For producers Mark Ford and Erica Hanson, their multi-part Lifetime docuseries Where Is Wendy Williams? was a project that served as a force of healing and came from a place of support.
The pair came out to An Evening With Lifetime: Conversations On Controversies, an FYC event held at The Grove in Hollywood on Wednesday, and they spoke with ET’s Deidre Behar about their high-profile project about Wendy Williams, and what it would mean for it to get recognized at the Emmys.
“Oh, that would mean, I think, the world. Not only to us, but to Wendy,” Hanson shared. “I can’t even imagine the impact that would have on her.”
Hanson said that Williams — who, along with her son, Kevin Hunter Jr., co-produced the film — saw the docuseries as an opportunity to “be able to tell her story so honestly and truthfully” and to be a “catalyst for change.”
“It would be an amazing tribute to Wendy to get an Emmy nomination for something she was an executive producer on that allowed her to tell her story,” Ford added.
The four-and-a-half-hour documentary chronicles the events that led to Williams being placed under the control of a court-ordered guardian in 2022.
It also highlights the TV personality’s health struggles — coupled with upheaval in her personal life — including fainting on live TV back in October 2017 (which she claimed was from dehydration), revealing her Graves’ disease diagnosis on her show in February 2018 (forcing her to take three weeks off) and her shoulder fracture in December 2018 and dealing with a very public breakup with then-husband Kevin Hunter, whom she officially divorced in January 2020 after 25 years of marriage.
“This is not an easy story to watch or to tell. But hopefully we did it truthfully, with integrity and sensitively,” Hanson told ET.
“She’s still fabulous, you know, even in the dire situation she’s in. Wendy has an incredible spirit, you know, and I think people can feel that,” Ford added. “[And] she really appreciates the love and attention that her fans have given her because of this platform.”
According to Ford, they haven’t spoken with Williams since the documentary debuted, but he claims that he’s spoken to “people who are close to her, and she has seen the film, and she’s fine with it, according to the people that have spoken to her.”
They have, however, been in touch with Williams’ family, “And the story’s not over. I could say that much,” Ford shared. “We’ve continued to be in touch with them and they’re very supportive of the project.”
“I think, you know, this isn’t the end of this story. There’ll be more,” Ford suggested. “I don’t think the world has seen the last of Wendy Williams.”
While the film was eye-opening for many, it also drew quite a bit of heat online from some who felt it was exploitative of Williams’ health problems and the series of setbacks she’s suffered in recent years.
That being said, Hanson addressed the pushback, telling ET, ” I can understand that it’s a very difficult film to watch. It was a very difficult film to make, at times. But I think we were moved to want to tell the truth of what was happening in her life… even though it was painful.”
Hanson added that Williams was also “very direct about what she wanted to do and not do… but she really didn’t have a lot of limitations.”
“Wendy is the ultimate truth-teller and she said, from the very first time we sat down with her, ‘There are no boundaries. Ask me anything, you can film anything, I am a public person, I live publicly, this is my story,'” Ford shared. “And so we just followed that direction — into unfortunately very uncomfortable places.”
One of the more emotional moments in the documentary came when Angela White — who previously went by the stage name Blac Chyna — made an unexpected appearance during the filming of the documentary.
“It was an extraordinary day,” Hanson recalled. “It was so moving and I was so touched by how sensitive and thoughtful she was for Wendy, and the bond [they have]. You could just feel how much she cared about Wendy and it was really a beautiful moment. I thought that was one of the most beautiful moments in the film.”
White spoke to ET in April about her unplanned experience being part of the documentary.
“I just went over to her house,” she said to ET, expressing her surprise at the presence of cameras during the candid conversation. Recalling the spontaneous nature of her visit, White emphasized the genuine connection she shares with Wendy.
White said that, although she was in the documentary, she didn’t watch the whole thing, saying, “I’ve seen certain clips and things like that.”
“I’m the type of person, if I see more than what I need to see, I’m gonna have to dig and get to the bottom of certain things and I’m just like, ‘Whatever for me is supposed to be for me,’ you know what I mean? And I was there for Wendy and I didn’t even know that they were, like, filming a documentary,” White said.
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