Wendy Williams' Family Details How Docuseries Changed from Comeback Story, Where She Is Now

When the trailer for the docuseries first dropped, fans were alarmed at Wendy's appearance in the footage. She looked frail with the bulging eyes that can be a symptom of her autoimmune disorder, Graves' disease. On top of that, she appeared to again be struggling with addiction, as well as memory loss.

Many quickly criticized the project as exploitative, spotlighting a celebrity in crisis after she's seemingly lost her career. They were also more than a little perplexed to see that Wendy herself was an executive producer. Is she capitalizing on her own struggles?

Well, as it turns out, the project was developed as a way to chronicle her big comeback, which is why Wendy was so involved with its production.

It was in August 2022 when the Lifetime crew started filming what was intended to be the story of her launching a new podcast and beginning to reclaim the reins of her career. In April 2023, they stopped filming after finding her non-responsive in her apartment with eyes rolled back, according to the producers.

The film's producers and Williams' family spoke with People magazine about the project, and why they decided to continue with it even as it transformed into something much, much harder for them.

After filming stopped, Wendy entered a treatment facility for "cognitive issues," per her manager Will Selby in the film. According to her son, Kevin Hunter Jr., doctors there have attributed her memory and other mental troubles to alcohol use.

One scene that stood out from the trailer for the documentary was Wendy demanding that a bottle of alcohol be left nearby even as she appeared to be struggling personally. Fans were immediately concerned as she'd been open throughout her career about addiction struggles, even admitting to living in a sober house on the air in 2019

According to People, Wendy is still in that facility, with a count-appointed legal guardian the only person who has "unfettered access" to her.

"The people who love her cannot see her," said Wendy's sister Wanda. "I think the big [question] is, how the hell did we get here?" According to the family, they do not know exactly where she is and can't call her, though she is able to make outgoing calls to them.

Prior to filming on the docuseries, Wendy was in a very public fight over her finances -- in the trailer she claims she has no money -- as well as fighting for her health.

In February 2022, after kicking off the latest season of her eponymous talk show, producers announced that she would not be returning. Sherri Shepherd, who had been one of the guest hosts during Wendy's absence, ultimately took over her timeslot with a new show.

In May 2022, one month before the plug was pulled for good on The Wendy Williams Show, Wendy was in court where an independent legal guardian was appointed to oversee her finances and health. According to her family, the court documents are sealed, so they don't even know why this decision was made.

"All I know is that Wendy and her team walked into the courtroom one way, and they walked out, and the family is completely excluded." said Wanda.

Wendy's niece, and Wanda's daughter, Alex said that the loss of her marriage in 2020 after her son had gone away to college in 2018 was "too much for her world." Alex said that Wendy's mom had always told her her aunt would trade everything she has "to have a strong loving household and a loving husband."

"It put her back into that dark space," Wendy's brother Tommy agreed.

Then came Covid isolation, during which her show's deejay, DJ Boof, found her unresponsive in her home leading to several blood transfusions, and finally the death of her beloved mother in November 2020.

"When our mother passed, who was her greatest advocate and strongest support system out of anybody in this family, she never grieved," Wendy shared.

Wendy's struggles with alcohol were already apparent when the guardianship was appointed, and even after, with the former deejay caught passed out at a Louis Vuitton store around the same time she officially lost her show.

The docuseries began filming in August 2022, Wendy entered a wellness facility for two months starting in September, but by April 2023, her health and wellness had reached such a crisis point that the documentary crew pulled the plug on filming altogether.

They said they were able to get her guardian, whose identity remains undisclosed, to get her into a safe place. That guardian has sole decision-making power as to if and when Williams can leave the facility.

"How did she go from this aunt or sister that we love and is healthy one minute to this person who’s in and out of the hospital?" asked Wanda. "How is that system better than the system the family could put in place? This system is broken."

Now, the filmmakers were left with a decision as to what do do. Their intended film was clearly not going to happen, with Wendy in a facility and no podcast revival on the near horizon.

Just as people who saw the trailer were doing, they said they asked themselves as they saw her situation deteriorating even while they were still filming, "Is this helping Wendy or is this hurting her?"

"in the end we felt like it was helping her," they decided, per executive producer Mark Ford. "This is about the guardianship system and how it can be improved." Certainly, the guardianship conversation has experienced a heightened public awareness thanks to Britney Spears' very public efforts -- and ultimate success -- to free herself from one.

The hope for everyone involved, from family to producers and the fans, is for Wendy, who turns 60 in July, to return to health and getting back to doing what she loves.

Where Is Wendy Williams? airs across two nights on Lifetime this weekend, Saturday and Sunday at 8pm ET.