Wendy Williams‘ court-appointed guardian tried to dam the discharge of a Lifetime docuseries in regards to the discuss present host, telling a courtroom final month that she was “horrified” by the depiction of Williams as a “drunkard” and a “laughingstock.”

The guardian, Sabrina Morrissey, obtained a brief restraining order to maintain the two-part collection, entitled “The place is Wendy Williams?”, below wraps.

However A+E Networks, the dad or mum firm of Lifetime, and Leisure One have been shortly in a position to get that order overturned on Feb. 23, with an appellate choose ruling it an “impermissible prior restraint on speech” below the First Modification. The present aired over the next weekend.

The battle between the guardian and the community has been reported beforehand. However extra particulars turned accessible Thursday, when a New York choose ordered many of the courtroom file within the case unsealed.

Williams ended her 14-year run as a nationally syndicated discuss present host two years in the past, after fighting medical points. Round that point, Wells Fargo froze her accounts, fearing that she was affected by dementia and was probably being financially exploited.

That motion led to the appointment of the guardian. Williams was in the end identified with frontotemporal lobe dementia and progressive aphasia in Might 2023.

By that time, Williams had signed a contract to make the documentary. Her son, Kevin Hunter Jr., and supervisor, William Selby, have been concerned as producers. Williams is listed as an government producer.

In line with the guardian, nonetheless, Williams lacked the capability to consent to the contract and nonetheless does. Morrissey however allowed the manufacturing to go ahead, with the understanding that nothing could be launched with out her approval and the approval of the courtroom, in keeping with her criticism.

Morrissey did put limits on the filming, telling Selby she wouldn’t enable filming of Williams’ medical appointments. And at sure level, the guardian refused to permit Williams to take part in additional interviews.

“Within the months that adopted, Selby repeatedly requested whether or not (Williams) may take part in further filming, stating that A+E wished to movie further episodes,” the criticism states. “The Guardian made it clear that (Williams’) medical situation precluded any additional filming or interviews.”

The criticism alleges that Morrissey was utterly blindsided by the trailer, which was launched on Feb. 2. Neither she nor the courtroom had signed off on the discharge of the undertaking.

She additionally alleges that Selby had assured her that it might be a optimistic portrayal, “like a phoenix rising from the ashes.”

“Nevertheless, the Trailer makes clear that the documentary is something however optimistic,” the criticism states. “As an alternative, it cruelly portrays (Williams) as deeply confused and erratic, all whereas she is patently disabled attributable to her medical circumstances.”

Morrissey was “horrified” to see Williams’ medical situation exploited and mischaracterized as the results of alcohol, and to see her depicted in a “humiliating, degrading method.”

Morrissey feared that the collection would “damage her legacy, and eviscerate the remaining incomes potential which she has by portraying her as a drunkard and a laughingstock.”

Williams’ kinfolk have been vital of the guardianship, and the collection displays that perspective. Within the criticism, Morrissey argued that the trailer falsely means that Williams’ “declining situation has been prompted or exacerbated by the guardianship.”

Williams’ sister and son seem within the collection to specific their objections to the guardian, who isn’t recognized by title, and their view that her household must be in command of her care.

After the collection aired, Selection chief TV critic Aramide Tinubu referred to as the present an “exploitative show of her cognitive decline and emotional well-being.” The collection scored sturdy scores, with 1.2 million viewers over the preliminary broadcast plus the next three days.