Most TV show hosts dressed up for Halloween on their shows, to varying degrees of “meh” to “okay.” Wendy Williams was no different – she dressed up as Lady Liberty, and her costume was actually pretty awesome. I suspect that with her wig, the elaborate headpiece and the long-sleeved, full-length gown, Wendy was probably pretty hot. Add that to the bright lighting on any given TV show, and it was a recipe for someone feeling ill. Wendy Williams went through 48 minutes of her live show and then her body gave out – she fainted, collapsing on live television in the middle of a sentence:
The excuse being given by Wendy and her people is “dehydration” and maybe some “exhaustion.” She later posted an Instagram, informing people that: “I’m home, and hydrating, and I will definitely be there tomorrow with the rest of the story.” Page Six has a piece today about how Wendy’s staffers are really worried about her:
There are fears for Wendy Williams’ health after she fainted on live TV on Tuesday. The host — dressed in a Statue of Liberty costume for Halloween — was seen on her show looking disoriented and having trouble reading her teleprompter. Then, a look of terror crossed her face and she staggered backward and collapsed. The show cut to a long commercial break before Williams came back on the air and told the audience, “That was not a stunt. I’m overheated in my costume and I did pass out. But you know what? I’m a champ and I’m back.”
She continued the show, and before signing off she asked, “Is that the end of the show? Was I passed out that long?!”
A show insider said staffers are worried about Williams, following a report that her husband, Kevin Hunter, cheated on her with 32-year-old massage therapist Sharina Hudson, which they both strongly denied. The insider said, “Wendy has become very thin recently, and the show staff wonders if she is under a lot of personal stress.”
A September report claimed that Hunter and Hudson have been hooking up for a decade, and that Hunter moved her into a secluded $765,000 home just miles away from his home with Williams. She addressed the rumors on her show, telling the audience, “It’s weird being a hot topic. In a weird kind of way . . . I love the attention . . . You can believe what you want. I stand by my guy. We commuted together this morning. The paparazzi were outside catching me in the cutest negligee.”
Her rep Ronn Torossian said at the time, “One plus one does not equal three.”
As for her medical scare, Torossian insisted she was suffering from the ubiquitous showbiz affliction “dehydration.” He said in a statement, “Ms. Williams fainted on-air this morning. She is dehydrated and is on her way home for a good day and night of sleep. She has been examined by medical professionals and is well. She is OK, and will continue shows as planned. She will address this on-air tomorrow.” He added, “She has never missed a day of work.”
I’ve never passed out but I’ve felt at times like I would – I’ve been that light-headed, so much so that I immediately needed to sit down and get some water. It could be anything – genuine dehydration, genuine exhaustion, overheating, or maybe she’s sick or getting sick with a flu or something. I always tell this story, but several years ago, I had the Norovirus and I really felt like I was going to die, and that I was going to throw up and pass out if I stood upright for more than a minute. I guess what I’m saying is… it could be anything and I hope Wendy is doing better. Prayers for Wendy!
Photos courtesy of The Wendy Williams Show, Getty.
There’s a metaphor to smack America in the face: Lady Liberty passing out.
That aside, I do hope she’s okay. That looked about what that feels like, didn’t it? Yuck. Poor thing.
Seriously. And to continue the metaphor on a hopeful note, she got back up, dusted herself off and carried on. We can only hope.
And a few hours later there was an attack in NYC. The whole thing was creepy and almost a symbol of the trouble America is in, if you look at it that way.
I hope the stress of her hisbands cheating didn’t make her start drugs again
Some people are prone to passing out.
I do it all of the time, it’s super annoying. Any time I get too hot, don’t eat, drink enough water, or stand with my knees locked too long. Only hit my head once though 😂 trick is to stop trying to get out of the way and just lay down the second the spots and cold sweats kick in.
Anyone who passes out often should ask their doctor to be checked for POTS, aka Dysautonomia. If someone has that, they also should be checked for Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, Marfan Syndrome, and pernicious anemia, as the former 2 regularly are seen with someone with POTS, and the latter can be seen if someone has either of the 2 syndromes. Best wishes everyone!
I was gonna say the same thing: she’s dropped a ton of weight recently and I thought when I watched that video yesterday that she either passed out because she’s got super low blood sugar from not eating due to some weird diet regime or some personal health issue.
