Source: Johnny Nunez / Getty
The Wendy Williams Show may be coming to an end, but that’s not stopping Kevin Hunter from becoming the Hot Topic–again.
After the announcement that the eponymous show of his ex-wife, Wendy Williams, was coming to an end after 14 seasons, Hunter has officially filed a lawsuit against the production company for the allegedly unjustified dismissal.
According to documents obtained by Page Six, the civil lawsuit filed in New York City federal court earlier this week claims Debmar-Mercury wrongfully fired Hunter “on the basis of his marital status” to Williams. He also alleges that just days after he and Williams filed for divorce in April 2019, Debmar-Mercury sent him a written notice that he had been terminated as an executive producer on The Wendy Williams Show—a role he had since 2007—and he was no longer allowed on studio premises.
“Hunter was one of the reasons behind the Wendy William Show’s tremendous success and everything seemed to go south after he left,” Hunter’s attorney, Abe George, told the publication in an exclusive statement. “Mr. Hunter was unlawfully terminated solely due to his marital status to Wendy, which is contrary to human rights laws in NYC.”
As previously reported, Williams’ ongoing health issues have prevented her from returning to host her infamous series, resulting in The Wendy Williams Show ending after its current season, with frequent guest host Sherri Shepherd’s new series, Sherri, taking over Williams’ show’s time slot.
Citing published reports, Hunter’s complaint states “many of the elements” he “helped conceptualize and the product integrations he created” for Williams’ show will be incorporated into Shepherd’s new series.
“Even though The Wendy Williams Show will be over, Defendants will continue to be unjustly enriched by Plaintiff’s initial work including his initial concepts created for the Show and Plaintiff’s product integration agreements,” documents state.
Hunter also states that he has suffered between $7 million to $10 million in “economic loss” as a result of his firing.
Tagged: entertainment blog, kevin hunter, lawsuits, music blog, NEWS, Newsletter, Television, the wendy williams show, wendy williams