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Wendy Williams attends the world premiere of Apple TV+’s “The Morning Present,” Oct. 28, 2019, in New York.
Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
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Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

Wendy Williams attends the world premiere of Apple TV+’s “The Morning Present,” Oct. 28, 2019, in New York.
Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
The Lifetime documentary The place Is Wendy Williams? included scenes the place the previous discuss present host being erratic, confused and forgetful. But, filmmakers credited Williams, who suffers from dementia and aphasia, as an “government producer” of the docuseries.
Now, in a newly unsealed criticism, Williams’ guardian Sabrina Morrissey argues that as a consequence of her medical situation, Williams didn’t have the capability to consent to the movie and wouldn’t have authorized of the way in which she was depicted.
“This blatant exploitation of a susceptible lady with a critical medical situation who’s beloved by hundreds of thousands inside and out of doors of the African American group is disgusting, and it can’t be allowed,” learn the criticism filed on Feb. 21 in New York State Supreme Court docket.
The four-episode sequence, which aired final month, chronicles Williams’ life after the tip of her hit daytime TV present The Wendy Williams Present and her struggles with alcohol dependancy, critical well being illnesses, and monetary points.
The criticism towards A&E Tv Networks and Leisure One Actuality Productions additionally accuses the filmmakers of not correctly speaking the mission with Williams’ guardian or the court docket presiding over the guardianship — including that nobody performing in Williams’ “finest curiosity” would have allowed such a movie to be aired.
Williams was recognized with major progressive aphasia and frontotemporal dementia in Could 2023, a couple of months into filming. Her analysis grew to become public final month.
The documentary’s government producer Mark Ford stated the movie crew would by no means have “entered into” the mission in the event that they knew Williams had dementia, including that “Wendy had good days and he or she had dangerous days.”
“We hope folks get to the tip of it and perceive why we determined to complete the mission with Wendy, her household and her administration all supporting it,” he stated in an interview with The Los Angeles Times.
In response to the criticism, A&E stated in an announcement “We look ahead to the unsealing of our papers as properly, as they inform a really completely different story.”
Leisure One Actuality Productions didn’t instantly reply to NPR’s request for remark.
Mysterious firm signed docuseries contract
Williams was positioned underneath temporary financial guardianship in Could 2022 after her financial institution, Wells Fargo, raised considerations that she was an “incapacitated individual” and the “sufferer of undue affect and monetary exploitation.”
A couple of months later, in January 2023, Leisure One, Williams and an organization referred to as The Wendy Expertise, Inc. signed a contract agreeing to the documentary.
In response to the criticism, Williams’ guardian Morrissey claims she was unaware of the contract on the time and would by no means have agreed to the contract, which included phrases like Williams having no management over the ultimate outcome and Williams waiving all doctor-patient privilege through the mission.
It’s also unclear who created and was the CEO of The Wendy Expertise, Inc., the criticism says.
The corporate, which fashioned a month after Williams’ guardianship, was not authorized by Morrissey. The criticism argues that the signature of the CEO is “not clearly legible,” but “extremely distinguishable” from Williams’ signature, suggesting that the CEO shouldn’t be Williams however somewhat another person.
Morrissey is asking the court docket the nullify the contract.
Williams’ guardian says she was misled to imagine the docuseries could be “constructive and helpful” to Williams
In a separate court docket submitting, Morrissey says she initially allowed the movie mission to go ahead on the premise that it could be “constructive and helpful” for Williams’ legacy. Morrissey additionally believed she and the court docket would be capable to evaluate and have remaining say of any footage earlier than it was launched.
As a substitute, Morrissey says the docuseries’ trailer was made public with out “prior warning and with out searching for or acquiring prior approval” from her or the court docket.
“I used to be horrified by the discharge of the trailer and its contents,” Morrissey stated within the court docket submitting obtained by NPR this week.
Williams’ guardian alleges the trailer inaccurately portrays the TV star as a “drunkard and laughing inventory.” Morrissey added that she would by no means have authorized the discharge of the documentary.
Previous to the documentary’s launch, Morrissey tried to dam the movie from being aired. The court docket authorized Morrissey’s request, however A&E later appealed the choice. A choose later authorized A&E’s attraction on First Modification grounds.