Love or hate her, Wendy Williams is a media legend. With over 20 years in the entertainment industry, the girl from Jersey arguably created urban celebrity gossip singlehandedly. From her outing of closeted gay celebrities to that unforgettable Whitney Houston interview to her own revelations about her life -- Wendy Williams is what every blogger and gossip site is trying to be. Now, she is venturing on her biggest stage yet as the host of “The Wendy Williams Show,” a daily talk show packed with gossip, celebrity interviews and Wendy’s trademark sass.
Last year’s six-week sneak peek shocked the naysayers and was hugely successful. Interviews with Vanessa Williams, Vivica Fox and the now-legendary catfight with Omarosa proved the big-haired diva translates to television.
Last week, we caught up with a hustling Wendy Williams. “I’m all wound up with the white foam in the corner of my mouth -- do you know what I’m saying? Do you know that look? I’m all wound up and foamy and I’m now late for a staff meeting!” As one can imagine, Wendy sounds off in this candid interview where she talks Whitney, Michael Jackson, Usher and of course, the new show.
Does it feel like a full circle moment now that you finally have this talk show?
Absolutely. I know that I have a lot of work to do in terms of staying relevant to daytime television. I’m obviously not doing this project to fail and go into the abyss. I also don’t want to wear out my welcome -- there is such a thing as staying too long in the public eye. Right now, I’m feeling like this is a fresh, new beginning for me all the way around.
What about your show is going to be a stand out from the other talk shows coming out this fall?
I know that people saw my six-week sneak peek and people have told me that I have an outstanding personality. I don’t know that to be true, I just know that I can only be me. If you take an interview with Gabrielle Union and you pass her around the talk show circuit, I can assure you she will have a delightfully different time with Wendy. Hopefully you’ll be the one to tell me what’s different about Wendy! [Laughs]
You’re doing a lot of press for the show. Do you sympathize with celebrities now that you are on the other side of the interviewing table?
Yeah, I do sympathize with them and I also find it very difficult to be on this side of the press. I like asking the questions. It’s not that I have a problem revealing to answer. It’s just that journalists really do have to go out of their way to make an interview different and spicy so that the person being interviewed doesn’t feel like, “Oh my God, the same questions.” I’m beginning to get more of an appreciation for why it is that when people do a Wendy interview that they generally leave in really good spirits, having a really good time saying, “I’ll be back!” Whatever kind of reputation people might say, honestly, in 23 years of being the interviewer -- people like actually coming and they are pleasantly surprised when they are gone.
Some people have said, “Wendy has softened up! She’s not as gangsta as she used to be.” What’s your reaction to that?
Wendy is 45! A mother of an 8 year-old and an extremely mature businesswoman. I was 21 years old, I was lost in the abyss of trying to figure out who I would be personally and professionally. Now I’m a 45-year-old woman and I say that with pride! I stand on my own two feet and I look better than I ever have in my life. Mentally speaking, I’m in a better, more clear place than I ever have been in my life. I’m extremely sure of who I am and what I want out of TV, life and myself. If they call that softening up then I feel sorry for them. Those must be immature children who don’t know what it’s like to evolve but definitely stay true to who you are. I’m grown! A lot of celebrity business and money sometimes are wasted on people who are too young to appreciate it. Not me! By the same token, I feel as though I am absolutely staying true to who I am as a person. But, I was a 21-year-old kid drinking Heineken out of bottles in nightclubs with Busta Rhymes and Mary J. Blige! Now I’m a grown woman!
You are a pioneer when it comes to entertainment gossip, but things have changed a lot from when you started. Do you think this new era of gossip news is going too far?
The bloggers, the cameras, the Tweeting -- it’s disgusting. I love it, but I love it because our specialty and our profession have really caught on. There was a time when you would pick up "The National Enquirer" with embarrassment in the grocery store. Where talking about the goings on with Aretha Franklin, Goldie Hawn and Whitney Houston were absolutely deplorable at dinner parties. Now, people cannot get enough of what’s going on with the celebrities. That’s great -- everybody is out of the closet with their love. But, the way that they stalk them and hunt them down, it’s crazy.
Is there anything that you’ve said on air that you now say, “Why did I say that?”
