How she doin’? Through the years, Wendy Williams has made headlines for much more than just her brutally honest opinions and on-air spats with her A-list interviewees.
The talk show host, who was once dubbed “New York’s Shock Jockette” during her radio days, has found herself face-to-face with numerous health and personal struggles. She was addicted to cocaine for a decade in the beginning of her career, and more recently has battled Graves’ disease, hyperthyroidism and other physical ailments.
Williams’ marriage has also been a hot topic (no pun intended). For years, she has weathered allegations that her now-ex-husband, Kevin Hunter, was living a double life and had been unfaithful to her. After the TV producer welcomed a baby with another woman in March 2019, Williams finally pulled the plug on their 21-year marriage. The former couple finalized their divorce in January 2020.
The following year, Williams opened up about where she stood with Hunter, telling Extra, “He calls from time to time. … I don’t block his number though, he’s my son [Kevin Jr.’s] father.”
The pair’s ups and downs were explored in Williams’ Lifetime biopic, Wendy Williams: The Movie, which aired in January 2021. A documentary titled Wendy Williams: What a Mess accompanied the movie. While speaking with the Los Angeles Times about the two films, the Masked Singer alum referred to them as a “breakup project.”
She explained in January 2021, “I’m 56 years old. My breakup project is not destroying my ex-husband. I don’t regret meeting him. We fell in love almost instantly. We’ve been through a lot. … I have no regrets about marrying him, and I have no regrets about divorcing him.”
The New Jersey native asserted at the time that she had “outgrown” the relationship regardless of reported scandals. “That’s the best way I can describe it,” she said. “And I’ve accepted my growth as opposed to fighting it.”
Williams didn’t want either movie to hold back about her past — even the most troubling parts. Viewers learned that she is the survivor of sexual assault and got a more in-depth look at her struggles with substance abuse. The Dancing With the Stars alum also recalled receiving “endless calls” with supportive messages about her prior miscarriages, which she experienced before welcoming her son in 2000.
“You’d be surprised how many women opened up and said, ‘Oh, my gosh, Wendy, that happened to me,'” she told the newspaper. “I would get stopped in the streets. … It really became very soothing for me to feel like my loss was able to help other people not feel embarrassed, not feel ugly or less than a woman.”
Take a look back with Us Weekly at some of the Ask Wendy author’s personal woes.