Hope she is feeling better… I’ve passed out, the irony is once youre awake all the gross lightheaded, fog, hotness kind of dissipates. Where if you don’t fall, it takes longer, but not worth the risk of hurting yourself in the fall.
Mucinex D did me in, completely dehydrated me and I passed out at work. Embarrassing but I was ok. Just wanted to avoid some congestion getting worse, and I fainted. Figures.
Thankfully I’ve never passed out, but I came very close one summer about 2-3 years ago. I was on the bus heading home after work and it was so hot (and I was sitting in the sun) that I started to get light-headed and my vision started to get dark. Thankfully I was able to get off the bus and get some air but yeah, it was frightening.
I hope she’s feeling better too, that must have been scary for her and her team / audience.
I passed out in the grocery store checkout line once. One minute I was feeling a little hot, the next I was waking up on the floor to a bunch of worried people and a nasty lump on the back of my head. I hope she takes a couple days off-she needs to watch her health even if it was because of the heat from the set.
It happened to me during a choir outing, in front of the whole school. I was overheated with a sweater and robe and passed out for a few seconds (though it felt like forever).
In the almost 20 years since that incident, I always take precautions: carry cool water, make certain I have layers I can take off, etc.
Agree. I faint about once or twice a year (low blood pressure by nature. Being a bit exhausted/hot/not-hydrated is enough). The worst feeling is almost faintingm when everything is off for hours and I feel hot and my skin is crawling. If I faint I feel great within five minutes, but it is scary for those around me.
I know what you mean, i have low blood pressure and fainted a couple of times when I had blood taken during pregnancy and the worst time was when the nurse wouldn’t let me actually faint, she just made me sit there taking deep breathes and i felt off for the rest of the day. Luckily i’ve always been either sitting down or just really recognise the unique light headed feeling beforehand and I’ve been able to warn people. Horrible and wouldn’t wish it on anyone!
I’ve fainted a few times too. Once when I was a kid, never did figure that one out, but the other two times were due to medication after injury/surgery. It’s super scary, but yeah, I always felt much better afterwards! Leading up to it is the worst feeling though.
Again, same here. I fainted the morning after my c-section as I hadn’t eaten for like 2 days and they sit you up and move you to a chair, luckily i had the buzzer in my hand and hit it before i went lights out. It certainly gave all the nurses a scare, they hit the crash button etc i came too and was like ‘Yeh i’m known to faint’ and they all left me to have a little sleep – which was i remember one of the best and most refreshing 1 hour naps I’ve ever had!
It was an excellent impression of Lady Liberty being told Trump is POTUS.
(In all seriousness I hope she is well and feeling better.)
To me, it didn’t look like a faint. It looked like some sort of brain episode, like a seizure maybe. It just didn’t seem like a regular faint to me.
Hope it’s nothing worse as she drinks water, on air, during her show.
My mom has Graves’ disease and has experienced “thyroid storms” which look a lot like strokes. If Wendy lost a lot of weight quickly, it’s possible she is having trouble regulating her thyroid. Unfortunately, thyroid medicine needs can change for seemingly no reason.
I agree.
Yes, looked more like a mini-stroke…I really hope she got an MRI. I know she has a thyroid condition and graves disease, so she is dealing with some health issues.
This exactly. It looked like a brain seizure.
Me too. The way she did the whole show and didn’t remember, and at the end asked, was I out the whole show? Makes me think of lost time from dissociative identity disorder.
I know this will sound nuts, but after the Harvey things coming to light, all the abuse in the industry, DID is really possible as the effects of repeated exhaustion, mental and emotional abuse, and stress. It’s not like like how it’s portrayed in United States of Tara, or Sybil, I dissociate, and there is a lot of memory issues on things that literally just happened. Anyway, I hope she’s ok, that was probably scary.
I thought she said “Is this the end of the show? Was I out that long?” I took that, not as “was I out the whole show?” but as “did I really lose that much show time from being passed out?”
Did she pass out or saw the ghost of Christmas past?
That does not look like a simple fainting spell. She looked scared.
Wiffie, that happens to me as well. Too much stress makes me lose my memory. I can even forget meeting certain people if I met them at a bad time, it’s really embarrassing and scary. There are huge blocks of time from my childhood, teen years, twenties and thirties that are just ~gone. I dissociate when stressed, tired, triggered, etc.
