‘Where Is Wendy Williams?’ Used Britney Spears’ Conservatorship In Court Docs To Highlight This Story As “A Matter Of Public Importance”

Amid the drama surrounding the release of Lifetime’s Where Is Wendy Williams?, another stars’ experiences were used to support Wendy Williams‘ past coming to light.

Williams was placed under financial guardianship in 2022, per The Hollywood Reporter. The former talk show host’s guardian was eventually identified as Sabrina Morrissey, who filed a lawsuit against A&E Networks, Lifetime’s parent company, in an effort to stop the docuseries from being released.

In his effort to support the project’s release and address Morrissey’s allegations, executive producer Mark Ford deemed the topic of Williams’ guardianship “a matter of particular public importance,” as revealed in “unsealed court documents” secured by People. He also referred to Britney Spears‘ conservatorship for support, which “sparked enormous debate about the power wielded by court-appointed consecrators and guardians.”

Ford had highlighted in the documents that they “collaborated closely” with Williams, who is credited as an executive producer, and claimed that she was “at all times eager to participate in the documentary,” per People.

In addition to Wendy’s involvement, the docuseries was “undertaken with full participation and cooperation” by her family, according to Ford, per People. Also, her “attorneys and the guardianship attorneys were consulted and signed off” on the docuseries.

According to TMZ, Ford claimed that Williams seemed to “feel most at home when she is able to continue sharing her life,” a sentiment which he had iterated in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.

“There was a real emotional connection that the project gave [Williams], 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,” he told the outlet.

A Feb. 22 press release revealed that Williams had been diagnosed with primary progressive aphasia and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) last year. Ford stated that he was unaware of her diagnosis until shooting was almost done, but that her dementia ultimately became “part of the story she wanted to tell,” per People.

Other than Morrissey, another person critical of the docuseries included Williams’ publicist, Shawn Zanotti, who in an interview with NBC News, said that she “felt that [Williams] was being exploited.”

The project was eventually released, “provid[ing] a raw, honest and unfiltered reality of Wendy’s life after she was placed under financial guardianship, [and] shedding light on the vulnerabilities that has turned Wendy into the Hot Topic herself,” per the synopsis on Lifetime’s website.