When Wendy Williams' new Lifetime documentary debuts on Feb. 24 and 25, the TV personality's fans will get an inside look at her life after the end of her daytime show and learn more about her health and substance abuse battles. A press release on Feb. 22 confirmed the entertainment host has been diagnosed with aphasia and frontotemporal dementia.
Viewers will also get the chance to hear from the 59-year-old's son, Kevin Hunter Jr., during the two-part special.
Williams has never shied away from speaking about her son in public, but the 23-year-old has mostly lived out of the public eye.
Kevin Hunter Jr. is now opening up about his mother's well-being and sharing his concerns. Here's what Williams has shared about her son, and what he's said about her.
Wendy Williams said she 'fought tooth and nail' to be a mother and had several miscarriages
Wendy Williams and ex-husband Kevin Hunter welcomed their first and only child together in 2000: a son named Kevin Hunter Jr.
The TV personality discussed her challenging journey to motherhood in 2015 during a PBS special titled, "American Masters: The Women's List."
“I fought tooth and nail to be a mother,” she said, per a transcript given to TODAY.com by PBS. "I suffered several miscarriages including two at five months. That’s when you have the clothes already picked out, the nursery is already painted. They ask you do you want a funeral or do you want the cremation.”
Williams described her son as "a hard-won child" and expressed her gratitude for him.
“I would’ve loved to have had more children but I don’t want to test my blessing. Being a mother is for me. It’s not for everybody. It’s for me,” she added.
Wendy Williams has called herself a 'tell it like it is parent'
While chatting with Yahoo in 2015, Williams described her parenting style.
"I’m a tell-it-like-it-is parent, but I don’t give my son more information than I feel he can handle. He’s very communicative with me and my husband, so he will double back and ask questions if he has them. So we tell him just what he needs to know, and then if he has questions, we know he’ll ask," she said.
The TV host also noted that she made it a priority to take care of herself so she could be more present for her son.
"I think it’s more important for a mom to take care of herself than take care of her family. If she’s not good than nobody’s good. If I’m not good, then everybody in the family is going to pay," she said.
Wendy Williams said she stayed in her marriage for her son's sake
Williams married Kevin Hunter in 1999 and filed for divorce in 2019, citing “irreconcilable differences.” That same year, she revealed to New York Times Magazine that she left her ex-husband because he fathered a child with another woman.
Kevin Hunter said, in a statement released at the time of their divorce, that he is "not proud" of his recent actions.
"I take full accountability and apologize to my wife, my family and her amazing fans. I am going through a time of self-reflection and am trying to right some wrongs," he said.
Williams opened up about her divorce in 2021 during an interview with ET, saying she stayed in her marriage for her son's sake.
"I stuck with my ex-husband because we had a son. If we didn’t have children, I would’ve been out. But we had a son and we were living, my career was doing better. Every year my career would do better, and every year Kevin would turn into more of a jerk," she said.
At the time, Williams said her son was handling the divorce "the best he can."
Williams has said her son has always been 'very encouraging' about her career
When Williams received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2019, she spoke about the role her son has played in her success during an interview with People.
“He’s always encouraged me to keep it going,” she said. “And never asks me to pull back from anything that I say or that I wear or anything like that. He’s always been very encouraging.”
Kevin Hunter Jr. is an executive producer on her new Lifetime documentary
Kevin Hunter Jr. is listed as an executive producer of his mother's new Lifetime documentary, “Where is Wendy Williams?” along with Williams and her manager Will Selby, among others.
"My mom, she always talks about how she wants to work. I feel as though she's worked enough," he says in the trailer.
Williams delayed the fall 2021 start of Season 13 of "The Wendy Williams Show" due to health issues, then was absent once it began, a series of guest hosts taking her place. The show ended in 2022. It replaced with a talk show hosted by Sherri Shepherd. Williams entered a wellness facility in September 2022.
“My mom has done a great job making it seem like everything is OK always, but in reality there’s something wrong going on,” he says in the trailer.
Kevin Hunter Jr. has criticized his mother's guardian
Williams’ new documentary dives into the state of her physical, mental and financial health. The star is currently under a financial guardianship.
“I have no money,” she says in the trailer. “And let me tell you something, if it happens to me, it can happen to you.”
In a trailer for the new documentary, Kevin Hunter Jr. suggests that his mother's guardian isn't looking out for her.
“I feel like the guardian has not done a good job of protecting my mom,” he said.
Williams' guardian has filed a lawsuit against Lifetime’s parent company, A&E Television Networks, ahead of the documentary's release.