I’ve fainted and had a few seizures when stressed as well. They can’t find any physical reason why this happens.
It does look like dissociation…a glitch in the programming.
It looked like passing out. There’s no single way to lose consciousness. And passing out can be “some sort of brain episode.”
For whatever reason something has triggered the body to go into a state of shock. Your blood rushes away from your head and limbs to your core organs. A sudden rush like that leaves you lightheaded and disoriented. You could get tunnel vision and become less aware of your hands, sense of touch, surroundings, etc. It looks text book passing out. Also the expression on her face of confusion and surprise. It supports the symptoms I’ve stated.
To add… the memory comments. Have you ever taken a nap and not realized how long you’ve slept for? The brain can take a bit to reboot. Or it functions, but some short term memory loss is not uncommon.
Occam’s Razor.
It takes a weird crazy minute for the world to sort of shift back into place after fainting.
She did an hour show, then snapped in and didn’t recall the chunk of time she just worked through.
That’s not normal from fainting.
I agree, even though it looked odd, it could have been a simple passing out. I passed out in my college’s infirmary. I had been sick, but wanted to leave, so I went to the front desk & told them I was ready to leave. I remember slowly going down, everything had blacked out & I could hear a nurse saying “She’s passing out!” Then I woke up back in a bed. It’s a weird feeling & I have no idea what my face looked like, but it very likely could have looked shocked because it was like my body was shutting down little by little, I felt myself sinking, vision blacked out, but could still hear things around me. It wasn’t like in the movies where someone just completely falls down in a second.
That being said, if it’s bigger health issues, stroke, Graves’ disease, whatever, it’s really none of our business anyways.
Wiffie
Not all fainting is the same. Your statement is correct only if there is 1 true and proper, uniformed way of fainting. There is not.
Char
True. And yes.
The confusion when you awake from a faint is the most scary and confusing thing! Sounds crazy, but i just kept thinking and saying ‘why am i so confused’ over and over, and then ‘who are you, what happened’ etc, luckily i was in a nurses office and not out on the street.
Same. For me, the “shocked” look on her face prior to falling is what makes me think this was more than just “fainting.”
Have you ever suddenly lost your vision and sense of equilibrium? You get a shocked and surprised expression. Even if you aren’t fully aware. It’s a reflex.
I’ve passed out due to stress and dehydration before, so I think that’s believably a fainting episode. (This being said, severe dehydration can cause seizures.) I’ve done the flail when I didn’t catch the symptoms fast enough to get myself to the ground. This being said, for her age she should be following up with a doctor afterwards just to ascertain that nothing more serious occurred, just as a precaution.
Same. If you watch her eyes, they say it all. It’s what disturbed me about the video.
Wendy has Thyroid disease & she’s spoken quite openly about it so it could definitely be related to that, Poor thing, she looked terrified! I hope she can rest and take it very easy!
That video is terrifying. The look on her face as her eyes go wide. She knows something is wrong, something is happening, but she can’t speak. I don’t know why it bothers me so much, but I find it disturbing. If I didn’t know she passed out, I would have thought she was having a stroke or something. I hope she’s ok.
Everything you said I was going to say. I was upset just watching it and I hope she’s doing ok. That was so, so scary. I was angry at people laughing about it on social media and turning it into a meme because my mom is her age and I would die if something bad happened to her and people laughed.
I know Wendy is a polarizing figure, but that’s her schtick and we all like to gossip, hence us being here, so nobody should be glad when something bad happens to a person. She has a young son.
I really don’t think this was a normal fainting spell nor dehydration (the industry’s go to word for other problems). Idk if people have paid attention to her show lately? But she loses her train of thought often and has problems reading the cue cards. Everybody points it out on the YT comments. Sometimes she looks a little slower than others and like she’s mildly sedated or drunk. Like she slurs her words a bit sometimes and stares at the cue cards and mispronounces names. Lately it’s been very bad. And now this.
Same. Really disturbing. I hope this was a “normal” (for lack of a better word) fainting episode and not something more serious. Very scary stuff.
“But she loses her train of thought often and has problems reading the cue cards.”
