Wendy Williams returns to screens this month in a Lifetime documentary chronicling the past two years, during which she has largely been out of the spotlight.
“Where is Wendy Williams?” is scheduled for its two-night debut on February 24 and 25 at 8 pm PT.
In the trailer released Friday, Williams is shown intoxicated, struggling to stand, crying and apparently suffering from memory loss, all while insisting to her friends and family that she is of sound mind.
“Did you see a neurologist?” an off-camera individual asks Williams in the trailer.
“To find out if I'm crazy?” Williams responds.
Another off-camera voice narrates: “Anyone could look at her and realize this isn't just alcohol, there's something else going on.”
Williams is one of the executive producers of the upcoming documentary. She played the same role in “Wendy Williams: The Movie,” which Lifetime will air on Feb. 23 along with its 2021 documentary, “Wendy Williams: What a Mess.”
The new film is billed as a “raw and compelling documentary” and follows Williams' life after “The Wendy Williams Show” was canceled in February 2022 as her physical and mental health worsened.
“Opening the doors to his private life like never before, cameras recorded his journey back to reclaim his life and legacy despite facing health issues and personal turmoil,” Lifetime said in a press release. “With the unparalleled access Wendy granted him to film with her and her family for almost two years, what was captured was not what anyone expected.”
Williams first announced in July 2021 that she would be taking a brief hiatus from her talk show, but it was extended due to myriad health issues, from COVID-19 to Graves' disease to lymphedema.
Then, a September 2021 Zoom meeting with the show's producers and staff revealed Williams' fragile condition.
“It was obvious to anyone watching that she wasn't coming back very soon,” media company Debmar-Mercury's executive vice president of programming, Lonnie Burstein, told The Hollywood Reporter in 2022.
Ultimately, Debmar-Mercury replaced the show with a new interview series headlined by “The Sex Lives of College Girls” actress Sherri Shepherd.
Shortly afterward, Williams checked into a wellness center and promised a “great comeback” soon.
In November 2022, she attended the WBLS 107.5 Circle of Sisters event in New York City, her first public appearance in months, The Times previously reported.
At the event, Williams said her talk show had become a “burden” after 14 years and she was “ready for something new.”
After that, she stayed quiet… until now.
“No one really knew the depths of Wendy's reality, so we hope what our cameras captured can help shed light on what she faces now,” said Elaine Frontain Bryant, executive vice president and head of programming for A&E, Lifetime and L M N. the documentary's press release.
Williams' son, Kevin Hunter Jr., appears prominently in the trailer, and at one point expresses concern about his mother's continued desire to return to television.
“My mom has done a great job of making it seem like everything is always fine, but in reality something is wrong,” Hunter says. “My mom always talks about how she wants to work. I feel like she has already worked hard enough.”
“All I know is how to be famous,” Williams says. “Since I was 6 years old, all I wanted was to be famous.”
The trailer also foregrounds Williams' experience under financial conservatorship, a system questioned by both her and her older sister, Wanda W. Finnie, who previously appeared in “Wendy Williams: What a Mess!”
“I think the guardianship system is broken. We are her family and you tell me that I am not capable of taking care of my sister,” Finnie says in the trailer, his voice breaking.
“What would you do? What do I have to do?”
During the show's broadcast and on Lifetime's social media platforms, Lifetime will direct viewers to a website with a variety of resources including the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, and information and resources for Graves' disease and lymphedema, according to the news release.
Times staff writer Alexandra Del Rosario contributed to this report.
