The tumult around Wendy Williams and her recently-nixed talk show continues.
As we’ve been reporting, the legendary talk show host has been suffering from health issues that forced her to step away from The Wendy Williams Show. The series was eventually canceled, and it was announced that she would be replaced by frequent guest host Sherri Shepherd. Needless to say, she’s had a lot on her plate while dealing with this health crisis.
Related: Wendy’s Friends ‘Concerned’ For Her Well-Being After Sherri Announcement
Now, it seems that her ex Kevin Hunter has decided to strike while the iron is hot. With his former wife out of the picture, he has filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against the show’s production company, Debmar-Mercury. In legal documents obtained by People, the complaint claimed that he was fired “on the basis of his marital status, which is barred by the New York City Human Rights Law.”
If you’re a Wendy fan, you may know that Kevin was fired around the same time he split from the television personality due to his long term infidelity. In fact, his suit stated that he received a notice from Debmar-Mercury founder Ira Bernstein informing him that his firing was “effective immediately” just days after she filed for divorce.
The docs read:
“The termination of Plaintiff was based strictly upon Plaintiff’s marital status and his impending divorce to the Show’s host, ignoring all of the contributions that Plaintiff made to make the Show a success. As a result of Defendants’ aforesaid actions and the breach of their agreement with Hunter, the Defendants have been unjustly enriched from Plaintiff’s Executive Producer contributions to the Show, as well as enduring Product Integrations engagements Plaintiff has brought to the Show and that the Show has retained.”
Sherri’s upcoming show was dragged into the muck as well, as the former executive producer asserted that “many of the elements” he “helped conceptualize and the product integrations he created” will be part of the new show.
The docs state:
“Even though The Wendy Williams Show will be over, Defendants will continue to be unjustly enriched by Plaintiff’s initial work including his initial concepts created for the Show and Plaintiff’s product integration agreements.”
The suit argued Kevin “was an integral part of the inner workings of the Show and Debmar was unable to fill the absence of Plaintiff’s departure.” And it went on to claim that the production company “underestimated [his] value” to the program and in fact “never recovered” from his departure.
In his eyes, Wendy’s ex suffered roughly $7 million to $10 million in “economic loss” due to the firing, in part because the company stopped payments and commissions that were “rightfully payable to him under the Product Integrations Agreement,” per People. As such, he’s seeking “compensatory, punitive damages, an award of costs, interest and attorney’s fees, and such other and further relief as this Court deems just and proper.”
Related: Wendy’s Lawyer Promises ‘She’ll Be Back’ On TV In Positive Health Update!
Knowing how it sounds like Wendy has her own bad blood with Debmar-Mercury at this point, too, maybe she would at least understand this legal move. Besides, Kevin has reportedly stepped up to help care for Wendy during this difficult time, so perhaps there’s something of a truce between them.
In any case, this has definitely complicated an already complicated situation… And we’ll be keeping an eye on things to see how it all plays out.
[Image via Wendy Williams/YouTube & Kevin Hunter/Instagram]
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