No. [Laughs] I have no regrets. I don’t have a favorite interview. I don’t have a least favorite guest. Everyday that I’m here it’s just a glorious day because I’m painfully aware that the public is very fickle. They love you today and they hate you tomorrow. When they hate you, they leave you for dead. As a performer, there is nothing worse that you can do other than ignore someone.
What do you think about Michael Jackson’s passing?
There will never be another -- blah, blah, blah. I’m saying the same thing everyone else is. At the end of the day, he was a one of a kind. As far as what the press is doing by bringing up the child molestation, by delving into the autopsy – it’s all become a huge circus. I don’t have time to follow it. I have no interest in following it. How I felt about Michael Jackson alive is the way I feel about him when he is dead. You know, where there’s smoke there’s fire, regarding the kids. I think Quincy Jones and Joe Jackson probably know more about whatever it is that has drove Michael into such desperate despair. The bags of pills, the quirky personality -- that’s a 50-year-old man. At some particular point we all let go of our childhood baggage or at least suppress it to live a relatively normal life -- even under the glaring spotlight with millions of dollars. I turn away. I’m not interested in watching any of it.
Usher and Tameka getting a divorce?
They should’ve never gotten married. He was too young to get married! Yes, I said things and things were said -- bottom line, he was too young to get married and he was too single to even consider marrying a woman with so much baggage. That’s it! He shouldn’t have even allowed himself to fall in love with her!
Whitney’s album comes out September 1st. Any chance you’ll get her as a guest?
Wouldn’t that be delightful? Yes, she is definitely a wish list and would be a great guest. She needs the publicity. I would love to have a conversation with her on TV. I know she will go on Barbara Walters, Oprah and “Regis and Kelly." I would hope that Whitney and the public would see that my show is set apart from the rest. For whatever reason, more laughter, more good times -- a sexy audience. Hopefully, she’ll say, “I gotta go there.”
Would you do the interview if she wouldn’t talk about her drug use?
[Pauses] No.
No? [Laughs]
You know why? Here’s my thing, I think we’ve all established that Whitney had a drug problem. A TV show is one hour, that’s exactly 44 minutes of programming. If you break that down, it’s hot topics, advice and two segments with Whitney. A segment is five minutes. I don’t plan on wasting the audience’s time by rehashing things with people that are either obvious or boring. I’m going to make the most out of every single interview I have from Whitney to the rest of them. I just feel as though that would be wasting time.
You have a strong gay following, but you’ve also been criticized saying that you rely on stereotypes and sometimes mock the gay community. What’s your reaction to that?
I don’t rely on stereotypes and I don’t mock. But, I feel as though as a Black woman who happens to be big, I think there are a lot of stereotypes there too. I think everybody’s just being a bit sensitive. How many times have you heard me on the radio eat chicken and put the African drums behind me? You know what I’m saying? How many times have I been called a man -- stereotypical -- because I’m a big woman? Please -- stop being so sensitive! I’m not for Prop. 8. My son is being raised understanding that Billy has two daddies or that Lisa has two mommies. So please, I know who I am, I know what I do and I know that stereotypes exist as Black, as gay, as tall, as big boobs. How many times do people think just because you have big boobs you’re an airhead? My boobs are big! Sensitivity!
People are saying, “Wendy’s been suspended from radio and she’s leaving radio.” What’s the status of your radio career?
Well, I was just on the radio yesterday and I’ll be on the radio today. Last week I was touring for my TV show. I’ve been on all week. My status with radio? I’m here -- for now. TV is my present and I got to be very present to make it a strong part of my future. I need to focus on family first -- that’s a priority. I know nothing about TV. All I know how to do, honestly, is get out there and be Wendy.
Are you scared about the show being a success or not?
No, because I’ve always been a hustler. I’m a crafty woman. When one door closes another one always opens. I am not scared. I am not saying that I am not scared because I am being cocky. I’m saying I’m not scared because I have learned through triumph and adversity in my life that I am a survivor. I am a survivor and because of that I am fearless.
Be sure to tune in to the “The Wendy Williams Show” tonight at 11 PM/ 10C here on BET.
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Clay Cane is the Entertainment Editor here at BET.com. You can read more of his work at www.claycane.net.