‘Where Is Wendy Williams?’ Producers Reflect On Shocking Documentary: “More Worried About What Would Happen To Wendy If We Stopped Filming”

When Wendy Williams began filming the documentary Where is Wendy Williams? in August 2022, producers were expecting to follow her career comeback. However, the storyline quickly shifted as the former television host experienced clear cognitive issues and struggled with alcoholism. Now knowing that she was exhibiting early signs of dementia, producers Mark Ford and Brie Miranda Bryant claimed they wouldn’t have picked up cameras in the first place had they known about her diagnosis.

The producers opened up to The Hollywood Reporter about the making of the two-part documentary, which finished filming in April 2023 after Williams’ court-appointed guardian placed her in a care facility to deal with her ongoing health struggles.

“It was supposed to be a documentary that would follow her journey back into her career doing a podcast,” Ford told THR. “We thought it was a great idea, and we were hopeful that Wendy’s story would be redeeming and we’d be able to document this journey.”

He continued, “But as we filmed, it became evident that this wasn’t really going to be a career comeback story, that this was going to be a deeper story, and that there was something ultimately disturbing going on in Wendy’s life.”

According to the producer, Williams — who is also listed as an executive producer on the project — “loved the camera” and “became very close” with the crew.

“There was a real emotional connection that the project gave her, and honestly, it got to a point where we were more worried about what would happen to Wendy if we stopped filming than if we continued,” Ford said. “Because we ultimately knew that we have the control and we can just not air this if it can’t be moved into a positive, redeeming direction for her where we can help Wendy and hopefully other people.”

Reflecting on their decision to cease filming — which reportedly came after Williams was found in her apartment with her eyes rolled to the back of her head — Bryant said they were “cameras down” from the moment she was sent to a facility.

Days before Where is Wendy Williams? premiered, her team published a press release revealing she had been diagnosed with primary progressive aphasia and frontotemporal dementia, which has left some viewers wondering if Williams was exploited by producers.

“The diagnosis that was announced was not the information that any of us had going into it,” Bryant said. “So, people were watching the journey with information that we didn’t have in those first two hours, and I think that’s part of the confusion and the upset and outrage.”

Ford echoed that they “never would’ve aired something that didn’t have Wendy’s best interests and her family’s best interests at heart.”

He added, “Of course, if we had known that Wendy had dementia going into it, no one would’ve rolled a camera.”

Williams’ guardian ultimately filed a lawsuit attempting to stop Lifetime from airing the documentary two days before the premiere. However, a judge dismissed the request on the grounds of the First Amendment.

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