The recently announced Wendy Williams biopic is not going to wipe clean the former radio host’s story.
“The Wendy Wiliams Show” host has written several books about her life and has been open about her issues with drug abuse, and the Lifetime flick about her past will tackle it all.
Sources with the women-focused network told TMZ Sunday that the movie will cover her life from age 10 to 55. All aspects of her upbringing and rise to fame — from her family fat-shaming her as a child to her later coke addition, sexcapades and a previously untold allegation of being date raped by a top-charting performer — will be covered.
It’ll also tackle Williams facing racism and sexism in Hollywood. And as her divorce from husband Kevin Hunter looms large, that and their marriage will also be covered in the doc. It’s not clear, however, whether or not rumors of his abuse against her or his rumored love child with mistress Sharina Hudson will be chronicled. Insiders added that Williams’ relationship with Mo’Nique, who has claimed her marital woes are “karma” for her spreading gossip, will also be part of the biopic.
As previously reported, Will Packer, who is responsible for “Night School” and “Girls Trip,” will be producing the movie alongside Williams. The script will be helmed by Leigh Davenport, who is responsible for writing the TV adaptation of the hit 1992 romantic comedy “Boomerang.”
The movie is said to be titled “Just Wendy” and is due out next year, with production beginning this fall. It is described as a TV effort depicting the talk show host’s “scrappy upstart days in urban radio to the success of her own syndicated talk show.”
Williams will not play herself in the movie, she told TMZ photographers last week, but a source told the outlet that two different actresses will portray her. Williams wants them to be unknown stars “because I don’t want the distraction from the story.” She added auditions will begin “very soon.”
This is not the first time Williams, who has been hosting her talk show for 10 seasons, has attempted to get a movie made about her life. The unreleased “Queen of Media” was a 2008 effort that Williams and her estranged husband financed, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
Starring Robin Givens, it was loosely based on Williams’ autobiography “Wendy’s Got the Heat,” which was a 2001 New York Times bestseller. It had been set for release in 2011, but ultimately got delayed. Although Williams has said it will never see the light of day, clips have since leaked online.
