Wendy Williams Opens Up About The Devastating End Of Her Talk Show
After months of uncertainty, it was announced on February 22 that "The Wendy Williams Show" will be ending after 14 seasons on air. The show's host, Wendy Williams, has been absent from the show since October 2021 after announcing on Instagram that she had been "experiencing serious complications as a direct result of Graves' Disease and her thyroid condition." As a result of her absence, a series of rotating guests have been filling in so the show could go on, including Leah Remini, Michael Rappaport, Jerry Springer, and Sherri Shepherd, among others, per People.
Although Williams had reassured her fans in November 2021 that she was optimistic about returning to her show in the new year, distributor Debmar-Mercury announced that Shepherd will be taking over her slots in the fall of this year in a brand new syndicated talk show on Fox. Per The Hollywood Reporter, Shepherd's program — titled "Sherri" — will be distributed by Lionsgate's Debmar-Mercury and will use the same showrunner as "The Wendy Williams Show" for a seamless transition.
While Shepherd said in a statement that she was "excited" to get her own talk show, Williams has now opened up about how she really feels about the devastating end to her talk show.
Wendy Williams 'understands' why her show had to end
Wendy Williams has no hard feelings towards her distributor Debmar-Mercury or anyone associated with ending her show. In a statement obtained by Deadline, Williams' spokesperson Howard Bragman, said the 57-year-old "understands" why the plug had to be pulled.
"It's been a challenging time for Wendy as she deals with her health issues. She is incredibly grateful to Debmar-Mercury, to Sherri and everybody else who has supported the show through this time," Bragman said, noting that Williams knew her prolonged absence would affect the show's future. "She understands why this decision was made from a business point of view, and she has been assured by Debmar-Mercury that should her health get to a point where she can host again and should her desire be that she hosts again that she would be back on TV at that time," he added.
Williams' statement comes after a tumultuous few weeks amid reports that Wells Fargo, the bank that handles her affairs, deemed her "incapacitated" in court filings and suggested she needed to be put in a legal guardianship, per The US Sun. The bank alleges that Williams is a "victim of undue influence and financial exploitation," and had to freeze her accounts and revoke access to her financial assets. However, Williams' lawyer, LaShawn Thomas, has denied the claims, saying, per the Los Angeles Times, "there are no concerns about her state of mind."