Wendy Williams’ family confirmed that she is receiving treatment for cognitive issues in an undisclosed facility.
“I spoke with her yesterday and I speak with her very regularly when she reaches out to me. She is, from what I understand, in a wellness, healing type of environment,” Williams’ sister Wanda Finnie told People in an interview published on Wednesday, February 21.
Finnie shared that while the family is unable to reach out to Williams, she can reach out to them. She noted that Williams is “in a healing place emotionally.”
The interview comes days before Williams’ documentary, Where Is Wendy Williams?, is set to premiere on Lifetime. (Williams, 59, is an executive producer on the film.)
Filmed between 2022 and 2023, the documentary will cover the period leading up to the final episodes of The Wendy Williams Show, which ended due to Williams’ health issues.
Finnie told the outlet that Williams isn’t “the person that you see in this film,” noting that the former talk show host is “remarkably different” now than the person captured in the documentary.
Williams’ niece Alex Finnie shared she thinks it’s “powerful” for her aunt to “actually put her voice in here and take ownership of what’s happened” in the documentary.
“I’m proud of my aunt for taking control of her narrative because my aunt has always been such a public person and has been an open book, and we’ve all seen the images over the last few months and really few years of what has been like a spiral for my aunt,” Alex said.
Alex added that Williams “sounds really great,” saying, “To hear my aunt now in terms of just how clear she is, just how focused she is on the importance of family and the reality in terms of facing and understanding where she’s at physically and mentally and emotionally, it is like a 180.”
News broke in February 2022 that Williams would not be returning during season 13 of The Wendy Williams Show and would have guest hosts filling in for her. The talk show aired its final episode in June 2022.
Williams entered an in-patient treatment program for “overall health issues” three months later. A September 2022 press release read, “Ms. Williams is being treated by a team of some of the best doctors in the world. We ask for your prayers and well-wishes during this time.”
Williams’ son, Kevin Hunter Jr., spoke out about his mom’s well-being in June 2023, and a source exclusively told Us Weekly that “people aren’t surprised” by his concern. (Williams shares Kevin, 23, with ex-husband Kevin Hunter.)
“As of last year, Wendy wasn’t doing well,” the insider said, adding that she “didn’t seem like herself” and was “incoherent at times.”
Where Is Wendy Williams? airs on Lifetime Saturday, February 24, and Sunday, February 25, at 8 p.m. ET.
