Talk show host and radio legend Wendy Williams filed for divorce from Kevin Hunter in April
2019.
The couple has been plagued by rumors of infidelity, a love child, and abuse for years, but Williams
always stood by her man - until now.
Here's the real reason Wendy Williams is getting a divorce.
The split was reportedly a long time coming.
Rumblings of a separation began in early April, when court documents obtained by Radar Online
stated that Williams cited irreconcilable differences and claimed they separated six
months ago.
Despite widely reported rumors about marital discord, Williams insisted for months that
she and Hunter were rock solid.
In September 2017, she said during her "Hot Topics" segment, quote, "You can believe what
you want, but…"
"I stand by my guy."
Williams and Hunter tied the knot in 1997 and share a son, Kevin Hunter Jr., who was
born in 2000.
The most obvious reported reason for Wendy Williams and Kevin Hunter's split: In March
2019, his alleged mistress supposedly gave birth to a child who's rumored to be his.
Sources told Page Six that Hunter's alleged mistress, Sharina Hudson, gave birth in Philadelphia
in the hopes of avoiding the press.
If that's the case, it didn't work.
A source told the Daily Mail that Williams
"...knew about Sharina but didn't think a baby would arrive.
She didn't think Kevin would go this far."
In September 2017, the Daily Mail reported that Hunter and Hudson had been secretly together
for years, and claimed that Hunter had even moved Hudson into a house just nine miles
from the home he shares with Williams.
In March 2019, Wendy Williams revealed on her show that she was living in a sober house.
"So that is my truth."
She had reportedly relapsed after abusing alcohol and prescription drugs.
Months before, Williams fractured her shoulder and was slurring on the air, clearly struggling
to get her thoughts in order.
"Her emails alleging that Khloe and Kylie...leaked the emails alleging… that… allegedly."
She blamed her performance on painkillers prescribed to her following the injury.
Williams took an extended hiatus from The Wendy Williams Show, reportedly to deal with
complications from Graves' disease, a thyroid condition she was diagnosed with after fainting
on the air in October 2017.
However, the Daily Mail reported that Williams' marital troubles may have triggered her relapse.
According to the publication:
"...the situation caused her to spiral out of control and turn to booze and drugs."
Despite allegedly trying to control Wendy Williams' every move, some insiders say Kevin
Hunter is the one who wanted a divorce.
A source told US Weekly:
"Wendy has begged Kevin to stay with her.
It's been a very long, sad, vicious cycle."
That may explain why, despite so many headlines about Hunter's alleged cheating, Williams
had insisted she would never leave her husband.
As Entertainment Tonight reported, Williams pointed to her ring on the air during her
March 4, 2019 comeback episode and said:
"I'm still wearing my ring.
He's my best friend.
He's my lover.
He's all this and he's all that.
I know what you've been seeing."
Part of why Wendy Williams didn't divorce Kevin Hunter sooner may be because they've
been mixing business with pleasure for decades.
He's her manager, business partner, and an executive producer of The Wendy Williams Show.
In 2013, a source told the New York Daily News:
"Kevin makes all the decisions and has become more and more controlling as the show has
become a success."
In early 2019, sources told Page Six that Hunter even tried to control Williams' diet.
A former producer told the tabloid:
"Kevin would berate her if she ate something that was not on their eating plan.
He'd scream, 'Don't be a fat ass!’
It's a cycle of abuse."
Kevin Hunter has also been accused of physically abusing Wendy Williams.
The Daily Mail reported that the hairline shoulder fracture she suffered in late 2018
was allegedly the result of a heated spat with Hunter about his affair with Sharina
Hudson.
Williams may have hinted that her shoulder injury was the result of an altercation.
On her show in March 2019, she asked the audience:
"What kind of man beats a woman?"
One of Wendy Williams' closest confidantes publicly urged her to leave Kevin Hunter.
Radio personality Charlamagne Tha God told Page Six that he introduced Hunter to Sharina
Hudson for business purposes.
He claims Hunter accused him of hooking Hudson up with other guys and then promptly fired
him from The Wendy Williams Show, adding that:
"The only rehab [Williams] needs is from Kevin Hunter."
He also addressed the controversy on The Breakfast Club in April 2019:
"The one person you treat like doodoo that you should never treat like doodoo is your
soon-to-be ex-wife.
Bro, you are nothing without her."
Meghan McCain echoed that sentiment in an April 2019 episode of The View:
"I hope that she comes back to her show better and stronger than ever.
Screw that guy.
She doesn't need him."
In Wendy Williams' memoir, she wrote that there were only a few circumstances that would
lead her to divorce Hunter:
"The only thing that would make me walk out for good is if he lied about anything - if
he was in love… if [his lover] had his baby."
If the rumors are true, it's sounds like Williams is heeding her own words.
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