Kevin Hunter sues TV company producing The Wendy Williams Show over alleged wrongful termination
- The civil lawsuit filed in federal court in New York claimed Hunter, 49, was wrongfully fired by Debmar-Mercury as executive producer because of his marital status with the show’s host.
- Wendy Williams, 57, filed for divorce from Hunter in April 2019, citing irreconcilable differences after her mistress Sharina Hudson gave birth to her child in March 2019
- The lawsuit listed Debmar-Mercury founders Ira Bernstein and Mort Marcus as defendants and demanded a jury trial
- Hunter was seeking monetary reward of at least $7 million, as well as punitive damages, lost wages and legal costs, court documents show.
- Williams in 2021 took time off from her daytime talk show due to various medical issues
- Debmar-Mercury announced last month that frequent guest host Sherri Shepherd, 54, had been hired to host a new talk show Sherri as a replacement for The Wendy Williams Show
Kevin Hunter filed a lawsuit against the television company producing The Wendy Williams Show on Tuesday for alleged wrongful termination.
The civil lawsuit filed in federal court in New York claimed Hunter, 49, was wrongfully fired by Debmar-Mercury as executive producer because of his marital status with the show’s host.
Williams, 57, filed for divorce from Hunter in April 2019, citing irreconcilable differences after his mistress Sharina Hudson gave birth to his child in March 2019.
Civil lawsuit: Kevin Hunter filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against the television company producing The Wendy Williams Show for alleged wrongful termination
“Hunter was one of the reasons for the huge success of The Wendy William Show and everything seemed to go south after he left. Mr. Hunter was illegally fired solely because of his marital status with Wendy which is against the law on human rights in New York,’ his lawyer Abe George told DailyMail.com.
“This lawsuit seeks to compensate Mr. Hunter for the money he put into the show that Debmar-Mercury will continue to enjoy even in their new reincarnation of The Wendy Williams Show,” he added.
The lawsuit named Debmar-Mercury founders Ira Bernstein and Mort Marcus as defendants and called for a jury trial. Hunter was seeking a monetary reward of at least $7 million, as well as punitive damages, lost wages and legal costs, according to court documents.
Hunter had been an executive producer of The Wendy Williams Show since 2007 and the lawsuit said he was involved in the show’s branding and helped conceptualize “the wildly popular ‘Hot Topics’ segments, ‘Shoe Came and ‘Hot Seat’ segments of the show’.
Happier times: Wendy Williams and her ex-husband Kevin are shown in July 2018 in New York
The lawsuit said Hunter was notified that Williams was filing for divorce on April 11, 2019, and a week later received written notice of his termination from Bernstein.
“Plaintiff’s dismissal was strictly based on Plaintiff’s marital status and his impending divorce from the show’s host, ignoring all of the contributions Plaintiff made to make the show a success,” said the trial.
Williams in 2021 took time off from her daytime talk show due to various medical issues.
Wrongful dismissal: The civil lawsuit filed in federal court in New York claimed that Hunter, shown with Wendy in August 2010 in New York, was wrongfully terminated by Debmar-Mercury as executive producer due to his marital status with the host of the show.
Debmar-Mercury announced last month that frequent guest host Sherri Shepherd, 54, had been hired to host a new Sherri talk show as a replacement for The Wendy Williams Show.
Williams and Hunter have 21-year-old son Kevin Samuel together.
The talk show host last September tested positive for a breakthrough COVID-19 infection.
Family photo: Kevin, Wendy and their son Kevin Hunter Jr are shown in July 2017 in New York