Wendy Williams is continuing to see the fallout from her comments earlier this summer about the NAACP and historically Black colleges and universities. Now, a few head staffers from her show have been fired following the debacle. In a July episode of “The Wendy Williams Show,” the host questioned the need for HBCUs and the NAACP. She seemed to imply it was discriminatory.
“I would be really offended if there was a school that was known as a historically white college. We have historically Black colleges,” she said. “What if there was the National Organization for White People, only? There’s the NAACP.”
Though she swiftly apologized for the comments, Williams was blasted online.
A source tells Page Six “the crew had a big party celebrating what they considered a season well done, and the next day [some of them] got calls saying they’d been let go.”
Three producers were laid off, including Jason Gabel, who was part of the program since it began in 2008. Executives are looking to revamp the show by including more pop culture and current events coverage.
While the names of the other two producers have not been made public, executive producer David Perler has retained his position on the nationally syndicated talk show. An insider told The Wrap the team is “up in arms” over claims staff members were fired because they were blamed for Williams’ offending remarks.
Following the New Jersey native’s remarks, she invited “NewsOne Now” host Roland Martin to the show to educate her on why HBCUs are needed.
“When it comes to our colleges, we couldn’t go to [white] schools,” he said. “As a matter of fact, we couldn’t read during slavery. You could be killed if you were found to be reading. So, that’s why it is so critically important… Our institutions are allowing us to survive in America even though we built this country.”
