The Wendy Williams A&E lawsuit is a case brought by Williams’ court-appointed guardian, Sabrina Morrissey, accusing A&E Television Networks, Lifetime Entertainment Services, Entertainment One, Creature Films, and executive producer Mark Ford of exploiting Williams while she had dementia to make the 2024 Lifetime documentary Where Is Wendy Williams? The suit alleges Williams could not legally consent to the project, that she was paid $82,000 while the defendants earned millions, and it seeks to void the production contract, block further distribution of the documentary, and disgorge the defendants’ profits. The case is pending in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York as case number 1:24-cv-07856 before Judge Ronnie Abrams, and as of March 2026 it is stayed.
Who Is Suing and Who Is Being Sued
The plaintiff is Sabrina Morrissey, appointed by a New York court in May 2022 as Williams’ permanent guardian with authority over both her finances and personal affairs. Williams herself is not the named plaintiff; Morrissey is suing on her behalf in her guardianship capacity.
The defendants are A&E Television Networks, Lifetime Entertainment Services, Entertainment One (eOne), Creature Films, and Mark Ford, the executive producer who ran the documentary through Creature Films with eOne. All defendants are represented by the firm Davis Wright Tremaine and consented to moving the case from state court to federal court in October 2024. Federal jurisdiction rests on a false endorsement claim under the Lanham Act that Morrissey added in her amended complaint.
What the Guardian Alleges
Morrissey filed a 75-page amended complaint on September 16, 2024, in New York Supreme Court. The complaint’s core theory is that the defendants built a commercial project around a person who was too impaired to agree to it, then concealed what they were doing from the guardian who should have been asked.
The specific allegations include:
- Williams lacked capacity to consent. The complaint describes her as “obviously incapacitated and suffering from dementia” during filming and “clearly disheveled, not mentally present, and confused” when the production contract was put in front of her. Williams was diagnosed with primary progressive aphasia and frontotemporal dementia in 2023, and her care team publicly disclosed the diagnosis in February 2024.
- The signature on the January 25, 2023 talent agreement with eOne “does not appear to be genuine.” Morrissey says it was printed rather than cursive and looked nothing like Williams’ known signature. The contract was signed through an entity called “The Wendy Experience, Inc.,” which the guardian says was formed after her guardianship began without her knowledge.
- Morrissey was never consulted about the contract, was not shown it until months after it was purportedly signed, and was “actively misled” about the nature of the production. The complaint says the production team sent her photographs of Williams looking professionally styled and happy while, according to the filing, she was being “taunted, goaded, and tormented.”
- Williams was told the film would be “positive and beneficial” to her image. Her manager, William Selby, reportedly assured Morrissey he would keep creative control and that nothing would air without approval. Selby later told Morrissey he had not approved the trailer or the finished documentary before their release.
- Williams received only $82,000 for her participation while the defendants earned millions from the project.
The suit asks the court to declare the production contract null and void, permanently bar any further airing or distribution of the documentary, order disgorgement of all profits, and award compensatory and punitive damages.
A&E’s Counterclaim
On November 15, 2024, A&E Television Networks and Lifetime Entertainment Services filed a counterclaim against Morrissey. The networks called the lawsuit an attempt to “inhibit the exercise of free speech and harass publishers by forcing them to spend money to defend against baseless suits.” They alleged Morrissey’s real motive was self-protection, arguing she acted only after realizing the documentary “would question the quality of her own guardianship.”
The networks also defended the documentary on the merits, saying it presented a “raw, honest and unfiltered reality” of Williams’ life under a guardianship that, in their telling, “isolated her from her family, left her largely alone and unattended in her apartment, exacerbated her self-destructive behavior and mental decline, and failed to prevent” her alcohol abuse. They are seeking to recover their legal fees and costs.
The Producers’ Defense
Mark Ford has publicly defended the project. He described the filming approach as “observational” and said his team kept going because “we were more worried about what would happen if we stopped filming than if we continued.” Ford also said that if the production had known about Williams’ dementia diagnosis in advance, “no one would’ve rolled a camera.”
Ford disputed Morrissey’s account of being shut out. He said his team made multiple attempts to contact her during production but was met with “a terse hang-up or a very brief, unpleasant exchange,” and argued the guardian was aware of filming throughout because she had to sign off on travel arrangements and location agreements through Williams’ manager.
Williams Ordered to Sit for a Deposition
On September 15, 2025, the federal court ordered Williams to be deposed, ruling that her dementia diagnosis “does not insulate her from providing testimony in this case.” The court cited the Federal Rules of Evidence, which contain “no requirement of mental ability” for witnesses, and classified the deposition as de bene esse, a mechanism used when a witness’s ability to testify may deteriorate over time.
The court imposed strict limits to accommodate Williams’ condition. The deposition could run no more than three hours total, had to be conducted remotely, could be spread across as many as three days with sufficient breaks, and was limited to a small number of attorneys present. The deadline for completion was November 4, 2025. What weight to give her testimony was left for a future jury.
Where the Case Stands Now
As of March 2026, Judge Abrams issued an order staying the federal case pending further direction from the court, and scheduled oral arguments were adjourned. The original state court case in New York Supreme Court (Index No. 650893/2024) is listed as a related matter. No trial date has been set, and there is no public indication of a settlement.
The guardianship that underlies Morrissey’s authority to bring the suit remains in place. A medical evaluation completed in August 2025 reconfirmed Williams’ diagnoses of primary progressive aphasia and frontotemporal dementia, and the guardianship was upheld, though Williams herself has publicly disputed the diagnosis.