Wendy Williams‘ son is relaying serious concerns about his beloved mother’s health and well-being.
For the first time in his life, Kevin Hunter Jr. has come forward to deliver a new interview about his world-famous mother. The 22-year-old man spoke to the US Sun in a feature published early on Monday morning. In it, the 58-year-old star’s grown child expressed explicit concerns about his mother’s safety.
Kevin — who Wendy shares with her ex, Kevin Hunter Sr. — spoke about quite a few aspects of her life, her behind-the-scenes connections, and some of her recent issues. Here are all the shocking and heartbreaking highlights from the longform feature on what’s been going on with the Wendy Williams Show alum…
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Left In The Dark
For one, Kevin slammed the people in Wendy’s inner circle. Specifically, Kevin called out three people on the matter. The first is Will Selby, Wendy’s “jeweler-turned-manager,” as noted by the daytime TV star’s concerned son. The second is Wendy’s PR rep Shawn Zanotti, and the third is Wendy’s legal guardian Sabrina Morrissey, who took over the star’s financial affairs in May of last year. Explaining his concerns, he said:
“I know there are all sorts of things happening that I know in her right mind she would never agree to. As hard as it is seeing her being taken advantage of, I know that if I’m making sure she, as a person, is OK, that is the important thing. Because eventually, she’s going to realize the craziness that’s been going on.”
As of Monday morning’s interview, Kevin claimed none of the three had told him Wendy had been released from the hospital after her most recent health scares. Nor had they allegedly indicated to the star’s son that she was apparently moved out of New York during that process.
Kevin is now worried that the group around Wendy is keeping him in the dark in order to profit off the star power of the longtime television host and former radio shock jock:
“What’s been made more important by the people around her is that while her health may not be great, she needs to keep on earning income, and in my opinion that should not be a priority at all. And whoever has been hired — they are taking advantage of someone who needs to get better.”
Alcohol Issues
Chief among Kevin’s concerns is the persistent issue of his mom’s alcohol use. He plainly told the US Sun on Monday that he is worried about Wendy’s inability to cut off her drinking at this point in her life:
“I know the rate that she uses alcohol isn’t like a normal person — and we’ve spoken about it. I’ve said, ‘this is one thing where you don’t know how to approach it normally, and that’s fine.’ And it’s gotten to a point where yes, it could have that effect that it might be fatal because it affects her way worse than a normal person since it stays in her system.”
So scary…
He brought it back to the people who are allegedly in control of Wendy’s life and career, too:
“There are a lot of people who are very aware that there is an issue with her drinking, and how that issue may be helped, but I think these people are taking advantage of it while allowing it to play out to make it look like they aren’t causing the issue.”
Of course, Wendy spent almost three months in a rehab facility in Malibu, California last fall. As far as Kevin is concerned, though, that nearly 90-day stay didn’t do all it needed to for his embattled mother.
‘Taking Advantage’
Regarding said rehab stay, Kevin claims his mom allegedly signed contracts “either during or immediately after her stay” to take on Selby as her manager. That worries the young man, who believes his mom was put in a difficult position during a tough time:
“They had her in a position where she was agreeing to a lot that she shouldn’t have. When I heard that, that turned me off. In trying to attempt to know what everyone’s intention is around her, at first, I was like, okay this is the team she wants to have around. But once I heard that she was agreeing to stuff around her rehab, I thought, ‘well OK, they are taking advantage.'”
Kevin is also incensed at what he feels are Wendy’s team members encouraging and emboldening her drinking.
Back in the spring, Wendy was shown out at a bar in social media clips. After those snaps were published, Zanotti released a statement calling the night out a “celebration” for the daytime TV legend. Kevin is concerned about that angle on Wendy’s drinking, and believes it is too permissive:
“If they aren’t providing it, they are definitely enabling a type of personality and giving her the green light to drink. They’re just putting their hands up. When someone’s hired help, it’s very easy to just allow certain things to play out. As much as someone may try to say that they’re there for somebody if you’re being hired to be there, there is only so much you could say.”
He went on to add:
“I never want to shame anybody, but in terms of asking if that person is there so that my mom can be the healthiest person and have a long career, stuff like that, they aren’t in it for that. They are just there for the here and now.”
