It wasn’t till the second a part of Lifetime’s ‘The place Is Wendy Williams?’ docuseries that her son revealed she had “alcohol-induced” dementia — her staff shared a prognosis of major progressive aphasia and frontotemporal dementia days earlier than launch.

Definitely, producers had been unaware of any dementia prognosis once they started the undertaking, which names Wendy Wiliiams and her supervisor Will Selby amongst its govt producers. It was signed and developed as a comeback car. it grew to become one thing fully completely different.

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Wendy’s prognosis is similar as Bruce Willis’, which may clarify among the concern as Willis’ household has expressed that he could also be principally non-verbal presently. Wendy, then again, “remains to be in a position to do many issues for herself,” per her staff’s launch. She is within the care of a court-appointed guardian.

Nonetheless, it was clear throughout the four-and-a-half hour run time of The place Is Wendy Williams? this previous weekend that one thing was significantly amiss with the gregarious and fearless movie star.

In line with producer Mark Ford, because the undertaking developed, they grew to become extra invested with Wendy’s well being on this journey. “At a sure level, we had been extra frightened about what would occur if we stopped filming than if we continued,” he informed The Hollywood Reporter. “Wendy cherished it when the cameras got here to the door, it gave her a purpose to rise up within the morning. I believe you see that.”

By a lot of the collection, Wendy was alone in her residence with solely paid employees current, so she developed an attachment to the manufacturing staff. She was seen scuffling with cognitive operate and alcoholism at varied factors throughout the year-long shoot.

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Ford stated that there have been issues from the start if she would be capable to do that after a preliminary shoot the place Wendy already seemed to be significantly off her sport.

“The story that was given to us after that day is that it was a nasty day for Wendy and that alcohol had been concerned, and now she was going away [for treatment],” Ford stated, together with her administration staff saying they need to be good to maneuver ahead. “And after we did come again, she was higher. She was sober and on a greater trajectory.”

Sadly, that did not final, nor did the intention to comply with her comeback as she ready to launch a podcast “due to what we now know was the state of Wendy’s dementia.”

He additionally stated that at the same time as they continued filming, they weren’t positive that any of it might ever see air — and he stated that there are scenes that positively will not. He additionally stated they actually solely knew the topic was Wendy Williams, and had been in any other case versatile to the place the story took them.

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That wound up being a narrative about “the household’s standpoint and illustrating what can occur when certainly one of your loved ones members is put right into a guardianship outdoors of your management.”

Wendy’s household is in Florida preventing to try to be those who may present her care after Wells Fargo took her to courtroom over suspected fraud, freezing her accounts and seeing her arrange with a court-appointed guardian (whose id was stored secret all through the documentary).

“I believe we’re very clear about our producers’ confusion,” Ford stated of the evolving shoot. “We’re asking all of those questions that everybody has right through. We do not know this supervisor. It is a new supervisor. We do not know this publicist. It is a new publicist. The guardian will not converse to us.”

They stated that regardless of their issues with reference to Wendy’s well-being relating to the shoot, a part of why they continued was due to how related she was to the producers and the undertaking.

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“We in the end knew that we now have the management and we are able to simply not air this if it might’t be moved right into a optimistic, redeeming course for her the place we may also help Wendy and hopefully different folks,” stated Ford. “And that discovery got here a lot later within the course of.”

Because the undertaking progressed, they realized it was a possibility to indicate what life might be like below a guardianship outdoors of the household’s care, and the way they discovered Wendy’s care, specifically, to be considerably missing.

“We felt prefer it was necessary for instance the tough course of that Wendy and her household had been going by means of, and admittedly what can occur to somebody in the event that they’re below the care of a guardian,” Ford defined.

“I believe the household thought, and all of us thought, ‘Shouldn’t there be any person right here extra usually? Shouldn’t there be any person filling a fridge and checking in on her each day?’ None of these issues had been taking place.”

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Requested about how they made judgment calls about when to cease filming, because the documentary captured some uncomfortable moments, Ford stated they needed to play it by ear with in depth conversations within the second.

“We had been always having conversations about whether or not that is worthwhile, whether or not this serves Wendy’s story and helps her transfer ahead,” he defined. “However at a sure level, the story was additionally concerning the actuality of the state of affairs that this lady finds herself in. And it’s not a reasonably actuality. It’s not a pleasant factor to look at.”

“You simply comply with your intuition, and it was a delicate, advanced state of affairs of what felt proper and what felt mistaken,” added producer Erica Hansen. “After which there have been instances the place Wendy made it clear when she was accomplished for the day.”

Speaking concerning the scene within the automobile going to purchase vape the place Wendy appeared to overlook the place she was and what they’d simply been doing, Hansen stated they lastly made the decision, “Okay, we have to cease and be sure that she’s okay and that she goes dwelling.”

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“I might additionally level out that lots of people on our little staff had been touched in their very own worlds by dementia and habit, so everybody from the sector to put up had this deep sense of caring and an excellent sense of ethical accountability,” she continued. “And there have been instances the place we actually felt like if we stopped, what would occur? Would she simply proceed? And would she fall down the steps?”

Whereas the manufacturing staff was by no means in a position to converse with the guardian — “we both obtained a terse hang-up or a really temporary, disagreeable alternate” — they had been in a position to coordinate together with her by means of Wendy’s supervisor, Will. With that, the guardian did log off on the shoot, in addition to Wendy’s journey to go to her household in Miami.

However, the guardian sued Lifetime’s father or mother firm in an try and cease the documentary from airing. “In the end, it’s a First Modification situation,” stated Ford. “No person ought to have the ability to quash Wendy’s voice, and her household’s voice. And fortunately the courts understood that that was crucial factor, and the free press received out right here.”

Additionally they acknowledged that although Wendy is an govt producer, they weren’t in a position to display screen it together with her earlier than it went to air as they’ve not spoken to her since they selected to cease filming in April 2023. At that time, they had been involved sufficient about her well being to cease, with Wendy shortly going to an undisclosed facility for therapy, the place she reportedly nonetheless is.

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Because the household hopes to have the ability to take over as Wendy’s caretakers when her guardianship comes up for its subsequent annual overview, the filmmakers hope that this collection helps them, and the entire guardianship course of.

“I hope the those that instituted this guardianship will watch the movie and see for themselves what Wendy’s state of affairs was, and maybe it is a cautionary story transferring ahead about tips on how to stop this from taking place to different folks,” Ford stated.

“The prognosis that was introduced was not the knowledge that any of us had going into it,” stated Lifetime’s Brie Miranda Bryant. “So, folks had been watching the journey with data that we didn’t have in these first two hours, and I believe that’s a part of the confusion and the upset and outrage.”

“We tried to be as clear as doable,” stated Ford. “Like, Wendy can be left alone with out meals, fully on her personal in that residence with stairs that she may simply fall down. There was nobody there 24/7. So, these are simply all of the questions we had all through. However, after all, if we had recognized that Wendy had dementia going into it, nobody would’ve rolled a digicam.”

“It’s, at instances, very tough movie to look at,” Hanson informed Leisure Tonight. “I believe that ultimately, for me, the nice reduction is that … I actually do consider that we maybe stayed to assist be sure that she obtained the assistance she wanted as a result of she was not there in the course of the time that we had been there.”

Added Ford, “We hope folks watch it with an open thoughts, you understand, get to the ending of it so you may perceive actually the plight of this household.”