Oh no…I hope this isn’t something brain-related like a tumor. I feel gross speculating but this is concerning…
Kitten
Her focus being lost actually supports fainting along with the rest of what we’ve seen. Blood rushing away from her brain disrupts focus and causes tunnel vision. Not many people see others pass out. Wendy is by the book losing consciousness. We only have the video and known variables to go by. Plus her and her staff’s statements. Given her medical history, heat, weight of the makeup and outfit, etc… the likelihood of dehydration is incredibly high.
Now if her speech was being slurred we could be talking about something not as simple as fainting. If there was a facial tick we could be talking about something different. There’s not. Occam’s Razor guys. No zebras here. Just horses.
Same, Kitten. I’ve almost passed out and I’ve seen people pass out. While it’s quite concerning, watching Wendy felt disturbing. In this case, best case scenario would be dehydration or stress, but it feels like there’s more.
It was REALLY unsettling to see, I thought she was having a stroke. I hope she’s okay, I love watching her hot topics segment and have felt bad about what’s been going on in her personal life.
That was so scary to watch. Was this really just fainting? I’ve never fainted so I don’t know. But it looked like she lost her speech and maybe some physical motor skills (is that the word, I’m not an english native)
Can I just say how much I admire you people who speak second (and third and fourth and…) languages who then say things like, “is that the right word?” It’s always like, “yes, you got it.” When I grope around in the other languages I’ve dabbled in, it’s clear I don’t know what I’m doing, so I commend those of you who do!
There are a lot of commenters like that on this board and it never ceases to amaze me.
Some relatable, but not exact, feelings lenn.
Maybe when you get really tired and reading a book it becomes difficult to focus on the words, the meaning, understanding and applying.
When you stand up very quickly and become disoriented. Trying very hard to not fall over. Told hold onto consciousness.
When you see a word that you’ve seen a million timea, but can’t u understand or pronounce correctly. To spell it out or write it out doesn’t look correct for some reason. These are all things that happen to healthy people. These are all things that happen to an exhausted brain or from dehydration. Befpre loss of consciousness. The sensation is what I’m trying to explain.
There are technical terms for all of these states. These are common experiences. These are traits that are exhibited with serious medical conditions. Most importantly these are traits that stand alone like with Wendy and her situation at the time of the event do not appear to be more than an electrolyte imbalance/malnutrition.
I love me some Wendy Williams!..So sad watching that video,especially her eyes on that moment…Hopefully she’s well today!
I fainted at work and someone caught me. I was so embarrassed
Oh Jillian, I’m so sorry. I’ve fainted a few times. The worst was during a wedding. My sister and I were bridesmaids. She tried to catch me, but I just slid through her arms and crashed onto the floor. It was SO embarrassing. But I’ve learned to be gentle and forgiving of myself. I didn’t have control over it and fainting happens to LOTS of people. We’re just lucky we didn’t get hurt! Stand tall, sister. You’re not alone. Hugs to you!
I regret this kind of videos being available on internet. I know it’s sort of impossible nowadays to avoid such things, and I know it is a much more complex topic, but I really wish there was a space in our lives in which our privacy is respected. It seems wrong to me to record people who are not in control of themselves or are dying or are mourning the loss of a beloved one. Yet, I clicked to read the post. Ugh.
It’s video from the actual show. They ran it. I saw it on tv. The tv was on in background and I looked up as I heard the audience gasp. So I assume she was ok with it airing.
Syncope and collapse is scary as heck, but common. Hope she’s feeling 💯 again soon.
Yeah, I wish the media would stop playing it over and over again. It’s all over social media too. I watched it before knowing what was happening. Somebody posted it on Twitter and I immediately regretted watching it. It felt exploitative and I was upset just seeing that and people making fun of her. Idk when people lost so much empathy and everything became a spectacle, including someone’s misfortune. I think it’s sick to find it funny when someone’s hurt or in this distress. To me this looks more serious than fainting. Anyone who watches the show can tell she’s not quite herself lately. She seems less focused and has trouble reading the cue cards often. If there’s something serious going on (hoping not) now there’s footage of her problems and people are laughing at her.
So I don’t think we should be so quick to dismiss dehydration as a legit reason for passing out. A few months ago my fiance fainted. We were on our way to dinner when he said he didn’t feel right so we pulled over. He gave me this look of shock, gripped my hand and immediately slumped forward & passed out. Then his body went stright back in his seat – rigid and I thought he was having a seizure. He came to, drank some water and then it happened again so we went to the hospital.
