A Candid Convo with Wendy Williams: Racism, "Dumb Women," and Ignoring the "Gangsters Behind Their Keyboards"

A Candid Convo with Wendy Williams: Racism, "Dumb Women," and Ignoring the "Gangsters Behind Their Keyboards"

When Wendy Williams has something to say, people listen. Yes, she says it like she means it, and no, she doesn't care if you agree, disagree, or think it's too much. And with over 30 years in the media business—this month the talk show host is celebrating the 10-year anniversary of The Wendy Williams Show—she isn't quieting down anytime soon.

To mark the show's anniversary and the launch of her Hunter Foundation's first-ever "Give Back Gala"–as well as Be Here, a campaign aiming to "change the face of addiction"–to raise funds for victims of drug and substance abuse, Williams stopped by Cosmopolitan.com HQ for some wide-ranging real talk about her biggest fears, what she really thinks of her critics, and her own struggle with cocaine and how she wants to help others. Oh, and and why she prefers to stay at home and mind her own business when, you know, she's not up in everyone else's business on TV.

Because for Wendy Williams, everything is a "Hot Topic," and you can't spell topic without T–as in tea.

The first episode of The Wendy Williams Show premiered on July 14, 2008—10 years! How do you think your show has changed daytime TV?

I’ve been a broadcaster for over 30 years. And how I think I really made my stamp [on radio] was by talking, innocently talking, about what I saw on the streets. It became a thing like, Oh my god Wendy’s talking. But I don’t like to use the word gossip—that’s a weird word to me.

Next thing you know, the 12 songs an hour that I was required to play turned into six songs because I’m gabbing. Next it’s two songs. Now it’s no music and all talk. I love it. [And now] I find a lot more people doing "Hot Topics," doing what I’ve been doing for the better part of my career.

Speaking of Hot Topics—is anything off-limits?

I don’t do my show from a place of mean. I’m not a mean woman. I’m lovely. [Laughs.] However, I’m a straight shooter—there’s only 24 hours in a day and you've got five seconds to say something. I’m going to get straight to the point.

You're the only black woman with her own talk show on daytime TV.

I am, and I get reminded of that every day. Fabulous.

Do you feel a certain responsibility...

To what?

To the culture. To the black community?

I feel a responsibility to [my 17-year-old son, Kevin Hunter Jr.], me, and my husband [Kevin Hunter], who manages my career, our dog, and my family. I didn’t ask to be a role model. I don’t like that responsibility. But if you see something in me that you really adore, thank you.

You've been criticized for not discussing certain political or social justice issues enough. But just last week you cried on-air talking about an incident when The View's Sonny Hostin was harassed by racists. How do you decide which more serious topics you talk about—or don't talk about—on the show?

I will talk about racism. I don’t feel awkward talking about race. I’m going to tell you something real odd. [Crying.] Welcome to the cryfest, it happens all the time.

What I was equating [what happened to Hostin] to was—I’m not lying to you—every day when I get home and pull in my driveway, I always squint extra at our mailbox and at our front door [looking out for] vandalism, a cross burned, poop thrown at the door, or something like that. And you know what people commented on my own site? Wendy, why are you complaining? Why don’t you just move?

With all the ignorance and misinformation out there, don't you want to talk more about your experiences?

I don’t want to share my opinion with you. I don't want to be a news anchor. I don’t like a lot of serious conversation—I guess I’m more of a boots to the ground person. No, I don’t want to talk politics. I don’t care. I mean, I care—I have a Sunday morning standing appointment [watching] George Stephanopoulos on ABC. But it’s none of your business.

Some of your critics have also said you tend to be harsher on black women or other people of color than on white people.

I’ve heard that. But it's not true. Those people are saying the wrong thing—it's what they would like to believe, you see. Because I’m up here, so the only place that I can go is down.

So where do you think their perspective comes from?

People love to throw stones at me, and I get it. It’s fun to make fun of me, because I put myself out there. I’m a large personality and I got the funny bone; I voice my opinion and then people get upset. But you tune in and watch every day, thank you!

People have accused me of bleaching my skin; of getting a nose job. They squint at my mom like, I didn’t know Wendy was Asian. I am black all day, honey pie. I am black and very proud. I’m not going to do the no-makeup natural hair, whatever, beans, greens, lettuce, tomato, eh. But I’ve got more black in my pinky than most of the gangsters behind their keyboards. You come out of your house and you do a talk show, let me see how far you get with your attitude.

I’m fun! Right now I’m not, sorry. But I hate dumb women. And that goes for whatever color you are.

It’s not a fun topic.

No! Because I don’t like when my own people say that I don’t want to be one of my own people. Like, really? Last time I checked, I didn’t marry a white man. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, though.

Does it feel different when criticism comes from the black community?

Girl, no. Girl. I’ve got love in my life; I’ve got a very strong constitution for the naysayers. I’ve been doing this for a very, very long time, and my skin is very thick. I know who I am, I know where I want to go, and how I want to get there.

