Lifestyle
Wendy Williams' dementia was blatantly exploited by the docuseries, a complaint says
Wendy Williams attends the world premiere of Apple TV+’s “The Morning Show,” Oct. 28, 2019, in New York.
Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
Wendy Williams attends the world premiere of Apple TV+’s “The Morning Show,” Oct. 28, 2019, in New York.
Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
The Lifetime documentary Where Is Wendy Williams? included scenes where the former talk show host being erratic, confused and forgetful. Yet, filmmakers credited Williams, who suffers from dementia and aphasia, as an “executive producer” of the docuseries.
Now, in a newly unsealed complaint, Williams’ guardian Sabrina Morrissey argues that due to her medical condition, Williams did not have the capacity to consent to the film and would not have approved of the way she was depicted.
“This blatant exploitation of a vulnerable woman with a serious medical condition who is beloved by millions within and outside of the African American community is disgusting, and it cannot be allowed,” read the complaint filed on Feb. 21 in New York State Supreme Court.
The four-episode series, which aired last month, chronicles Williams’ life after the end of her hit daytime TV show The Wendy Williams Show and her struggles with alcohol addiction, serious health ailments, and financial issues.
The complaint against A&E Television Networks and Entertainment One Reality Productions also accuses the filmmakers of not properly communicating the project with Williams’ guardian or the court presiding over the guardianship — adding that no one acting in Williams’ “best interest” would have allowed such a film to be aired.
Williams was diagnosed with primary progressive aphasia and frontotemporal dementia in May 2023, a few months into filming. Her diagnosis became public last month.
The documentary’s executive producer Mark Ford said the film crew would never have “entered into” the project if they knew Williams had dementia, adding that “Wendy had good days and she had bad days.”
“We hope people get to the end of it and understand why we decided to finish the project with Wendy, her family and her management all supporting it,” he said in an interview with The Los Angeles Times.
In response to the complaint, A&E said in a statement “We look forward to the unsealing of our papers as well, as they tell a very different story.”
Entertainment One Reality Productions did not immediately respond to NPR’s request for comment.
Mysterious company signed docuseries contract
Williams was placed under temporary financial guardianship in May 2022 after her bank, Wells Fargo, raised concerns that she was an “incapacitated person” and the “victim of undue influence and financial exploitation.”
A few months later, in January 2023, Entertainment One, Williams and a company called The Wendy Experience, Inc. signed a contract agreeing to the documentary.
According to the complaint, Williams’ guardian Morrissey claims she was unaware of the contract at the time and would never have agreed to the contract, which included terms like Williams having no control over the final result and Williams waiving all doctor-patient privilege during the project.
It is also unclear who created and was the CEO of The Wendy Experience, Inc., the complaint says.
The company, which formed a month after Williams’ guardianship, was not approved by Morrissey. The complaint argues that the signature of the CEO is “not clearly legible,” yet “highly distinguishable” from Williams’ signature, suggesting that the CEO is not Williams but rather someone else.
Morrissey is asking the court the nullify the contract.
Williams’ guardian says she was misled to believe the docuseries would be “positive and beneficial” to Williams
In a separate court filing, Morrissey says she initially allowed the film project to go forward on the basis that it would be “positive and beneficial” for Williams’ legacy. Morrissey also believed she and the court would be able to review and have final say of any footage before it was released.
Instead, Morrissey says the docuseries’ trailer was made public without “prior warning and without seeking or obtaining prior approval” from her or the court.
“I was horrified by the release of the trailer and its contents,” Morrissey said in the court filing obtained by NPR this week.
Williams’ guardian alleges the trailer inaccurately portrays the TV star as a “drunkard and laughing stock.” Morrissey added that she would never have approved the release of the documentary.
Prior to the documentary’s release, Morrissey attempted to block the film from being aired. The court approved Morrissey’s request, but A&E later appealed the decision. A judge later approved A&E’s appeal on First Amendment grounds.
Vivica A. Fox dreamed of being a model, but in order to receive her mother’s blessing to move to Southern California, where the jobs were, she had to promise her one thing: She’d go to college.
So that’s what she did. At 18, Fox left her hometown of Indianapolis for Huntington Beach, where she attended Golden West College and got an associate’s degree in social sciences. On weekends, she’d drive up to L.A. for auditions, getting her first taste of show business while dancing on Don Cornelius’ iconic television series “Soul Train” and later nabbing her first acting gig as Dr. Stephanie Simmons on “Young and the Restless,” a role she recently reprised after more than 30 years.
In Sunday Funday, L.A. people give us a play-by-play of their ideal Sunday around town. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, what to eat and how to enjoy life on the weekends.
