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Wendy Williams‘ brother, Tommy, has stepped forward to support their families’ recent statements about how she’s currently doing.
This comes amid pending questions about Wendy’s health status amid the release of the ‘Where Is Wendy Williams?’ Lifetime documentary.
RELATED: Here’s What We Learned From Wendy Williams’ Documentary
Wendy Williams’ Brother Gives Update On Her Health
As we previously reported, Wendy and Tommy’s sister, Wanda Finnie, told PEOPLE that Wendy is “not the person” people see in the film. She added that their sister was in a “wellness, healing type of environment.” However, none of the former TV host’s family seems to know the facility’s location. All her family members, including her son Kevin Hunter Jr., have allegedly only been able to access her via phone when she calls.
The same goes for Wendy Williams’ brother Tommy. Like Wanda, he recently told US Weekly that the Purple Chair Queen sounds like she’s improved since being away. At least from what he can tell in her voice.
“When I speak to Wendy she sounds fine. Wendy has improved,” Tommy told the outlet. “I know my sister from where she was to where she is now, and she has a substantial amount of improvement. It’s dialogue and conversation, topics, content, speech pattern, everything.”
He claims that she hasn’t recently shown some of her “past behaviors” exhibited in the documentary. Tommy admits the documentary showed her in a “worse state” but said she’s now “in a different state.”
But while her family is restricted from in-person access, that’s reportedly not the case for Wendy’s court-appointed guardian. The guardian has been overseeing Wendy’s finances and health decisions since May 2022.
TMZ broke the news that her conservator filed a lawsuit against A&E to prevent the documentary from airing. However, a judge ruled that the premiere could proceed as planned, per USA Today, and the two-part special aired last weekend.
What Were The Issues With Wendy’s Health?
Ahead of the documentary airing, Wendy Williams revealed via her caretaker that she had been diagnosed with progressive aphasia and frontotemporal dementia. Williams also suffered from Graves disease and hyperthyroidism.
After informing the public of her additional diagnoses, Wendy reportedly told US Weekly she’s feeling “immense gratitude for the love and kind words” and “overwhelming” responses.
Wendy Williams’ brother didn’t share the last time he’s spoken to the former TV host. However, he shared his hopes that she will come forward and show her progress.
In US Weekly’s Feb. 28 report, Tommy revealed that “there’s no visual on Wendy moving her lips on her own growth and development” yet. However, he wants her to address the public and change the narrative.
“My hope is that Wendy will be seen and address the public on her own so people can see how she is now,” Tommy said. “I am proud of her development and I think it can change the narrative. I think Wendy can come all the way back. Her story is inspirational. Her story is one to share and it’s impactful.”
Producers for the documentary recently told The Hollywood Reporter if had they known about Wendy’s dementia going into the project, “no one would’ve rolled a camera.” But her publicist Shawn Zanotti has called cap on their claims, alleging the producers filmed a project Wendy had not “signed up for.”
Producer Mark Ford added that they hadn’t shown Wendy the documentary since its airing because they “had no way to get it to her to see it” due to her facility lockdown. The crew started filing in August 2022 and cut the camera for good in April 2021, per PEOPLE.
Meanwhile, her publicist said Wendy would be “mortified” at Lifetime’s end result.
“There’s no way you can convince me that she would be OK with looking and seeing herself in that way,” Shawn claimed.
