Wendy Williams' team seeks Lifetime docuseries profits for medical care amid legal battle

Wendy Williams' legal team seeks Lifetime docuseries profits for her medical care, alleging she was exploited.

Wendy Williams' legal team has filed an amended complaint against A+E Networks and Lifetime, seeking all profits from the controversial documentary chronicling the former talk show host’s health and addiction struggles to fund her medical care. The complaint, filed on September 16 in New York County Supreme Court, argues Williams received only $82,000 for her participation in the project, which aired earlier this year and drew over a million viewers.

The lawsuit claims the footage used in the 4.5-hour documentary portrays Williams in a vulnerable state, showing her in "the confusing throes of dementia." Roberta Kaplan, Williams' attorney, stated that the defendants "viciously and shamelessly exploited Wendy Williams for their own profit while she was obviously incapacitated and suffering from dementia."

The legal battle, initiated by Sabrina Morrissey, Williams' temporary guardian, contends that Williams lacked the mental capacity to consent to the filming, with the contract being described as "one-sided" and submitted after she had already been filmed in a disoriented state. Morrissey further claimed that Williams would never have agreed to be filmed without her wig, calling the footage "humiliating."

The documentary, produced by Lifetime Entertainment, Creature Films, and EOne Productions, aired in February to high ratings. Despite attempts to block the release, it was broadcast, leading to the ongoing lawsuit over Williams' consent and participation.