Let’s Remember Wendy Williams the Way She Was (And Is)

Regardless of the truth of claims on either side, PAPER is firmly about freeing Wendy Williams to make her own choices. More importantly, I’d like to remember her for the way she was, and still is, according to Williams herself: a messy gossip with a perpetual foot in the drama, casting shade coast to coast from her perch onstage each morning of the week.

Thankfully, fans on the internet have meticulously documented the Wendy Williams archive over the years, seeing as her public accounts have been scrubbed of clips and proof she was ever a talk show host. One in particular holds a veritable treasure trove of pop culture knowledge that would otherwise be lost to the digital void: D I L L O N, AKA BrokenHead210 on YouTube. Over on their channel, the user has meticulously saved and sorted various aspects of Williams’ show and personality, from her “How You Doin’?” segments to random cries of “allegedly!” or anxieties about “the killer.”

My personal favorites are the 69 videos compiling her “How You Doin’?” segments, featuring 23 hours of footage that I’ve fallen asleep to more than I could possibly remember. For those not fortunate enough to have basic cable or a working knowledge of Wendy Williams’ habits, “How you doin’?” became something of a sly insult from Williams when talking about men she claimed were gay — or at least slept with men — when on the radio. Later in her career, on the talk show, it became her address to all gay men who came through the halls of her arena. During various “Ask Wendy” segments, she’d come rocking up to the man sporting a mohawk and yellow leather pants, sidling up with the mic and asking: “How you doin’?”

The interactions that followed are mesmerizing.

There’s also plenty of footage from the vintage days of the show, before the rebrand and updated set most will remember. It features plenty of ancient celebrity gossip that has been all but forgotten — save by me and other Williams connoisseurs. I’d like to think everyone she ever talked shit about banded together to strike her archive from the internet, if only to keep these secrets buried in time.

Among those celebrity hyperfixations of hers were Lindsay Lohan, often designating entire segments of the show to her “Lindsay updates.” In light of the actress’ rebrand as a normal and well adjusted woman, these compilations seem quaint.

She also had her daggers perpetually sharpened for Mariah Carey. Let me make it clear that there are many, many compilations available of this single topic on The Wendy Williams Show.

There’s also compilations of her randomly screaming “allegedly!” that became, over the years, a vocal tic of my own. Often, she would have to clarify where the “allegedly” slotted into the sentence, having just made a string of claims that would be part truth, part gossip.

D I L L O N isn’t the only user on Youtube that has catalogued Williams’ archive. The Wendy Archive also has full episodes and clips. Of most interest to me are the celebrity interviews which feature brash commentary from Williams not seen anymore in the talk show circuit, now so tame in comparison. Below is an interview with Pamela Anderson from almost a decade ago, important in understanding the developments she went through in the last 10 years to become the woman and actress she is today.

Williams was likewise a longtime supporter of Mob Wives star Big Ang, who she felt kinship with as an East Coaster and big busomed, wise cracking woman. Their chemistry is simply electric, even when discussing bunions.

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What stands out in the clips, more than anything, is the strength of her wit and singular personality, her strongest qualities that she used to climb to the top of the celebrity news and talk show circuit. There has never been another Wendy Williams because there can’t be. The world has changed, filling in the hole she left with comedians turned podcasters interviewing pop stars about their favorite Pop Tart flavors.

As catharsis, here’s a compilation of her crying.

Image via Getty