He’s clearly put a lot of consideration into this, as he concluded:
“I don’t want any of this to come across that I am mad at anyone. They don’t know the situation fully and there are times when she does talk that she may sound coherent enough, and they may think, ‘OK, she just wants to have fun.’ And for that reason, I will never have hate — even with the hired help — everyone is just trying to take care of themselves- it is what it is.”
Pursuing New Projects?
At the very end of last year, Kevin says Selby — who the young man calls “the jeweler” — came to him about appearing in an “unscripted project” Wendy was set to film.
Kevin balked at that idea at the time, as he explained:
“The jeweler reached out to me last year and he basically said, ‘we are planning on this [project] being a way that would tell the public about what’s happening.’ I was opposed to it. I felt like, and I still feel like, she shouldn’t be doing anything that involves putting herself in front of the camera. It goes back to putting working first, and herself second. I was then reapproached by the production, not by Will directly, a second time, and I just said, ‘no.'”
Kevin went on to explain that he was cut off from his mother’s funds after Morrissey took over as the star’s financial guardian back in May of last year. So, it seemed Selby was dangling the carrot to get Kevin to be involved in the unscripted project for a much-needed payday:
“They tried to offer me $25,000 to appear [in the project] with an Executive Producer credit. And I chose to not do it for the simple fact that I just felt like however this came about was under a contract she shouldn’t have agreed to, for a project that wouldn’t paint her in a good light.”
For his part, Selby denies the allegations made by Kevin regarding this project, though. When contacted by the US Sun, the jeweler-turned-manager first said:
“No comment because half of this stuff isn’t even true, majority of this is false.”
Then, when asked for clarification, Will insisted he was with Kevin in Miami back in April, and the pair spoke about the proposed project then:
“I was in Miami with Kevin. I forced him to have a conversation because he seemed a little disgruntled. I spoke to him face to face, 1000%. I was like, ‘if there’s a problem, let’s talk. If there’s an issue, let’s have a conversation.'”
But when the outlet made “yet another request for comment” about what Kevin was being untruthful about, Selby again turned down laying out his side of the story:
“There is so much here that is inaccurate it’s really not worth me commenting.”
As for Zanotti, BTW, the publicist reportedly declined to comment “multiple times” on this article.
Hmmm…
Guardian Woes
Kevin also spoke about Morrissey’s role in Wendy’s life, too. The concerned son referenced the time Wendy’s bank accounts were frozen by Wells Fargo, and lamented how she’s allegedly being influenced:
“It’s been really sad what’s been allowed to happen, and ever since the court hearings ended, something just has to be brought to light about what’s going on and how much people are taking in this situation. In terms of who is there now, people have put other things in front of her actually healing and getting better, and unfortunately, unlike many other alcoholics, she is worth a lot more money.”
He went on to add this allegation specifically about Morrissey’s financial role in Wendy’s life:
“I know that Sabrina has a relationship with the jeweler, and I would assume though that they are cool with each other. This is how this was created. And it seems like it’s more about making sure he is OK. I don’t know what the ultimate goal is for [Sabrina] as the person in charge of stuff, but there have never been articles put out saying [Wendy] isn’t OK.”
And Kevin also slammed the financial guardian for her “really vague” updates about his mother:
“I don’t feel like Sabrina has done a great job at all. I think that based on her actions, I’d have to assume something is going on that she’s not telling me. Whether it be that she is receiving income on the side or what, but there is a lot of her pushing away of myself and everybody down here, and saying that she’s not going give updates. She’s really vague with updates.”
Yikes…
Per the US Sun, Morrissey also did not respond to a request for comment on the piece.
Hoping For The Best
At the end of the day, Kevin is hopeful things can soon make a turn for the better.
He wants his mom to “prioritize her health first,” as he explained:
“I think that it’s best for her to have to prioritize her health first. Nobody around her will tell her this, but she doesn’t have to be working. She needs to take a break from trying to progress her career and just be proud of what she’s accomplished. … I am hoping and praying that the people who are up there [in New York] with her right now don’t lead her down the path to where something can’t happen to help her. If there was a way or if there was a plan I could think of I wouldn’t be here doing this interview. I would be doing something that I could do.”
And he concluded with a hopeful but concerning refrain:
“I’m praying that whoever is in control now doesn’t ruin whatever hope there is for her to get back up again.”
Wow.
There’s a lot to take in here, no doubt. You can read the full interview HERE.
Full Article & Source:
Wendy Williams' Son Comes Forward To Say She's Being Exploited In Bombshell First Interview
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