Is Wendy Williams “Hiatus” Really Due To Allegedly Abusive Husband?

For months television viewers have watched the slow decline in Wendy Williams’ physical health on her top-rated daytime talk show “The Wendy Williams Show.” 

In October of 2017,  Wendy experienced a scary fainting spell during a Halloween show and then this past December she appeared to be slurring her words and repeating herself. 

Viewers speculated that something was wrong and Wendy finally revealed that due to numerous health complications including a fractured shoulder and Graves’ disease, she would need to take some time off to recover. 

However reports cited a different story, one that included alleged long term physical and emotional abuse from her husband and manager Kevin Hunter, who is also accused of carrying on over a decade long affair with a woman named Sharina Hudson-that Wendy is aware of. 

Page Six is reporting that sources close to the host are beginning to spill Wendy’s tea, with claims that her erratic behavior on set has been going on for the last few years and only severely worsened during the last few months of her show. 

A frequent guest told the NY Post that producers encouraged them to “carry the segment” during their appearance- implying that Wendy couldn’t do it on her own. 

Now, as Wendy is receiving long term care in South Florida and her show is being guest hosted by an array of celebrities, current, and former employees are starting to talk. 

Insiders claim that employees of her TV show have been worried about Wendy’s behavior and incoherence on set since as far back as the 2014/2015 season. 

One former producer talked about how nervous and worried the crew would be on Thursdays in particular when the show would tape two shows; one live and the other one set to air the next day.  

“Sometimes Wendy would be in her dressing room, doing whatever she does between shows, and her behavior for the second show would seem erratic. It started happening more and more frequently…trailing off mid-sentence, not finishing her thoughts.” 

Wendy’s inability to focus seemed to be due to more than over exhaustion. And while Wendy’s been quite honest about her past addictions to cocaine and alcohol, she’s claimed to be sober for a very long time. So could her current struggles be in part to a much deeper issue? 

Wendy has been relatively silent on the rumors of abuse and allegations of cheating that have surfaced against her husband. Even while many who have worked closely with Williams throughout the years of both her TV and former radio show have come forward with tales of witnessing physical abuse, verbal berating of Wendy and her staffers and cruel intimidation tactics used frequently by her husband. 

According to sources from the radio show days, Wendy feared her husband’s wrath. 

“She would hide in the bathroom and tell me to knock on the door when he left the office so she wouldn’t have to see him.” 

The intern also claimed to have witnessed  Hunter pull his wife into private rooms while at the radio station and staffers could hear them fighting from behind closed doors. 

“They’re not your typical couple,” said a former radio show employee. “They’re not a couple where you think there is love there. It’s very toxic.” 

Hunter’s explosive temper has been directed at employees on many occasions. As an executive producer of “The Wendy Williams Show,” despite any previous television experience, he’s known as a tyrant on the set of her talk show, who smokes weed all day in his office and even walks around on set carrying a bottle of tequila. 

According to a former TV show staffer,  Hunter tried to keep Wendy isolated from staff, making sure that she did not form close friendships with anyone. When she did become tight with a wardrobe stylist, Williams made sure to keep her friendship a secret from her husband. Hunter did eventually find out, and the stylist was terminated from her position soon thereafter. 

Hunter was sued in June of 2008 by a woman who worked for “The Wendy Williams Experience” after she made allegations about his abusive behavior. 

In her complaint, Nicole Spence claimed that Hunter sexually harassed her and created a “hostile work environment” where she allegedly witnessed Hunter physically assault his wife, choking her and pinning her against a wall. The case was settled on October 22, 2008. 

Wendy -to her credit,  continues to seem relatively unfazed, despite the many negative reports surrounding him. And has even shot down any rumors about his alleged relationship with Sharina Hudson, stating on air in September of 2017: “I stand by my guy.”