And after a bunch of tests and a huge IV drip – the conclusion? Dehydration. He had mowed and fertilized the yard on a hot day in pants and long sleeves without eating lunch or drinking any water. Thank goodness we were pulled over and not still driving when it happened.
TL;DR – sometimes dehydration is a real cause of passing out and shouldn’t automatically be dismissed as a cover for something bad. I hope Wendy is ok.
I agree – my husband saw this video last night and turned to me and said “yup, I’ve seen this before”. It’s happened to me more than once – happily not for a very long time. I’m very sensitive to dehydration and overheating. I hope Wendy is feeling much better today.
I once went on a diet and lost a lot of weight real fast, and I guess that can dehydrate you or maybe cause low blood pressure and I fainted? And I think Wendy looks really thin for her body lately!
I guess I find it funny how our experiences with fainting shape what we think Wendy experienced.
Oh man, poor Wendy. Fainting isn’t always a hand to the head as you delicately fall to the floor. It’s scary and you start to see stars and aren’t sure what’s happening, especially if you’re overheating. Been there. Glad she’s ok.
I fainted a few years ago due to the pain from a broken foot. I saw Pinky and the Brain marching.
I’m still trying to live that one down.
“I saw Pinky and the Brain marching.”
I sincerely hope this was included to add some levity, because I think it’s quite humorous and also I loved that show. I don’t want to insensitively laughing at your pain. Hopefully the fainting was a one time thing 🙂
Lol.
Yes, it was included for levity. 🙂
Yeah … whew. I laughed then felt terrible and wondered if you really saw Pinky and the Brain as you were falling
I’ve come close to passing out due to dehydration and it is SCARY. Dark spots in my vision and in my peripherals that started moving in closer, a feeling if disconnectedness from my body and loss of spatial awareness and then absolute fear as I realized what was about to happen. Thankfully I was able to get myself to a chair and get my head between my legs quickly. What Wendy went through looks almost exactly what my coworkers described happened to me. One minute okay and conversing normally, then loss of words, looking shocked and scared and the beginnings of the loss of consciousness. I hope she is feeling better.
I heard some people who witnessed it thought she was having a stroke. As another human being I certainly hope she is ok. I can’t watch her…….her mouth literally waters when she has food on the show, it’s freaky…….plus if I was Joey Tribbiani, I’d be annoyed with her How You Doing? My goodness that was his line for ten years. Oh my, get well Wendy.
How does he mouth water, like drool?
I’ve never watched her, but I don’t have cable. We just use netflix. We had the Canadian version of Netflix, called Shomi, but they canceled it. Too bad, it was darn good fro content. Now we have Crave TV, but it sucks. They put the shows in multiple categories so it looks like they have a lot of content, but they don’t. The do have a 007 category, but really how many times can you watch it? we cancelled it.
I’ve only watched a few times ages ago when I was working at home. You know when you get hungry, your mouth waters, well hers literally does, and she owns it and laughs. Girls gotta to eat. I’m certainly not trying to be cruel and wouldn’t wish ill health on anyone, she’s just not my cup of tea.
Yeah, that wasn’t a faint. I’ve seen a lot of fainting in my life, and that wasn’t it. Something was going on with her nervous system there. Possibly cardiovascular, too.
A faint looks totally different.
Yeah, no. I have to disagree. Fainting happens to come in all kind of forms. Depending on if it happens slow or fast, if you try to catch yourself or if you let it happen, if blood pressure or brain activity shut down first, etc. That looks like someone struggling to hold on and then passing out. Could very well be simple fainting, which by the way is most often cardiovascular and your nervous system shutting down.
I’m always embarrassed if it happens to me, because I’m afraid of the conclusions people might take. Last time people thought I had a epileptic episode, because I hit a table while fainting and my body reacted to that pain (which I didn’t feel as I was unconscious) by cramping in on itself.
Let’s take her at face value before coming to more sinister conclusions.
I guess it’s just me that thought the video looked like really bad acting LOL if it was real I hope she is OK.
