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Earlier this week, Wendy Williams, on her talk show, shared that her mother, 85-year-old Shirley Williams, passed away.
I can’t imagine how challenging and difficult it must have been sharing this type of information on national television—trying to keep yourself composed for the millions of people watching. Somehow, Wendy managed to do it.
But we would remiss if we didn’t mention that the nature of the announcement was a bit odd.
Wendy started by remarking on her outfit for the day. It showed a lot of leg. And she said her mother always encouraged her to show off her long legs.
“In the name of my mother—because my mother is like, ‘Wendy, you got em. They’re long. You show em.’ She also talked me into picking out this outfit today. She’s also died. Yeah. My mom passed away many, many, many, many weeks ago. You know how during corona, during the world topsy turvy, people starving, people out of jobs, everybody’s life is something new and you know how you lose track of the day, date and time? All I know is that it was a long time ago.”
I remember thinking it was odd that Wendy and her family were able to hide this news for weeks at a time. And I marveled at the fact that she was able to continue on with the show in this way, given such a deep and personal loss.
But I figured, if she’s been processing the death over several weeks then perhaps she’s had some time to move through her grief.
Interestingly, though, in the same day Wendy made the announcement about her mother, Monday, December 7, her brother Tommy Williams Jr. also talked about his mother’s passing. And his report conflicted with his sister’s.
“I was quiet for a while. My mom passed last Sunday and you see I’ve been doing my videos, moving along. I haven’t been sharing. It’s been just a family thing. We’re moving through.”
Tommy did take the opportunity to defend his famous sister.
“Now, maybe some of you can see what Wendy’s been going through. It’s mental health, y’all. It’s life. She might be a celebrity and out there on the stage but she’s a child of somebody as well. She’s a sister. She’s an aunt. She’s a mother. You know how that goes. And then it’s all laid out on stage.
And not only that—but she’s the type of person—and this is the problem, as I often tell her. The problem is you don’t know how to take a day off…Hopefully, she’ll make some changes. I know she’s doing a lot better now.”
You can listen to Wendy’s brother in the video below. His comments about his mother begin around the 10:30 minute mark.