“The rest is kind of history,” says Fox, who went on to star in other hit films including “Kill Bill: Vol. 1,” “Two Can Play That Game,” “Soul Food” and “Set It Off,” which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year.
Her latest project, “Is God Is,” hits theaters Friday. Directed by Aleshea Harris, who wrote the award-winning play of the same name, the film follows twin sisters as they embark on a vengeful quest to find their abusive father, who left them for dead. Fox plays God, the twins’ mother, a burn victim and domestic abuse survivor who gives her daughters a simple yet chilling instruction: “Make your daddy dead. Real dead.” Harris handpicked Fox for the role.
“I just was so honored,” Fox says. “Then when I got the script and dove into it a little bit more, I was like ‘Ooh, this is a way no one has ever seen me. This is going to be challenging.”
She adds, “I was like, ‘Wow. We don’t get things like this,’ so it was honestly, for me, a no-brainer.”
Sundays are the one day of the week where Fox can “do me,” she says. Here’s how she’d spend it in L.A.
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for length and clarity.
6:30 a.m.: Quick coffee run
I’m usually up by 6:30 or 7 a.m. I’m an early bird because I’m so used to either having to be on set or when my publicist, B.J., was living on the East Coast and I’d have to respond to answer his emails in a timely manner. Once I’m awake and settled, I’d get some Starbucks. I’d order a venti white chocolate mocha with an extra shot of espresso, no whipped cream. I used to order kale bites, which I’d eat with the meat from the sausage and egg sandwich, but they discontinued them so now I just get the sandwich.
8 a.m.: Float in hot springs
I’d head to the Beverly Hot Springs. I would get a body care treatment. It’s awesome because they rub you from head to toe with body oil, then they wash your hair and give you a cucumber and yogurt mask. After that, I would get a facial and float in the water. It is one of the only spas with natural, alkaline hot springs in L.A., so the water is just heavenly.
2 p.m.: Margarita and caviar fries with a view
After that, I would meet with a friend, more than likely B.J., at the rooftop restaurant at Waldorf Astoria. The reason why I love going there is because of the view. On a beautiful, clear day, you can see all of Los Angeles. It has a 360 view that is absolutely incredible. I would start off with the caviar fries and a spicy margarita with a tajin rim. Then I would do either the salmon with spinach or if it was a super cheat day, I’d have a cheeseburger.
4 p.m.: A Broadway show or a sports game
I’d probably go home and take a short nap. But if my godson, Quentin Blanton Junior, is in town, I’d go see him perform at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre. He’s playing little Michael in “MJ: The Musical” at the Pantages Theatre. [Editor’s note: We interviewed Fox before the show ended earlier this month]. I’m so proud of him. But if he’s not performing, I’d go to a Chargers or Lakers game. I’m a sports junkie. I’m from Indiana. We grow up on football and basketball. I’ve always loved the Lakers. I remember going to the games back in the day in Inglewood because I used to live there. I used to walk to the games. That was the golden era of Magic and all those guys, then Kobe and them moved up to Staples, which is now Crypto.
9 p.m.: Nightcap before bed
I’d end my Sunday with a night cap at the Delta Club at the Lakers game. I’d have a glass of wine before heading home, then I’d drink a Lacroix to hydrate. I try to be in the bed definitely before midnight.
Kayla Bundy likes to start her day with a cup of bone broth.
She buys her milk raw, snacks on sardines, eats authentic sourdough bread — no commercial yeasts here — and generally cooks with locally-sourced ingredients. On TikTok, where she has over 500,000 followers, she claims that her diet “fixed” her skin, her hair and her depression, and she sells coaching sessions to help others with their diets.
Bundy, a 27-year-old Christian content creator, might sound like your run-of-the-mill clean-eating type, but she believes her diet to be part of a higher calling. For eight years, she has been a biblical eater, someone who consumes mostly foods mentioned in the Bible. She is part of a niche but dedicated online community trying to tie religious values to dietary needs.
In an era when the Make America Healthy Again movement has pushed for more access to unpasteurized dairy products, stricter boundaries around ultraprocessed foods and new definitions for what counts as healthy food, alternative diets focusing on simpler foods are finding popularity, even when their proponents don’t actively consider themselves part of the MAHA movement. Add to that the growing numbers of GLP-1 users struggling to eat enough protein, and biblical diets can offer an appealing repackaging of certain age-old diet tenets. (The new acting commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, who assumed his role on Tuesday, is also a vocal champion for policies to remove chemicals from the food supply.)
“I had never really thought to look to the Bible for a recipe book,” Bundy, who grew up in Michigan and now lives in Bali, said, but after cutting out refined sugar made her feel good, she said, she started “studying scripture from that lens of noticing what they are eating.”
