Wendy Williams Rise To Talk Show Queen
Wendy Williams is a daytime legend. The New Jersey native clawed her way to the top after spending years in the shadows of the radio world. This was until she scored her first show on WBLS. While there, Williams gained a reputation for being a shock jock with all the tea on celebrities. During her radio glory days, she scored legendary interviews with Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey that helped solidify her as a powerhouse on the air.
Williams flirted with television for a while, even scoring a pilot talk show in the ’90s. She did some one-off specials with VH1 until finally landing her talk show on Fox. After 13 iconic seasons, Williams went out in a bit of a tailspin, as sickness and health issues kept her from appearing at all on her final season. A handful of guest hosts filled in until Sherri Shephard was eventually crowned her replacement. All of her official accounts posted an image of her empty purple chair with the caption, “We love you for watching.” Unhappy fans flooded the comments section complaining about how the show was able to end without a single appearance from its namesake.
Carlos King Calls Wendy The Voice Of A Generation
Carlos King is a television producer known for his work in the reality TV world. He took to Twitter to respond to reports that Williams’s show would indeed be ending without a final bow from the woman herself.
This is heartbreaking. Her show opened doors for Black actors, musicians, reality stars and bloggers to promote when they don’t get those same opportunities on other platforms. End of an era. Say what you want about her but she was the voice of this generation. And will be missed https://t.co/N9v2B51l9e
— Carlos King (@thecarlosking_) June 14, 2022
In a lengthy post, he expressed how “heartbreaking” it is for Williams to be absent from her own finale. “Her show opened doors for Black actors, musicians, reality stars, and bloggers to promote when they don’t get those same opportunities on other platforms—end of an era. Say what you want about her, but she was the voice of this generation. And will be missed.”
Fan Tributes Are Pouring In Across Social Media
Many fans have joined Carlos in disbelief that the Wendy Williams show has ended, and with no appearance from her. “Wendy Williams deserved to be on HER show on the last day. Say what you want, but she worked for that,” said one fan. Another said, “Wendy Williams deserves so much better. She built this show and its audience— to not even pay her the bare minimum respect of letting her appear on its farewell episode is egregious. They handled her so poorly in the wake of her health issues.”
With the Wendy Williams show coming to an end on Friday, I’ve compiled a thread of some of her most iconic moments pic.twitter.com/e5NJz2P4rc
— 067 (@_Xorah_) June 14, 2022
One expressed how deeply upset they were, saying, “I can’t believe The Wendy Williams Show is officially ending tomorrow. She’s a legend, an icon, a problematic fixture who gave us so many pop culture moments. There will never be another Wendy.”
Wendy Williams’s Ex-Husband Is Unhappy With The Network
Wendy Williams’s ex-husband has gotten some of the blame for her last few seasons being so chaotic. While he got a lot of heat for tension behind the scenes and issues with staff, it was his cheating scandal and fathering another child that really overshadowed Wendy Show’s final years. While the talk show host did manage to rebound momentarily, it was obvious that she was never quite the same and suffered through a lot in front of her audience.
Kevin’s still managed to be vocal in the wake of her show ending and has expressed some dissatisfaction with the network for how they handled Williams’s final episode. Speaking with Entertainment Tonight, he called the finale a “travesty on the part of Debmar-Mercury” and felt it was “an unceremonious departure” for a host who had worked so hard to build her show for over ten years. He pointed out that this is the “first time in the history of talk shows for this to be done” and feels that “there is absolutely no reason why a bigger celebration that involved Wendy couldn’t happen.”
Fans think that Kevin has no right to speak since he was part of the problem. “He was part of the reason! You did her wrong, so guess what, sir! You had one job to protect her!” said one. Another responded, “You contributed highly in her demise. Sit down.”
Sherri Shephard Show Will Premiere In September
Sherri Shephard hosted the final episode and showed a lot of love to Wendy. Sherri’s show will debut this fall in Wendy’s timeslot, with much of her staff and crew coming over from Wendy’s program. She has already launched an Instagram account called @SherriShowTV and is prepping things for her big debut. “SEE SHERRI LIVE! This fall, @sherrieshepherd is coming to daytime! Request your tickets to be part of our LIVE studio audience in NYC,” she said in her official announcement.
