Guardian Wendy Williams claims host was ‘incapable of consenting’ to documentary in unsealed lawsuit

The fallout from the controversial Wendy Williams documentary continues. According to a now-seat lawsuit filed by TV host Sabrina Morrissey’s court-appointed guardian, Lifetime and its parent company A&E allegedly “shamelessly” exploited Williams in “Finding Wendy Williams?” Documentary.

Behind Peoplethe caregiver filed the lawsuit after seeing a trailer for the documentary that appeared online earlier this yr. In the lawsuit obtained by the outlet, Morrissey reportedly “sharply criticizes” the project, claiming it “portrays her in an extremely degrading and undignified manner.”

The documents show that the previous “The Wendy Williams Show” host was “unable” to consent to her contract with A&E Networks and that “all agreements required court and legal guardian approval before the documentary included privately shot material from the talk show” host could have been released publicly,” claiming that such consent “was neither sought nor granted.”

She also alleges inaccuracies in the documentary, accusing Lifetime of “mistakenly stating that she is ‘broke’ and cruelly implying that her disoriented behavior is the result of substance abuse and intoxication.”

The document reads: “This blatant abuse of a defenseless woman with a serious illness, loved by millions in the African American community and beyond, is disgusting and cannot be allowed.”

The documentary’s executive producer, Mark Ford, revealed that “Wendy’s lawyers and guardians were consulted and entered into an agreement” in a report about People Magazine last month. In a press release issued in response to news of the lawsuit, a Lifetime representative told the outlet on Thursday: “We look forward to unsealing our documents because they tell a very different story.”

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The documentary, which aired on Lifetime last month, received strong rankings for the cable channel, averaging “1.04 million same-day viewers on Hollywood reporter. However, the two-part event was met with mixed reviews, with some critics going so far as to call the project “disturbing and exploitative.” reports.

Before the film’s release, it was revealed that Williams had been diagnosed with primary progressive aphasia and frontotemporal dementia, as previously reported by TheGrio. IN interview on Today.com shortly after the documentary’s premiere, producers told the outlet that they were unaware of her diagnosis, but simply said, “Sometimes Wendy was the middle of attention and she or he was very Wendy. On other days she wasn’t.