She added: “Sin entered into the world through food, and Satan doesn’t stop there. Food, for me, is really like a weapon of how I can fight back.”
Bundy is open about not having nutrition credentials, but she sells a $28 digital guide to biblical superfoods, as well as coaching sessions that start around $700 for a month, she said.
She’s not the only one. Like other health food influencers, the biblical eating proponents with popular accounts often sell products.
Annalies Xaviera, a stay-at-home mom who lives in Gainesville, Ga., and posts biblical eating tips, said her Facebook following had jumped from scant thousands to over 300,000 in just a few weeks this spring. She sells a digital cookbook.
“The Bible says that God appreciates and celebrates small steps of obedience,” said Xaviera, 32, who added that she did not consider herself part of the MAHA movement, but that some of its goals, like removing artificial dyes from foods, aligned with her own preferences.
She said her approach boiled down to eating whole foods and cooking meals at home. She still buys some processed foods, like pasta.
Eating biblically — which can mean strictly sticking to the good book’s ingredients, cooking from scratch or anything in between — is not new. “The Eden Diet,” a 2008 book, offered weight loss and nutrition tips rooted in biblical teachings. The author Jordan Rubin’s 2004 book “The Maker’s Diet” was a best seller (as was his recent book “The Biblio Diet,” coauthored with Josh Axe, a supporter of the MAHA movement, and published last year).
For years, some Christians have also participated in “Daniel fasts,” 21-day fasts based on the Book of Daniel in the Old Testament, in which Daniel consumes only vegetables and water. (There’s also, of course, the long tradition of religious diets, such as keeping kosher or halal, or following a Levitical diet. Jesus, himself, presumably kept kosher.)
On social media, however, biblical eating has appeared to have a resurgence in recent months.
A few years ago, the actor Chris Pratt talked about completing a Daniel fast when he was on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.” In January, as part of his partnership with the prayer app Hallow, he posted a video encouraging his followers to use the app to participate in a fast and prayer challenge. The bean-heavy fast had made him quite gassy, he said with a laugh. Other celebrities, including Mark Wahlberg and Patricia Heaton, have been part of similar efforts with the app.
Casper Schimmer, a college student in Amsterdam, said he sold coaching sessions for young, Christian men looking to align their diet and exercise with their faith.
“It’s not like eating healthy only is what makes a godly person,” Schimmer, 20, said. He said he also focused on physical and mental fitness as part of a larger system of “godly habits.” (For example, sabbath as the “original biohack.”)
Jennifer R. Ayres, a religious education professor at Emory University, said the biblical food movement online seemed to show “a focus on personal decision making.” She added that “the more collective and environmental analysis of what’s happening in our food system” is missing from some of the social media dialogue.
Abbie Stasior, a Christian dietitian who lives in Nashville, said much of her work looked, at first, like standard nutrition guidance. She often starts with clients by talking about the importance of breakfast. But then she’ll reference Bible verses, pointing, for example, to a scene in the Book of John in which Jesus eats a balanced breakfast of bread and fish with his disciples. “He’s got carbs and protein,” Stasior, 31, said.
Tying dietary counsel to scripture offers “an extra incentive,” Stasior said.
When it comes to meeting nutrition needs, Dr. Marion Nestle, one of the country’s foremost nutrition policy experts, said that if people on the biblical diet consume ample calories and eat “a wide variety of relatively unprocessed foods,” they are “probably doing just fine.”
She also described how wellness culture had been colliding with policy.
“The thing about wellness is that it’s based on personal experience rather than science — it’s what makes you feel good,” Nestle said, adding: “Diet is about belief. We don’t have a lot of belief systems left in this country. People are desperate for meaning in their lives.”
Xaviera, the stay-at-home mother in Georgia, said she encouraged her followers to pause before eating, describing a person who might be deciding whether to eat a cookie.
“When you’re in a craving,” she said, “have you ever thought to stop and pray?”
My horny, teenage, never-been-kissed self would be appalled by what I’m about to tell you, but it’s true: I’m sick of being a sex buddy.
I am a sexually adventurous woman who has dabbled in BDSM and enjoys a good sex party here or there, but I also want a partner I can share a deeper emotional connection with as well. Unfortunately, I have constantly found myself stuck in relationships with emotionally unavailable men.
Which is why I got so excited when I saw Jon’s profile. It was on Feeld, the alternative app for kinky, polyamorous or sexually curious people — people like me. What I love about it is that people are explicit about their physical and emotional interests.
So, Jon wrote that he was interested in exploring his kinky side and that he ultimately wanted to find his forever person. I mean … samesies!
Jon was super cute. A very sexy, boy-next-door, Glen Powell type. But as I studied his photos, I realized I knew him. I racked my brain trying to figure it out, and then I remembered that we had sex 10 years ago.
