Wendy Williams’ court-appointed guardian, Sabrina Morrissey, calls out lifelong parent company A&E and its documentaries Where is Wendy Williams? for “shamelessly” exploiting the star amid her challenges.
After seeing a trailer for the docu-series, Morrissey filed a lawsuit on February 20 in an attempt to prevent the 4.5-hour project from airing. The lawsuit was unsealed and obtained by PEOPLE on Thursday. In the paper, Morrissey criticizes the network’s documentary, claiming it “shamelessly exploits [Williams] and portrays her in an extremely humiliating and undignified manner.”
Morrissey also alleges that Lifetime “falsely states that she is ‘broke’ and cruelly implies that her disoriented behavior is the result of substance abuse and drinking.”
The documents further claim that Williams was “incapable of agreeing” to the terms of her contract with A&E Television Networks, Lifetime’s parent company. According to Morrissey, all contracts required court and guardian approval before the documentary featuring the talk show host’s privately recorded footage could be released publicly.
Wendy Williams.
Calvin Gayle
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Despite this, the lawsuit states that “no such approval was sought or granted.”
Morrissey said she allowed the doctor to proceed with the understanding that the project would not proceed without “the review and final approval of the guardian and the court, who are responsible for [Williams’] welfare.” However, she claims no permissions were sought and was “horrified” when she viewed the content of the trailer after being told the documentary would portray Williams in a positive light.
“Obviously, the complete promised documentary would show it even better [Williams] in a degrading and humiliating manner,” the lawsuit said, adding that the documentary would “unconscionably” exploit the television personality’s condition and reveal her personal and private medical diagnosis for the perceived “entertainment value” and “interest” of viewers.
“This blatant exploitation of a vulnerable woman with a serious medical condition who is loved by millions inside and outside the African-American community is abhorrent and cannot be tolerated,” the document said.
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Wendy Williams in ‘The Wendy Williams Show’.
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In a statement shared with PEOPLE on Thursday, Lifetime responded to Morrissey’s allegations, noting, “We look forward to unsealing our papers as well, because they tell a very different story.”
At the time of the filing, Morrissey asked the court to issue a temporary restraining order against the documentary, which was granted but ultimately overturned by a higher court.
Filmed between August 2022 and April 2023, Lifetime’s Where is Wendy Williams? caught a dark period in the former host’s life that revolved around the cancellation of her eponymous talk show due to alcohol addiction and several health problems, including Graves’ disease, an autoimmune disorder that can cause bulging eyes, and lymphedema, a condition that causes swelling in her feet.
The docu-series premiered on the network on February 24, with the second half of the episodes airing the following day.
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Wendy Williams.
Santiago Felipe/Getty
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Two days before the release and on the same day that Morrissey filed the lawsuit, Williams’ care team revealed that the 59-year-old television personality had been diagnosed with progressive aphasia and frontotemporal dementia (FTD).
According to a press release, Williams received her diagnosis last year, and her medical team said the conditions “already posed significant obstacles in Wendy’s life.”
“Wendy can still do many things for herself,” the team said in a statement. “Most importantly, she retains her signature sense of humor and receives the care she needs to make sure she is protected and that her needs are addressed. She is grateful for the many kind thoughts and good wishes that have been sent to her.”
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Although Morrissey claimed she was unaware of the nature of the documentary, Mark Ford, the documentary’s executive producer, told PEOPLE for last month’s cover story that “Wendy’s attorneys and custody attorneys were consulted and signed off” on the project.
“The film was underwritten by Wendy, her management, her lawyers, the guardianship,” he explained. “They were aware of the shoot until the end. So we went by the book and got all the permissions we needed to get. We went into this movie thinking it was one thing, and the truth turned out to be another. Once we started to see the truth of the situation, we weren’t could ignore. And the film had to go in the direction of the truth.”
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