Meet Wendy Williams' Son Kevin Jr.
The following article mentions alcoholism.
In a PBS special called "American Masters: The Women's List" (via Essence), talk show host Wendy Williams opened up about having experienced several miscarriages in her journey to have a child. "I fought tooth and nail to be a mother. I suffered several miscarriages including two at five months," she revealed. Williams explained that she was far enough along in her pregnancy that she had begun preparing for the baby's arrival. After the miscarriage, Williams said, "They ask you do you want a funeral or do you want the cremation."
Williams and her second husband, Kevin Hunter, did eventually have a child together. Their son, Kevin Hunter Jr., was born on August 18, 2000. He shares his father's name and is the pride and joy of Williams' life. "Our Kevin is a hard-won child," she said in the film. "I would've loved to have had more children but I don't want to test my blessing. Being a mother is for me."
As Williams' health struggles and financial woes have made headlines, her family has taken on a prominent role in speaking for the former radio DJ in the media. That means, despite a relatively private early life, her son has found himself in the news. Read on to meet Wendy Williams' son, Kevin Jr.
Kevin Hunter Jr. has been by his mother's side through ups and downs
While Kevin Hunter Jr. has been by his mother's side through a number of difficult situations, he's also shown up to support her during some of the highest points of her career. In 2019, Hunter was on hand when his mother was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The celebration came during a trying time for Williams, as her marriage to Hunter's father was falling apart. When she spoke at the event, she acknowledged what a difficult spot she'd been in. "The elephant in the room is that I've been having a very, very tough year. But slowly but surely, I'm climbing out of the pit," Williams said.
After the ceremony, the talk show host spoke with reporters about what her son's support has meant to her over the years. She told People, "He's always encouraged me to keep it going. And never asks me to pull back from anything that I say or that I wear or anything like that. He's always been very encouraging. So now, it's just the two of us against the world."
Infidelity torpedoed Kevin Hunter Jr.'s parents' relationship
In March 2019, Wendy Williams sat in her iconic talk show chair and addressed rumors that her husband had cheated on her. "Marriages have ebbs and flows, marriage isn't easy. And don't ask me about mine until you see this gone. And it ain't going anywhere, not in this lifetime," she said, pointing to her wedding ring (via People). Ultimately, it wouldn't be long before the scandal ended Williams' marriage; despite insisting on-air that she didn't plan to, Williams filed for divorce the following month.
In an interview with Andy Cohen on SiriusXM's "Radio Andy" a few months later, Wendy Williams said she was aware of Kevin Hunter Sr.'s cheating for a long time, but she delayed doing anything about it because she didn't want to interfere with her son's childhood. "I knew a lot of things for years," she explained. "My son was at home. It wasn't fair to him. I'm not gonna grab his hand and flee the scene and move zip codes, now he has to move high schools and stuff like that." Her son had gone away to college, Williams explained, which gave her the perfect opportunity to finally leave his father. "I can take a lot," Williams said, "but I'm not raising a family."
He was arrested after an alleged fight with his father
In early 2019, as the news was breaking that Wendy Williams was getting a divorce, her son, Kevin Hunter Jr., was arrested after an alleged fight with his father. TMZ reported that the two got into an altercation in a parking lot in New Jersey, arguing with one another about the fact that Hunter Sr. wanted Williams to pay him alimony. According to the outlet, Hunter Jr. was said to have punched his father in the nose in order to get out of a headlock, and that's when the cops got involved.
Williams' ex-husband told TMZ, "I love my son very much and I will not be pursuing this matter legally. Things are not always how they appear." Sure enough, E! News reported that Hunter Jr. pled not guilty, and assault charges were ultimately dropped. Hunter Jr.'s lawyer Raymond Hamlin told the outlet that his client had since reconciled with his father, and things were all good now. "They came in together and left today. They were laughing and joking around with each other," he said.
Wendy Williams said her son handled her divorce well
Even though Wendy Williams struggled in the aftermath of her divorce from Kevin Hunter Sr., she told the ladies on "The View" that her son handled the separation as well as could be expected. Williams pointed out that Kevin Hunter Jr. is an only child, which meant that she needed to be the one to remain strong for him because he didn't have any siblings to turn to. "He's doing very well," she said, pointing out that he now lived in Miami, closer to her extended family. "We talk every day, sometimes a couple times a day," she revealed. "He's in a good space, you know, and he only wants to see me and his dad happy."
The divorce was finalized in January 2020. TMZ reported that they planned to sell their house and split the profits, while Hunter Sr. would sell Williams his half of the production company they owned together.
