Two days before a major documentary chronicling Wendy Williams’ deteriorating mental state is scheduled to premiere on Lifetime, the beleaguered former talk show host’s court-appointed caregiver filed a lawsuit against Lifetime parent company A+E Networks.
Sabrina Morrissey filed the sealed lawsuit for injunctive relief on Thursday in New York County Supreme Court. The suit says that Morrissey — whose identity as the individual appointed by the court in 2022 to look after Williams had been unknown publicly and to Williams’ family — is “acting in her capacity as Temporary Guardian.”
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The complaint, which sought a temporary restraining order, names A+E Networks, the parent company of Lifetime, and Entertainment One Reality Productions, which produced the four-and-a-half-hour documentary set to air over two nights, this coming Saturday and Sunday.
On Friday, Appellate Justice Peter H. Moulton vacated a temporary restraining order signed ex parte, ruling that such an order would be “impermissible prior restraint on speech that violates the First Amendment of the Constitution.”
Moulton continued to keep the case documents sealed, but a court date on the matter has been set for Tuesday, Feb. 27.
Lifetime’s executive vp, publicity, public affairs and social media Kannie Yu LaPack confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that Lifetime appeared in court on Friday, but she did not share any details on the proceedings. Yu LaPack also said that the Where is Wendy Williams? “will air this weekend as planned.”
Filmed between August 2022 and April 2023, the two-part Where Is Wendy Williams? chronicles the former shock jock turned daytime sensation as her health and mental state spiral downward. Williams’ representatives disclosed on Thursday that she has been diagnosed with primary progressive aphasia and frontotemporal dementia; Williams also has the autoimmune disorder Graves’ disease and lymphedema, which is the buildup of fluid in soft body tissues; along with her alcohol addiction, these ailments are documented in the Lifetime film.
Williams is an executive producer on the raw documentary, originally conceived as a behind-the-scenes look at the relaunch of her career via a new podcast. The production crew began to follow the former host of The Wendy Williams Show in late August 2022, but given her physical and mental state, the focus pivoted to her struggles with addiction and autoimmune disorders.
In a moment from the documentary shared exclusively with People, Williams sits down with her friend Angela “Blac Chyna” White — the former reality TV player known for her romantic relationship with Rob Kardashian. White, 35, had stopped in to Williams’ New York apartment, where the two had a heart-to-heart in which Williams removed her wig, revealing her real hair. Later in the clip, she takes off her shoes to expose her feet, showing White just how her lymphedema has damaged them.
Morrissey was appointed caregiver for Williams amid her public downfall; the TV personality’s then-financial adviser alleged in late 2022 in a New York court that she was of “unsound mind,” leading the bank Wells Fargo to petition to have Williams placed under temporary financial guardianship.
Williams remains in a facility under Morrissey’s care today and is still unreachable by anyone other than the heretofore publicly unknown woman. A call placed by The Hollywood Reporter to Morrissey was not immediately returned.
Feb. 23, 12:13 p.m. This story has been updated with a comment from Lifetime.
Feb. 23, 1:45 p.m. This story has been updated with the appellate court ruling in the case.
Hilary Lewis contributed to this report.
