NEW YORK, NEW YORK - FEBRUARY 21: Wendy Williams attends a private dinner at Fresco By Scotto on February 21, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Johnny Nunez/WireImage)
Wendy Williams‘ family is getting candid about her former struggle with alcohol, saying her addiction almost cost her life.
Since the cancelation of her talk show in June 2022, Williams has made countless headlines about her personal life and health.
In her upcoming Lifetime documentary, titled ‘Where Is Wendy Williams?’ she’s addressing a number of topics, including her alcoholism and mental issues.
The production team initially intended the documentary to film her comeback and podcast launch. But it took a darker turn as they brought Williams’ private issues to the forefront.
In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, her sister, Wanda, has revealed how there’d been several times in the past year when she and other family members feared they were going to receive “that call.” She meant the call that Williams had died.
“There were points during the past year when everyone in this family wondered whether that call [that she was dead] was going to come in the middle of the night,” she explained. “Everybody in this family sat on pins and needles every single night with their cell phones right next to the bed.”
Wanda realized the severity of her alcohol problem when Williams came to stay with her family in Florida.
The family enforced an “anti-alcohol” policy, which Williams was so unhappy about that she began cutting certain people out of her life. Her son, Kevin Hunter Jr., was not exempt from that list either.
Per PEOPLE, Williams’ alcohol issues were already a problem before her abrupt exit from her show in 2021.
She had allegedly shown up to work drunk, and it wasn’t long before crew members started suspecting that something was amiss with the former radio personality.
Suzanne Bass, who was a producer of the Emmy-nominated syndicated show, added, “I knew she was struggling. How could I not? As her situation grew worse, she pushed us away.”
Executive producer Mark Ford chimed in and said that initially, he and his team wondered if filming Williams’ struggles was ultimately going to hurt her.
In the end, however, they decided to move ahead with the project because Williams adamantly insisted on a release date for the documentary.
Meanwhile, Wanda’s daughter, Alex, illuminated the uncertainty people seemed to have about what they had initially involved themselves in. That was until they saw what kind of a state Williams was in when production commenced.
In one part of the trailer released earlier this month, Williams scolds her manager, Will Selby, when he arrives at her NYC apartment.
He criticizes her over a half-empty bottle of vodka. Given her health issues, such as Graves’ disease and lymphedema, it’s understandable why her family is reluctant to have her drinking at all.
But when quizzed by Selby on whether she downed the liquor, Williams responds, “F*** you.”
In May 2022, they appointed an independent legal guardian to oversee Williams’ finances and health. The family members still don’t know why the court initially made this decision since they sealed the court papers.
Moreover, only the guardian has unrestricted access to Williams, who reportedly still resides in the facility and cannot be contacted directly.
Wanda says she and her family have no idea where Williams is currently located, and they can only talk to her if she calls them. Her guardian is the only one who can decide when to release her from the facility.
‘Where Is Wendy Williams?’ premieres February 24 on Lifetime.
