A lot of Wendy Williams' fans are probably still reeling a bit from the end of her eponymous talk show back in mid-June, after 13 years on the air. Williams was, of course, absent from the entire final season of her show because of a number of health and financial issues, but viewers figured the finale would feature the long-time host’s actual presence in some way. When it didn’t, lots of fans took their ire to social media, and now Williams ex-husband, Kevin Hunter, has shared his adamant thoughts about how the show allegedly treated her before cancellation.
What Did Kevin Hunter Say About How Wendy Williams Was Treated By Her Show?
Debmar-Mercury served as The Wendy Williams Show’s long-time producer and distributor, and while those behind the company had seemed supportive of Williams over the last several years as she dealt with personal problems ranging from her 2019 divorce from Kevin Hunter to addiction and other health challenges, Hunter has now claimed that that actually wasn’t the case. About Williams struggles with sobriety, Hunter recently told Page Six:
Debmar would not support Wendy’s recovery efforts with the family. They would not sign off on anything that would’ve helped her recovery efforts. They sat in a meeting with her whole family, including her now-deceased mom, and would not sign off on the recovery efforts that would’ve helped Wendy also get well and live and be sober. They basically said, ‘If you don’t stop drinking, you’re going to lose the show.’
In late 2018, Williams started an extended break from her daytime talker, after suffering what was called “health complications” from a shoulder injury and her Graves’ disease. However, once she was back on the air, Williams announced on her show in March of 2019 that she’d actually been living in a sober house, and was continuing to do so until she could get her addiction problems under control.
According to Hunter, those from Debmar-Mercury were not supportive when they and Williams’ family members sat down with her to attempt a sort of intervention for the famed host after she worked full time while living in that sober house. It was also shortly before Hunter welcomed a child with another woman and Williams filed for divorce, which Hunter alleges led to him being fired from the show (something he’s now suing the production over).
Though this is sad, if true, it may help to explain why The Wendy Williams Show’s producers decided that one season without the host amid her dealing with a myriad of health problems was enough. It was announced in February that Williams’ show wouldn’t return following Season 13, noting it would be replaced by guest host Sherri Shepherd’s new talk show, with the new host giving props to Williams for paving the way.
At the time of this writing, representatives for Wendy Williams and Debmar-Mercury haven’t commented on Kevin Hunter’s claims about how the show treated Williams amid her addiction recovery, but it’s little surprise that he’d go on the record with his allegations, seeing as how Hunter was also brutally honest about the “travesty” of the series ending without Williams’ involvement.
Wendy Williams is reportedly working on getting her career back on track with a supposedly celeb-fueled podcast now that she’s conquered some of her health woes, so, hopefully, that can arrive on a timeline that works best for Williams, and fans can hear, “How you doin’?” again in the near future.