Nah, that’s real. The glazed, confused look on her face and the unconscious sway is what gives it away. You can see the moment where her cognitive brain function just kind of “hits pause” as her body prepares to pass out.
No, not just you. Really bad acting.
I thought she was faking it the first time I watched it. I’ve fainted more times than I can count. Before I faint I start sweating profusely and turn completely pale. After watching the video of Wendy several times, I think this is something neurological. Not just exhaustion and dehydration. She has no obligation to tell us the truth regardless of the reason. I hope she’s ok.
She is known for her stunts, but I believe it. I have fainted a few times because I have naturally lower blood pressure. It was one of those days where you don’t have time to stop for a whole day to eat or drink anything much. I was walking through an airport and bam I hit the ground. It was embarrassing but a lesson learned.
That feeling when you know it is about to happen is the worst.
I’ve passed out before due to a dehydration/low blood glucose and vasovagal syncope at various points in my life. My front teeth are actually veneers because of an episode where I passed out face first in a hospital and shattered them.
It’s…a very weird feeling. Your brain just suddenly STOPS (makes sense, it’s the organ that needs the most glucose supply) and it’s like a deep, fuzzy static settles over you, a kind of shivery dizziness that you feel up and down your whole body. There are often visual disturbances or a cold sweat. If it’s a repetitive problem, you can catch the symptoms early on and move to sit or lay down to avoid impact, but it took me by surprise the first time. You keep thinking it’s just a headache or a lightheaded moment that will pass until, well, it doesn’t. It takes awhile to recover from it, too. You’re dizzy and have kind of a heavy feeling to your body for a good 30-45 minutes after.
omg i forgot about the sudden sweat, like immediately my back was soaked. Then when I came to: an urgent need for the bathroom :o\
Such a horrible disorientating experience
Sorry, but as a fainter myself… that was either fake or something else. When you faint, YOU JUST FAINT… there is no time for that little drama scene!
No. Just no. You don’t just faint and that’s the only way to lose consciousness.
You can be somewhat aware to the experience and for the moments before it can be extremely terrifying and confusing.
Maybe you faint by dropping as dead weighr, but that is not the only way.
Alison Sweeney (soap actress, etc) said her cop husband told her that when people faint, they usually fall to their knees first and then sway sideways and go down.
It happens often that way. I feel if I faint. Most of the time. I try to control myself and will sway and sit down or go to my knees. I might sit down and put my head to rest and come back after a few seconds and people think I fell asleep, or I fall down like a tree when it hits me out of the blue. Those are uncommon though.
Most often when I feel faint I don’t know if I’ll actually pass out and I’ll try to overplay it. Word vomit, dizzyness, etc. included. Like being drunk for a short while, because my brain can’t function properly, all while I have cold sweat breaking out, my arms and legs tingle like an army of ants is walking over them, I feel hot and cold at the same time, then I feel adrenaline kicking in as a desperate move of my body to keep me from fainting, which makes me even hotter, makes my heart race, and I feel incredibly sick. My vision will fade, I can’t feel my arms and legs any longer, all sound is distant and distorted, and then there’s a 50-50 chance that I actually fall down and pass out, or that the adrenaline actually works and my senses come back to me.
What happens between me feeling the syncope is going to happen and me coming back to my senses will look weird to everyone from the outside and it will look drugged or drunk or sleepy or any other condition you might think of.
If the statue Lady Liberty could faint after Trump was elected it would have done so …. looks like Wendy did it in its place.
I can’t give blood because I almost always pass out afterwards. I hate that because I love to help others. I’ve also passed out from heat exhaustion a few times. Once while hiking through the mountainous area of SC, I got too hot and fainted face first!
Donation is a wonderful thing! There are other ways. If by chance you’re O- you could donate plasma as a universal donor and you wouldn’t pass put. Or just plasma of any type. There’s no significant blood loss.
the pills and booze you consume 24/7 combined with the heat …
Wendy is successful. There was the radio show before the talk show so he has been around and in the game for decades and she looks to be the breadwinner of the family. Why is she with this deadbeat. I know they have a child together but what good is it with the kid seeing his Mother just wither away because his father can’t keep it in his pants.
I know, I really like her. I feel that she has a good heart. I wish she wouldn’t put up with it.
Actually she didn’t pass out but Trump clubbed her over the head. They did cut that scene.
*sarcasm off*