We met on Tinder and got together a couple times for sex. This wasn’t rare for me back then, but the reason I remembered him so well was because he had this weird mystery hip problem, which made it difficult for him to walk and move his hips in certain ways.
When we had sex, our positions were limited, and I constantly worried that I was going to hurt him. I know people say they’re going to “blow your back out” during sex, but I didn’t want to literally break Jon’s body.
It was a bit of a buzzkill, so I just gave up on him — and ghosted him. Ten years later, there he was again, and I couldn’t help but feel like this was a sign. That the universe knew we weren’t ready for each other back then, but we were ready for each other now. We were getting a second chance to start fresh and go for it.
So I swiped him right, and we instantly matched. I messaged him saying, “Hey, so not to sound stalkery, but I think we’ve done this before. Like forever ago.” He wrote back saying, “If by forever ago you mean 2016, then yeah, I think so too.”
I thought, “Ohmigod, he remembered me too! How cute are we?!”
We caught each other up on the last 10 years of our lives. He said he had become a therapist and that he had his hips replaced. Nothing was gonna stop us this time!
We exchanged numbers, and he texted me. “Jon (Tinder)” showed up on my phone. I still had his number saved after all these years. I was even more convinced this was destiny. It’s like my past self knew this thing with Jon wasn’t over.
We made plans to hang out that week, and I was super anxious about it. I mean, my expectations were dangerously high, but as soon as we saw each other, there was this level of comfort and familiarity that made it all so easy.
We spent that entire day together reconnecting, and then the enthusiastic vibe continued. He texted me all the time and wanted to hang out — and not just to have sex! He wanted to hike in Griffith Park, hit up Thai Town for dinner and cozy up with some Nintendo “Mario Party.” I was getting more excited and hopeful about where this could go.
Then one night, we were talking about our kinks and other sex stuff. I didn’t say much other than I was generally down to try new things, but it wasn’t a priority for me. He, however, emphasized that he really wanted to “explore his kinky side now before he settled down in a relationship.”
I paused wondering, “Does he think those two things are mutually exclusive? Does he not think you can have an exciting sex life and a committed relationship at the same time? With the same person? Were we still doing Madonna-whore complexes? I thought those died out with low-rise jeans. Guess not!”
I wanted to talk to him more to get clarity about what he meant, but I never got the chance. A few hours before our next date, he texted me to say that he had hung out with his ex and they were going give it another go. He couldn’t see me anymore.
I was totally blindsided. I knew he had been with his ex for five years, but I didn’t know they were still talking or on the verge of getting back together. There was nothing I could do except say the calm, mature things you’re supposed to say and wish him luck.
Three days later, he came back. It didn’t work out with the ex. And you know, there are fewer things in life more vindicating than a guy dumping you and then crawling right back.
I had a million questions, so we had a long conversation about what happened, and the two most important things I learned were: 1. This ex wasn’t the five-year ex. This one was a new, more casual ex he briefly dated earlier in the year. 2. She was virgin. The Madonna-whore complex got literal really fast.
He kept apologizing and asked if we could start over again. Again, I was tempted. The fateful way this guy kept coming back into my life was compelling, but it became so clear that he only valued one side of me. I couldn’t wait for him to care about the other side. A partnership isn’t an “either/or.” It’s a “both/and.”
The sign from the universe, I realized, wasn’t to keep holding onto him. It was to let go. Of him and every guy who only saw me as a fraction of a partner.
The author is an actor, writer and public policy advocate based in Los Angeles. She shared a version of this essay at the L.A. Affairs Live storytelling event in April. She’s on Instagram: @ratigupta.
L.A. Affairs chronicles the search for romantic love in all its glorious expressions in the L.A. area, and we want to hear your true story. We pay $400 for a published essay. Email LAAffairs@latimes.com. You can find submission guidelines here. You can find past columns here.
-
Health2 minutes agoPossible hantavirus case under investigation in upstate New York; no connection to deadly cruise ship outbreak
-
Sports8 minutes agoJustin Thomas, Keegan Bradley get heated with official over pace of play at PGA Championship
-
Technology14 minutes agoAI data centers may soon ride ocean waves
-
Business20 minutes agoWhy the infuriatingly catchy Kars4Kids jingle got yanked off the air in California
-
Entertainment26 minutes agoFilmmaker Brian Lindstrom, known for underdog documentaries, dies at 65
-
Lifestyle32 minutes ago
How to have the best Sunday in L.A, according to Vivica A. Fox
-
Politics38 minutes agoSupreme Court turns away Virginia Democrats seeking to reinstate new voting map
-
Sports50 minutes agoSparks hold off late Toronto Tempo rally, earn first win of season