Okay, so I have a running list of celebrities I am simply not emotionally ready to lose yet.

Granted, I know this probably sounds a little insane, but in my defense, it feels like we've been losing legends left and right lately. Dolly Parton, Jesse Jackson, Eric Dane, Hayden Panettiere, Tay Keith, the list goes on. Every time I see another announcement, I find myself thinking, “Who is left???” At this point, I have started to mentally prepare myself for the headlines that I know would absolutely ruin my day. 

I’ve also been seeing TikToks of Gen-Zers breaking the news to their parents that one of their favorite celebrities has died, and the parents absolutely are torn apart. When Dolly Parton died, Louisa Galante’s mom absolutely lost it, along with other Boomer and Gen-X parents. The videos are funny, but there is also something so sad about watching someone realize that a person they admired or grew up with is not immortal. 

So, yes, I do have a list. Wendy Williams is absolutely number one.

Wendy is someone I hold very close to my heart since I started watching her in 2009. Hot Topics after school was literally the highlight of my day from the beginning until the very tragic end that happened when I was a Sophomore in college. While other kids rushed home to watch Disney Channel, PBS, or Nick, I was refreshing YouTube or clicking through channels trying to find Wendy.

The best parts of the show were the little things: The audience reactions, the guests who would come on and duel with her over whatever she said the week before in Hot Topics, the outfits, and of course “How you doin’?” before she trotted over to the purple chair. The details are what I personally miss, like the tea she had on the table waiting for her every morning and how she had to put her cough drops in and take a sip before she began the debriefing.

Behind the theatrics of it all, what made Wendy so special was that she wasn't just reporting celebrity gossip; She had an opinion about it, and whether you agreed with her or not, you always knew exactly what she thought. She was unfiltered, messy, funny, and completely unapologetic about it. She was also a Black woman in radio and television who built an entire career around having an opinion, and that's something that shouldn’t be talked about lightly. Wendy is a pioneer, a comedian, and most importantly, a realist and the kind of entertainer that we don’t really have anymore.

There is pop culture commentary everywhere now, but a lot of it feels like people reporting on other people’s reports. Someone sitting in their bedroom talking about blind items and something they read off Twitter just doesn’t hit the same. It’s funny how the internet naturally has tried to fill the void despite actively criticizing Wendy for doing the same thing. So while we have more commentary than ever, that doesn’t necessarily mean we have people who actually know how to command a conversation. Wendy did though, just saying.

She had an audience, a platform, and a point of view, and people tuned in because they wanted to know what she thought. I don't want people to forget that.

Since The Wendy Williams Show ended in 2022, the conversation around Wendy has looked very different.

There have been documentaries, interviews, and lots of speculation around what happened to her. Wendy has become the Hot Topic she used to report about (and I honestly don’t think she would mind). Wendy has been under a court-ordered guardianship and has not been able to control the narrative around her life. That is a strange position for someone like Wendy to be in. She spent her entire career talking about everybody else, and now everybody is talking about Wendy.

A lot of the coverage has focused on what happened to Wendy, what is happening with Wendy, and what might happen next. I understand why people are interested because, obviously, I am interested too, but sometimes I feel like people have forgotten who the hell she actually is.

She was a pioneer: A radio personality who became a daytime television star. She made celeb gossip feel like breaking news, and she could sit in that purple chair and tell millions of people
Exactly what she thought. And we would eat it up. That’s the Wendy I remember.

So when I saw Norman Baker, one of her head producers, talking about her recently, I sat up.

Norman recently spoke with Awf The Record about the show, its final years, and what it was like to work alongside Wendy. He made sure to highlight her brilliance, fearlessness, and the freedom of working on a show where a Black woman could speak her mind every day on daytime television. What caught my attention was how he didn’t shy away from being protective of her and wanting people to remember her for more than what happened to her.

It was honestly just nice to hear somebody who actually knew her speak about her in such a positive light, especially when Wendy’s legacy feels lost underneath all the coverage. There was a Black woman who was really good at her job, made people laugh, and took up space unapologetically. I already knew all of that, but it was just nice to hear somebody else say it.

During the interview, Norman let us know that he is no longer in contact with Wendy but loves and misses her dearly (me too, Norman, me too!). He also talked about the ritual of preparing for Hot Topics and how he yearns for that sort of excitement again. He’s decided to carry Wendy’s legacy in his own way by doing his version of 5 Hot Topics on his Instagram. It’s something small, but I love that he is still creating the kind of conversation that he helped create alongside Wendy. He isn’t trying to be her, but he is keeping that daily ritual alive in his own way that no one else has been able to replicate.

I don’t personally know Wendy Williams; I have never met this woman in life, but her impact is something I personally, and maybe other Black women working in any form of media, carry: The importance of being audacious, having a point of view, and not apologizing for it. It is very tough and isolating being the Black woman in a room and being confident enough to stand in that and make a path for yourself. Wendy did, and for that I am forever grateful.

I bet you’re curious about who else could be on this endlessly growing list. We can talk about why another time (maybe at recruiter session).

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