Kevin Hunter Jr.'s apartment trouble
Unfortunately, while Kevin Hunter Jr. may have been handling his parents' separation well on an emotional level, on a logistical one he seems to have struggled. A few years after their divorce was finalized, as Wendy Williams' show was canceled amid ongoing health struggles, Hunter was left without his mother's financial support. As a result, The U.S. Sun reported in 2022 that he was evicted from his Miami apartment.
The newspaper obtained court documents showing that Hunter owed more than $70,000 in back rent. He filed a response to the lawsuit, detailing the way that Williams' financial woes had affected his ability to pay his rent. In his court filing, Hunter claimed that his mother's guardianship meant the funds had dried up. "For medical and legal reasons, she has not been able to pay the rent for the past months since the 1-year lease ended and the court controlled her finances," he wrote. Hunter seemed to have been surprised by how quickly his debt added up, explaining to the court, "Everything happened very quickly and unexpectedly and I had no idea things would end up like this."
In March 2024, The U.S. Sun reported Hunter received an eviction notice from another building where he allegedly owed over $4,000 in back rent. According to the report, it appears all involved parties worked things out; the building's legal team ultimately dropped the notice.
He was accused of stealing money from his mother
Shortly after Kevin Hunter Jr. was evicted from his Miami apartment in 2022, The U.S. Sun reported on rumors that he'd been stealing from his mother's fortune. Her finances had been taken over by a guardian after Wells Fargo petitioned the court and claimed she was unable to control her own money, and they said that Hunter was partially responsible for her financial trouble. "Kevin Jr. spent around $100,000 on Wendy's personal American Express card," an insider told the newspaper. "This was her own AmEx specifically." This is only one thing we know about Williams' guardianship.
Hunter spoke with The U.S. Sun the following year, insisting that the whole situation had been misunderstood and misconstrued. Williams visited him down in Miami and only brought the one American Express card, which he said he then needed to use to pay for her treatment as her health declined. "The AmEx was the only source of paying for things after that, especially when it came to doctors' appointments and private planes to get her to and from appointments in New York," he said.
Furthermore, Hunter claimed that the guardian had cut him off from all of his various accounts, preventing him from being able to pay for his school expenses. He'd been used to using his mother's credit cards, he said — after all, Wendy Williams once had quite the lavish life — and he insisted, "I never took advantage of it."
He raised the alarm about his mother's situation in 2023
As speculation ran rampant about Wendy Williams' health in the summer of 2023, Kevin Hunter Jr. spoke with The U.S. Sun about what a precarious situation his mother was in. In particular, amid several hospitalizations that weren't communicated fully to her family, Hunter became concerned that her team was trying to squeeze as much money out of his mother as they could. "What's been made more important by the people around her is that while her health may not be great, she needs to keep on earning income, and in my opinion that should not be a priority at all," he said.
Instead, Hunter wanted to focus on securing care for his mother's health. He was concerned in particular about her issues with alcoholism, and he told the newspaper that his mother's team were getting her to sign financial documents while she should've been concerned about rehab. "I feel that when it comes to people wanting to 'help' her, a lot of it is coming from a stance of, okay, she's alone now," he said. "Let's try to see how we can make her act the way we want her to act, or if we can kind of control the rate at which she's handling herself."
Hunter said he'd been approached about participating in an unscripted project that would detail his mother's declining health, and he didn't feel that was the right move. Hunter proclaimed, "She shouldn't be doing anything that involves putting herself in front of the camera."
Kevin Hunter Jr. participated in Lifetime's Where Is Wendy Williams? documentary
While Kevin Hunter Jr. was initially hesitant about participating in an unscripted project that would offer answers about Wendy Williams' health struggles to the world, he eventually did appear on camera in "Where Is Wendy Williams?" The Lifetime docuseries featured interviews with her family, her manager, and various members of her team, detailing their attempt to get the talk show host's health back on track following her aphasia and frontotemporal dementia diagnoses. Producer Mark Ford told Entertainment Tonight that Hunter's participation in the docuseries was crucial to getting the project off the ground. "There was no way we were gonna proceed with this without the family completely on board," he explained.
Hunter didn't hold anything back in his on-camera appearances, straight-up telling producers, "I'm afraid that she could die ... She looked confused, and she looked skinny. Like she needs a break." He also elaborated on his mother's experience with alcoholism, claiming that her drinking is what led to her condition. "They basically said that because she was drinking so much, it was starting to affect her headspace and her brain."
In one of the most poignant moments in the docuseries, Williams said her son means everything to her. "We have the best time," she said. "When I die, everything is for him."
If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).