A new Lifetime documentary about former talk show host Wendy Williams is facing backlash for allegedly exploiting her struggles.
The two-part series “Where Is Wendy Williams” features disoriented clips of Williams and a confrontation about empty liquor bottles. Her former publicist Shawn Zanotti slammed the producers, saying Williams thought it would focus on her career comeback, not her personal issues.
Zanotti, who became Williams’ publicist in 2021, claims the project pitched to Williams was very different from what aired. She says it ignored Williams’ good moments and made her look unwell against her wishes.
“I felt that [Williams] was being exploited,” said Zanotti said to NBC News. “She thought we were focusing on the comeback of her career. … She would be mortified. There’s no way you can convince me that she would be OK with looking and seeing herself in that way.”
Just a day before the documentary premiered, Williams’ team revealed she is in treatment for progressive aphasia and frontotemporal dementia. Zanotti believes the diagnosis would not have deterred the producers, who she feels intentionally highlighted confusing moments despite Williams’ condition.
The filmmakers deny knowing about the diagnosis during production. They say they aimed to tell a “complex and sensitive story” about Williams “with dignity.”
But Zanotti insists it came across as an exploitative reality show circus rather than a dignified documentary. She and others are accusing the documentary of unethically highlighting Williams’ struggles for ratings amidst serious health issues.
In an interview with TODAY.com, the filmmakers said they were not aware of Williams’ diagnosis during production, though they acknowledged that “Some days, Wendy was on and very Wendy. Other days, she wasn’t.”
They moved forward with the project because, according to showrunner Erica Hanson, “We all felt this was a complex and sensitive story to tell, and we all felt a great responsibility to do it with dignity and sensitivity.”
But Zanotti is not buying that.
“I don’t think [the diagnosis] would have stopped them at all. The producers were asking questions throughout the entire time — would ask questions where she would somewhat seem confused, and I feel as though it was done to be intentional at that moment in time to make their storyline,” Zanotti said in the NBC News interview. “Again, this was presented as a documentary to her, but to me, it looked as though it was a reality show of a circus, a circus to her downfall.”