Your job involves interviewing celebrities and knowing all the details of their personal lives. But now, as a celebrity yourself, you're in the tabloids, too. How do you strike a balance there?

It’s not easy doing what I do because...you can’t play two sides. You can’t do what I do and be a 'celebrity person' and be socializing with celebrities all the time—it taints "Hot Topics." The more celebrities I meet, the more disappointed I get in celebrity culture.

And you also can’t do what I do and be out with your friends all the time. I only have one absolute best friend, and she lives in California. We talk every day, but she’s not here [on the East Coast], and I’m almost glad she’s not because she'd be occupying my time. I have to be up at 5:30 a.m. every morning. [After my shows], I've got to get home—I've got a household to take care of, and myself to take care of. I've got to moisturize. I am very serious about my moisturization.

What's an average day in the Hunter household?

We try to keep it as normal as possible. I burn the rice. People say, “Well, Wendy, why don’t you have somebody make the rice?” No! I’ve never had a bunch of people around. I mean, alright, when [my son] Kevin was younger, we did have somebody living with us and somebody would also come during the day, but the second I got this talk show, I was like, everybody out, out, out. I was scared. Like, what if I took off like wildfire and [my family] became the first family of daytime TV? We don’t need people pilfering through our sneakers and jewelry and stuff, spying on us, trying to influence our son. If anything, the talk show has really made me return to the creep that I really am. Very private, very mysterious. I like it that way.

When I was getting dressed this morning and my husband was in my office, our son walked in—I only had on my pantyhose and my bra, but nothing nasty—and he asked, “Mom, do you have any shea butter?” I’m like, I have five minutes to go get on TV! Would you please stop? Oprah doesn’t have to deal with this mess. But then he says, “But Oprah doesn’t have a family.”

You’re very close with your son, and you often talk about his struggle with drugs—as well as your own.

I lost 10-plus years to cocaine, so I’ve got time to make up for. And I don’t talk about it because I was outed, I talk about it because I’m Wendy and this is my truth. Besides, I got out of it. It’s not how far you fall, it’s how you get up.

My son smoked K2—they take that grass and they spray it with rat poison or whatever. It’s not weed, it’s not coke. [Editor's Note: K2 is packaged synthetic marijuana and has been dubbed "poison packets" because of the chemicals sprayed on dried plants and frequent overdoses it causes.] Kids are out there smoking that mess. It’ll turn you into a different person.

I saw it for myself—this affected [my family] very deeply. I didn’t know whether my kid would ever return to school. The whole time we’re nursing him through [recovery], I’m supposed to make fun on the show like, “Hi! Here’s Wendy! Hahaha!” But I’m dying inside. [Withdrawal] was a slow process and, for us, it didn’t involve psychiatric drugs or a psychiatrist. We cleaned him out—anything for my boy.

And now he's graduated from high school with honors, he’s going to college in August. He’s a businessman. He does things. He wants to be an example for people as well regarding substance abuse.

Both your and your son's struggles with substance abuse were inspiration for the Hunter Foundation's first-ever Give Back Gala. What other causes are close to your heart?

I come from a family of service—service is our middle name. It's the way I grew up. On President’s Day, I was never at a President’s Day sale. We were always at church in the basement serving food or doing something.

Today, the Hunter Foundation is set up for the good of the people—all people even though I’m holding the [Black Power] fist up. My name is Wendy Hunter in real life; Williams is my maiden name. And this is not a temporary thing, this is a forever thing. We’ve sent kids to camp, we’ve fed the homeless, [and] we’ve now embarked on the real mission—and that is [combating] drugs. They are ruining families, they are ruining neighborhoods, they’re taking lives. And along with the Hunter Foundation, we have launched Be Here, [a new addiction awareness campaign] that has all the sauce and support you need to be on your way moving forward.

And my husband and I, we have our production company set up—I would like to make other people stars, honestly. Who’s the next Wendy? I mean, there’s only one Wendy, but I’m not selfish, I’m not greedy, and I’m definitely not jealous. People accuse me of being jealous of women all the time, by the way. But I'm not.

So what advice would you give to the 'next Wendy,' or to young women of color entering the professional world?

There are two things that I think every young girl needs to wake up and realize: get yourself a wrap dress and learn to formulate sentences. Stop splitting verbs—how you talk to your friends is not how you’re supposed to be speaking when you’re trying to get a job.

But do you think that they should have to just because, or that it's about conforming to the reality of the workplace?

I think those are two basic things. You don’t have to go to school for that, by the way. An education is important, but you can learn how to speak well—just turn on the TV. [Scandal’s] Olivia Pope speaks well goddammit. It’s not wiff, it’s with. It’s not burfday, it's birthday. And also, don’t have your kids so young. They get in the way.

What do you want your legacy to be?

I want people to remember me for my race relations, because on the down-low I do a lot for race relations.