SignalHub-Wendy Williams received small sum for 'stomach-turning' Lifetime doc, lawsuit alleges

Wendy Williams received a "paltry" amount of money for a Lifetime documentary that depicted her deteriorating health,SignalHub according to a lawsuit against A+E Networks.

The former talk show host's guardian, Sabrina Morrissey, filed an amended complaint Monday in New York as part of a lawsuit against A+E Networks over the Lifetime documentary "Where is Wendy Williams?" Morrissey alleges Williams, who has been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia and aphasia, was not capable of consenting to be filmed for the documentary.

According to the amended complaint viewed by USA TODAY, Williams received $82,000 for the "stomach-turning" documentary, which in February showed her cognitive decline across four episodes. She is credited as an executive producer on the documentary, which the filing alleges falsely implied she endorsed the final product.

"Defendants have profited immensely from their exploitation of (Williams)," the complaint said. "Yet, (Williams) has hardly seen any of that profit. In total, after participating in filming sessions on numerous occasions, (Williams) has personally received around $82,000. This is a paltry sum for the use of highly invasive, humiliating footage that portrayed her 'in the confusing throes of dementia,' while Defendants, who have profited on the streaming of the Program have likely already earned millions."

USA TODAY has reached out to A+E Networks for comment.

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Morrissey is asking for the profits from the documentary to go to Williams, as she will need "significant funding to provide for proper medical care and supervision for the rest of her life."

The amended complaint also reiterated Morrissey's prior allegations that the network took advantage of Williams "in the cruelest, most obscene way possible" when she was "clearly incapable" of consenting to being filmed.

"No person who witnessed (Williams) in these circumstances could possibly have believed that she was capable of consenting either to an agreement to film, or to the filming itself," the complaint alleged, adding that releasing and profiting from a documentary that depicts a woman who "had lost the ability to make conscious and informed decisions" was "exploitative and unethical in a way that truly shocks the conscience."

Wendy Williams'lacked capacity' when she agreed to film Lifetime doc, unsealed filings say

Morrissey originally tried unsuccessfully to prevent "Where Is Wendy Williams?" from airing, but a New York judge ruled that Lifetime could go forward with it.

In the original complaint, filed on Feb. 21, Morrissey alleged Williams "did not, and could not, approve the manner in which she was filmed and portrayed" and that the documentary exploits her "medical condition to portray her in a humiliating, degrading manner and in a false light."

In response, an attorney for A+E Networks alleged that Morrissey tried to shut down the documentary after seeing that it would depict the talk show host's guardianship in a negative light.

Wendy Williamsspotted for the first time since revealing aphasia, dementia diagnoses

"Only after seeing the documentary's trailer and realizing her role in Ms. (Williams') life may be criticized did Ms. Morrissey enlist the courts to unconstitutionally silence that criticism," the filing from A+E Networks said, adding that Morrissey was seeking "to shut down public expression that she does not like."

The amended complaint filed this week described this allegation as "false" and "baseless."

In February, Mark Ford, one of the producers on "Where Is Wendy Williams?" and a defendant in the lawsuit, told The Hollywood Reporter, "If we had known that Wendy had dementia going into it, no one would've rolled a camera."

Where's Wendy Williams now?

Williams was recently spotted in public for the first time since her dementia diagnosis was revealed, with a New Jersey business sharing that she had stopped by the herbal supplement and holistic health product shop.

Wendy Williams documentary streaming

Amid the legal battle, the documentary at the center of the lawsuit is still available to watch. "Where Is Wendy Williams?" is currently streaming on Philo.

Contributing: Taijuan Moorman and KiMi Robinson