Wendy Williams wants a sit-down with Sherri Shepherd.
Williams’s medical issues and financial woes derailed this season of her eponymous talk show, leading to the Wendy Williams Show getting canceled and Shepherd replacing her in a new show, Sherri, this fall. Since then, there’s been back and forth between the women, and now Williams is publicly calling on Shepherd to hash it out in person.
“I would love the chance to actually speak with Sherri and sit down and meet,” Williams tells Yahoo Entertainment.
Her attorney LaShawn Thomas adds, “Wendy requesting to have a sit down with Sherri to have a meeting of the minds is the perfect solution as she has no ill will or intent. Wendy is preparing to get her show back in motion.”
However, Williams’s publicist, Shawn Zanotti, did call out Shepherd for health-shaming the Wendy Williams Show host.
“I personally feel that it is difficult to wish a person well, which Sherri did,” during an Instagram Live over the weekend, “while attempting to health-shame them at the same time, especially since Wendy was the one who created multiple platforms that gave Sherri several opportunities,” Zanotti says. “Wendy is an icon and should be respected as such.”
As for Williams’s health, she is “doing amazing,” Zanotti adds. She “tons of support” from family, friends, her team and her “co-hosts” (her nickname for her fans), and is “working on projects.”
Williams’s struggle with Graves’ disease initially kept her from returning to her show this season. Various guest hosts filled in. Shepherd was one of them and The View alum brought in solid ratings. In February, it was announced that Williams’s show would be canceled and Shepherd will take over the star’s time slot with her own show, produced by Williams’s production team, that will air on Fox.
A second drama has been playing out alongside Williams’s health woes — and it’s a battle with Wells Fargo over her money. At the start of the year, around the time Williams fired some of her team members, her wealth advisor, Lori Schiller, claimed in court documents that Williams is “of unsound mind” and needs a guardianship. Williams — who earns approximately $15 million a year — has been fighting the bank for access to her money ever since. Williams, who has said she’s now physically well, said she’ll be ready to return to TV after the drama with her finances is cleared up.
Over the weekend, Williams talked about her woes in an interview with Fat Joe. In addition to discussing her money problems — claiming she only has $2 to her name — she talked about Shepherd’s new show and said she wouldn’t be watching it, explaining, “I like her, but … I know what she’s going to be doing and that’s really not my thing.”
Shepherd then responded during an Instagram Live, saying it was OK with her that Williams wouldn’t be watching. However, while she acknowledged they don’t know each other, she said, “[Wendy’s] not well” and I’m really, truly concerned about her, because I don’t feel like there’s anybody over there protecting her. And it’s really hard when there’s no protection around you, and you just have people hanging on.”
Last week, Williams made her first public appearance since all this started, attending a Met Gala after-party.
