Behind The Finals Days Of The Wendy Williams Show

[RAMROD 105,789]

 

On the morning of Sept. 30, 2021, two television executives made their way to Wendy Williams’ apartment in downtown Manhattan. As the longtime producers of The Wendy Williams Show, Debmar-Mercury co-presidents Mort Marcus and Ira Bernstein were trying to assuage the fears of the talk show’s 100-person staff, who they knew were reading about Williams’ health struggles in the press.

The 58-year-old host, whose catchphrase “How you do-i-i- i-n’?” became a rallying cry for daytime gossip hounds, appeared to be in good spirits when Young arrived at her apartment around 8 a.m. The two had rehearsed what she would say a handful of times, and Young, who’d worked closely with Rosie O’Donnell and Martha Stewart before Williams, was feeling good about what was about to transpire. At 10 a.m., some 50 staffers, many of whom had worked at The Wendy Williams Show for more than a decade, were asked to congregate in the studio, with several more logging in from home. What happened next did not go as planned.

Williams, who had riffed live on TV for 12 years, and before that on the radio, did not seem herself, according to multiple people present, much less able to communicate a clear message, as her speech quickly became muddled and disconnected. Aware that their plan was backfiring, the executives thanked everyone for their time and ended the Zoom abruptly.

“It lasted two and a half, three minutes, and it was not pretty,” says Lonnie Burstein, Debmar-Mercury’s executive vp programming, who had been seated in the studio with the show’s staff. “People were sort of freaked out. She was saying things like, ‘Oh, I can’t wait, I’ll be back with you really soon,’ but it was obvious to anyone watching that she was not going to be back really soon.” 

Back at the show, the staff was focused on launching season 13. A promo shoot was scheduled for Sept. 2, which would focus on the number 13. “It’s such a random, scary number for a lot of people, so we had an idea of an elevator with a 13th floor and it opens up to our stage and it’s like, ‘Oh, it’s OK,’ ” says Debmar-Mercury senior vp marketing Adam Lewis. An elevator was constructed at a nearby studio and Williams would be seen riding up to floor 13. The night before, word came, via Young, that she wouldn’t be well enough to make it. Williams was back in the hospital. With the set already built, Lewis and the team revised the plan, sticking Williams’ iconic purple chair in the elevator instead. A week later, the host bailed on her promotional appearances, too. 

Then things went from bad to worse. Photos of Williams walking the city streets in blue hospital booties began flooding the internet. A few days later, reports of her being hospitalized for a psychiatric evaluation followed. It had become clear, internally, that they would need to push the season premiere by a couple of weeks, but Lewis and the show’s PR team were still trying to figure out what, exactly, they’d say. Then Williams came down with COVID-19.

The stations had been plenty patient up until then; now, a new plan was needed. “They started calling, saying, ‘Guys, if you don’t [put on new episodes], we’re going to pull it.’ So, what could we do? We started saying, ‘Let’s just do a couple of weeks of guest hosts until she’s better,’ ” says Marcus, with Bernstein adding: “For the first four, five, six, eight weeks, we think we’re putting a Band-Aid on it and Wendy’s coming back.”

Back in New York, The Wendy Williams Showwent on without her. But as Thanksgiving turned to Christmas, the stations were feeling pressure to finalize their fall 2022 lineups, which are done a year in advance in syndication. As much as they, like Debmar-Mercury, were eager for Williams to return, renewing the “Maybe Wendy Williams Show” was not an option. “At a certain point, you can’t really play what-if,” says Frank Cicha, executive vp programming for the Fox TV stations. “You do have to have an answer.” So, on Feb. 22, 2022, Debmar-Mercury made its plan official: The Wendy Williams Show would end with its 13th season that spring, and a new show from Shepherd would launch in its time slot in the fall.

We were battling for the life of the show,” says Burstein, who admits they faced plenty of rejection in their quest for guest hosts, too. “Wendy comes with a stink to it. It’s the same reason for the 12 years preceding we struggled to book guests. She was tough on many celebrities, and a lot of celebrities hate her. It’s also why she had success, she’s no holds barred. But even people who were interested in doing a talk show wanted no part of [hosting it].”

Marcus and Bernstein didn’t know when or if they’d hear from Williams again; then one day in late February, or maybe it was early March, Bernstein’s phone rang.

What was all this about her show being canceled, Williams wondered. “I said, ‘We haven’t heard from you, and we had to make a decision.’ We should have made one in November, but we pushed it to January or February, and by then, it was like, ‘Make a decision or lose the time period,'” recounts Bernstein. “She said, ‘Well, what’s going to air at 10 o’clock?’ I told her, ‘Sherri’s going to air at 10 o’clock.’ ‘So, can I go on at 11?’ I said, ‘We’d love to work with you, and there are lots of ways and lots of buyers, but you need to come back, and we need to know that you’re OK. You can’t just call after nine months and say, ‘I’m ready.'”

A version of this conversation would take place several more times over the next four months. There were multiple phone calls — sometimes with Bernstein, sometimes with Marcus — and a sit-down lunch in Manhattan. Each time, according to the pair, Williams appeared to be having the discussion for the first time.

The day before the final show, Williams is said to have caught a promo on Fox. “She called me, like, ‘Wait a minute, what do you mean it’s canceled? What are you talking about?'” says Marcus, who would have to have the same heartbreaking conversation once more. Selby believes that his client didn’t think the show was actually ending until that point. “No matter how many people could have told her — you could have told her, I could have told her — she’s thinking, ‘I’ll be ready in a week and I’m coming to shoot,'” he says. “So, it kind of happened all of a sudden for her, even though it was unraveling before her eyes.”

full article, which I encourage you to read:

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-features/the-wendy-williams-show-inside-final-days-1235199635/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social

 

 

[Fanta 5,019]

Oh no…I feel so bad for her  

[The BPD Monster 1,718]

The end of an era. Legend wendy 💔🥲

[ARTFAP 1,251]

love her or hate her..she really created the funniest memes on the internet. 

 

"wha-what was that?"

"she's an icon, she's a legend and she is the moment, now come on now!"

*liberty statue faints*

 

love you miss wendy wiliams.