Where Is Wendy Williams? Producers Say They Continued Filming Star amid Her Struggles ‘Out of Concern’ (Exclusive)

When Wendy Williams was diagnosed with primary progressive aphasia and frontotemporal dementia on February 22 by her care team, the team behind the exciting new Lifetime documentary, Where is Wendy Williams? found out about it at the same time as the public.

“We were shocked, of course, and saddened, but I think looking back, we can all see that there were signs along the way,” executive producer Mark Ford told PEOPLE in a new interview. “We’ve been asking about a lot of these signs along the way, but it’s just devastating and heartbreaking.”

Executive producer and showrunner Erica Hanson says she “felt the same way.”

“I was surprised and I was really, really sad,” she says. “It made me think a lot looking back on those weeks we spent with Wendy.”

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Ford and Hanson say they haven’t seen or spoken to Williams, 59, since they stopped filming in April 2023, the same month the star entered a facility to treat what family members said were cognitive issues.

In the documentary, Williams’ 23-year-old son Kevin Hunter Jr. (whom she shares with ex Kevin Hunter) says his mother was diagnosed with “alcohol-induced dementia” by doctors she visited while staying with family in Florida. during her break from her The Wendy Williams Show.

Williams’ care team announced the news of Williams’ diagnosis two days before the film’s premiere Where is Wendy Williams? February 24. According to their statement, Williams — who in 2022 appointed a legal guardian named Sabrina Morrissey to oversee her finances and health decisions — was diagnosed last year, and her care team said the conditions “already posed significant obstacles in Wendy’s life.” .

Wendy Williams 2022.

Calvin Gayle

Hanson tells PEOPLE that if Williams’ care team had told them about her diagnosis earlier, the news would “absolutely” have affected how the documentary would have played out.

“We had no idea he had dementia when we started filming [in August 2022], otherwise we wouldn’t have filmed,” she explains. “I think the documentary really illustrates our journey of trying to understand what was going on. It sheds light on that period in Wendy’s life where she was in foster care and living a very isolated life in New York, in that apartment.”

“We were all really worried about her,” she continues. We often thought: ‘What would have happened if we weren’t there?’ It is interesting to see the reaction of fans and viewers since the documentary aired, and especially the understanding of why we stayed. A lot of it was due to worry.”

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The documentary crew stopped filming after finding Williams (who was an executive producer on the project) in her apartment with her eyes rolled back in her head, and they worked with Williams’ manager Will Selby to get a caretaker to get her help.

“We never spoke to the caregiver — I tried to reach her many times — but in the end, the caregiver did put her in a place where she’s obviously getting proper care,” Hanson claims. “We were really worried and would talk to Will about it a lot. In the end she ended up in a place where she was safe and seemed to be getting the right care.” Adds Ford: “By the end of the documentary, the priority really became Wendy’s safety and her care. We left her when we knew she was in a safer place and getting the care she needed.”

Wendy Williams visits SiriusXM Studios on September 6, 2018 in New York City.

Santiago Felipe/Getty

The problem Williams’ family has with her current care is that they have limited access to her. Even though they say she can call them from a blocked number, I can’t reach her directly.

“The family is very happy that she is receiving such care, they just wish they knew a little more,” says Ford. “I can say that the family had no idea about that specific diagnosis and no one shared it with them before the statement was released. I think they would just like to have a little more transparency and a little voice about how the mother, the sister, the aunt is being treated.”

Ford also notes that he “didn’t recognize any of the people” included in the press release about Williams’ diagnosis. Morrissey did not respond to multiple requests for comment from PEOPLE.

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In the days after the documentary aired, Williams’ fans accused Selby of taking advantage of her. But Ford believes Selby, who is listed as an executive producer, has her “best interests at heart.” (Selby did not comment on the documentary.)

“You might disagree or agree with some of his decisions, as well as her publicist’s [Shawn Zanotti]but I don’t think anything was done maliciously,” says Ford. “I also think they were on their own journey of discovery with Wendy and didn’t really understand the level of her cognitive issues.”

“Also, those issues worsened dramatically during the time we spent with her. Will is not a therapist, he’s not an addictions counselor,” Ford continues. “The whole time we were filming with Wendy there was a court-appointed guardianship in place to oversee her finances and medical care, so I think the bigger question is what can happen to someone under legal guardianship if the family is separated from them and there’s no one who would check on their well-being every day.”

Wendy Williams and son Kevin Hunter Jr. attended the ceremony honoring Wendy Williams with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on October 17, 2019.

Michael Tran/FilmMagic

Hanson echoes Ford’s sentiments about Selby: “I don’t think Will would ever do anything to endanger Wendy’s health or safety.”

Like the people featured in the documentary, Ford and Hanson also went on their own journeys with Williams, as the film quickly deviated from the comeback story they originally intended due to Williams’ various health issues and alcohol addiction.

“As Wendy’s health deteriorated, our priorities shifted to placing her in a safer place and reconnecting her with the family she had been cut off from,” says Ford. “Then, after that, it was about, ‘Okay, let’s tell the truth. What’s really going on in Wendy’s life?’ From the beginning, Wendy said, ‘There are no limits. You can ask me anything. We can go anywhere you want with this.’ This was the truth of her life. The truth was no longer that she was going to revive her career on her podcast. The truth was that she needed to save herself and reconnect with her family. These issues needed to be addressed and addressed and people needed to to be aware of the suffering she and her family were going through.”

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“Of course, it was a challenging, emotional, complex, heart-wrenching film to make, as well as to watch,” he continues. “But we hope that it serves Wendy’s well-being, her family’s well-being and a wider purpose in society, which is to draw attention to these custodianships and just the complexity of caring for someone with these cognitive disabilities and how challenging it can be for everyone around you .”

Wendy Williams 2019.

Roy Rochlin/WireImage

Hanson makes it clear that “every step of the way on the ground,” the documentary crew talked to Williams “about what we’re doing.”

“She had her own opinion about it, if she wanted to do it, don’t do it,” she says. “She was very involved, and [even] now looking back, realizing the issues she was dealing with, she was very engaged most of the time. There were challenges at times, but I’d say she was generally very engaged in what we were doing and loved having company in that apartment.”

Ford adds, “Every day she welcomed the film crew, she wanted the film crew to be there. That’s not to say we didn’t take that responsibility very seriously, but she enjoyed it as much as she could and became very close to the crew members who were there. And those crew members were very close to her and still care about her very much and always will.”

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Hanson says it was a “small team” on a daily basis.

“It was a very intimate team and Wendy developed a relationship with each of us that I think was very meaningful to her,” she says. “I think it affected all of us deeply. Some of us had family members or friends who struggled with addiction or mental health issues, and it became a true labor of love for each of us to tell Wendy’s story with emotion and compassion and honesty. ”

Ahead of the documentary’s premiere, Hanson says she screened it with Williams’ family.

“It was so important to me that they watched it all and felt supported and good about it, that it was an honest portrayal,” she says. “It means everything because we, as filmmakers, have a huge moral responsibility to tell someone’s story, and I take that so seriously. Because we don’t have contact with Wendy, and I don’t know if she saw it or what, I think that that her family supported it and she really liked it and felt she was right meant everything.”

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As he looks to the future, Hanson has “hope” for the next chapter in Williams’ story. “I hope she can live the best life she can in a healthy environment and get the help, the treatment she needs,” she says. – I am an optimist for her.

“Wendy is loved and will continue to be loved,” adds Ford. “She is a force and will continue to be a force. We just hope she is happy and in a safe place and can be with her family.”

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