrayed."

Wendy Williams At SiriusXM

NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 06: Wendy Williams visits SiriusXM Studios on September 6, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Santiago Felipe/Getty Images)

However, the defendants accused Wendy Williams' legal guardian of lying about some facts and misusing the money they paid Williams for her participation in the documentary. Per The U.S. Sun's report, the networks claim Sabrina Morrissey attempts to eliminate critical views of her "controversial and failed administration." As for why, they alleged that Morrissey feels embarrassed by what the documentary says about her guardianship. In addition, the networks defended their "honest and unfiltered window" into her life and said that they paid her team much more than what Morrissey claimed.

Not only that, but the networks also pointed to Wendy Williams' family, indicating that they approved the documentary and also participated in promo interviews for it. An appellate judge denied Sabrina Morrissey the chance to block the doc's release, and the defendants accused her of focusing on her own reputation. Both sides seek damages and attorney's fees. At the moment, no one knows how this legal dispute could resolve, or what it would cost Wendy.

About The Author
Gabriel Bras Nevares is a staff writer for HotNewHipHop. He joined HNHH while completing his B.A. in Journalism & Mass Communication at The George Washington University in the summer of 2022. Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Gabriel treasures the crossover between his native reggaetón and hip-hop news coverage, such as his review for Bad Bunny’s hometown concert in 2024. But more specifically, he digs for the deeper side of hip-hop conversations, whether that’s the “death” of the genre in 2023, the lyrical and parasocial intricacies of the Kendrick Lamar and Drake battle, or the many moving parts of the Young Thug and YSL RICO case. Beyond engaging and breaking news coverage, Gabriel makes the most out of his concert obsessions, reviewing and recapping festivals like Rolling Loud Miami and Camp Flog Gnaw. He’s also developed a strong editorial voice through album reviews, think-pieces, and interviews with some of the genre’s brightest upstarts and most enduring obscured gems like Homeboy Sandman, Bktherula, Bas, and Devin Malik.
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