Wendy Williams
Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images
Two days before Lifetime's premiere of a major documentary chronicling the deteriorating mental state of Wendy Williams, the troubled former talk show host's court-appointed conservator has reportedly filed a lawsuit against Lifetime parent company A+E Networks.
Sabrina Morrissey filed the sealed injunction in New York Supreme Court on Thursday. The lawsuit reportedly states that Morrissey — whose identity as the person appointed by the court to care for Williams in 2022 was not public or known to Williams' family — is “acting in her capacity as interim guardian.”
The complaint, which also reportedly seeks an injunction, names A+E Networks, Lifetime's parent company, and Entertainment One Reality Productions, which produced the four-and-a-half-hour documentary, which will air over two nights. next Saturday and Sunday.
Morrissey's lawsuit reportedly seeks an injunction to stop distribution of the film. A+E Networks reportedly filed an appeal on Friday. The judge has ordered documents in the case to be temporarily sealed but has set a court date for the matter next week, TMZ reports.
Kannie Yu LaPack, Lifetime's executive vice president of public relations, public affairs and social media, confirmed to that Lifetime appeared in court on Friday, but did not provide details of the proceedings. Yu LaPack also said that “Where's Wendy Williams?” “will air this weekend as scheduled.”
The two-part series “Where Is Wendy Williams?” was filmed between August 2022 and April 2023. chronicles the former shock athlete who became a daily sensation as her health and mental state deteriorated. Williams' representatives announced Thursday that she was diagnosed with primary progressive aphasia and frontotemporal dementia; Williams also suffers from the autoimmune disease Graves' disease and lymphedema, in which fluid builds up in the soft tissues of the body. These problems, along with her alcohol addiction, are documented in the Lifetime film.
Williams is executive producing the raw documentary, which was originally intended as a behind-the-scenes look at the relaunch of her career via a new podcast. The production team began following the former Wendy Williams Show host in late August 2022, but given her physical and mental condition, the focus turned to her struggles with addiction and autoimmune diseases.
In a moment from the documentary shared exclusively with People, Williams sits down with her friend Angela “Blac Chyna” White — the former reality TV star known for her romantic relationship with Rob Kardashian. White, 35, had stopped by Williams' New York apartment, where the two had a heart-to-heart talk, during which Williams took off her wig and revealed her real hair. Later in the clip, she takes off her shoes to reveal her feet and shows White how her lymphedema has damaged them.
Morrissey was appointed Williams' conservator in the midst of her public downfall; The TV personality's then-financial advisor claimed in a New York court in late 2022 that she was “mentally unsound,” prompting the bank Wells Fargo to file a request for temporary financial guardianship of Williams.
Williams remains in a facility under Morrissey's care today and is still unavailable to anyone other than the previously publicly unknown woman. A call from to Morrissey was not immediately returned.
February 23, 12:13 p.m This story has been updated with commentary from Lifetime.