Celebrity

Wendy Williams’ Struggle With Drug Addiction

Wendy Williams revealed she’s living in a sober house during Tuesday’s episode of The Wendy Williams Show, after previously being candid about her struggles with drug addiction.

“Well, for some time now and even today and beyond I have been living in a sober house,” Williams emotionally revealed to her audience. “.. And you know I’ve had a struggle with cocaine in my past. I never went to a place to get the treatment. I don’t know how, except God was sitting on my shoulder and I just stopped.”

Last December, Williams canceled an episode of The Wendy Williams Showafter she said she suffered a hair fracture on her right shoulder, though she didn’t share how she injured her shoulder. One month later, her family said she was taking an extended break from her show, and stated that it was due to her seeking treatment for complications from Graves’ disease.

“As Wendy Williams Hunter previously shared, she fractured her shoulder and has been on the mend,” the family statement read at the time. “Over the past few days, Wendy has experienced complications regarding her Graves’ disease that will require treatment. Wendy will be under the strict supervision of her physicians, and as part of her care, there will be significant time spent in the hospital.”

Williams returned to her show on March 4 and said her absence was due to thyroid issues.

“What happened was, we were only supposed to be off for two weeks for Christmas vacation,” she told her audience. “Towards the end of the two weeks, I was starting to feel thyroid issues. If you don’t know about them, it’s a lifetime thing. They can really screw you over. So, they are adjusting my thyroid meds and the eyeballs are attached to the thyroid, which is my Graves’ disease, and I always have equilibrium issues with my vertigo. I’m the kind of patient, if I cough, I am thinking, ‘I am dying. I know I’ve gotten to that point.'”

Williams and her family started The Hunter Foundation in 2014 to help communities seek solutions to drug addiction and substance abuse, and launched their “Be Here” campaign last summer in order to help families combat the drug epidemic. Last week, she also launched the 888-5HUNTER hotline, a 24-hour help hotline that’s staffed with certified recovery coaches who are able to conduct assessments and match callers with appropriate treatment facilities including detox, rehabilitation, sober living and outpatient centers. It also offers educational resources to those suffering drug addiction or substance abuse, as well their families, loved ones and the public.

“We must all come together to respond to this crisis of addiction and substance abuse,” Williams said in a statement about the hotline. “Everyone is at risk from the inner cities to more affluent communities. My family and I are very proud to partner with T.R.U.S.T. to get people the help that they so desperately need, especially if they or their families have given up hope. There is hope.”

On Tuesday, Williams talked about her current day-to-day life, which she said only her husband and their 19-year-old son, Kevin Hunter, Jr., knew about.

“… After I finished my appointments, seeing my brothers and sisters, breaking bread, I am driven by my 24-hour sober coach back to the home that I live in, here in the tri-state with a bunch of smelly boys who have become my family,” she continued. “They hog the TV and watch soccer. We talk and read and talk and read and then I get bored with them. … So I go to my room, and I stare at the ceiling and I fall asleep to wake up and come back here to see you. So that is my truth.

I know, either you are calling me crazy or the bravest woman you know. I don’t care.”

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