Dear Wendy Williams:
The purpose of this letter is to ask you some questions that have truly been bothering me concerning you. First, are you really a woman? I am not trying to be disrespectful or nothing, but there are serious reasons for me asking you this question. If I offend you in any way by asking you this question, I do apologize. The reason I feel comfortable asking you this query is you feel comfortable with getting into everyone’s business, so I thought that it would be fine for me to ask you a question of this type. Again, if this question is offensive, I do apologize. If you are not a man, then why does it seem like you are so uncomfortable when you close your legs with your skirts on?
What is it about gossip that motivates you in such a way that you live for it—even developed a talk show on BET that celebrates gossip? Do you ever think about how much emotional damage you do to people with your obsessive coverage and inquiry into the most personal dimensions of their lives? I would encourage you to think critically about how you might cover the personal lives of people in a much more respectful, less exploitative, and more equitable way.
Did you get breast implants? If so, are you happy with the size of your breasts?
I must say that I do watch your talk show on BET quite frequently. The reason I watch your show is not that I’m interested in it really, but because I have to stay abreast of Black popular culture in my area of expertise. I would love to see you transition your show into a more traditional talk show, instead of the crass gossip talk show it is today. When you elect to discuss the things that you do on your show, I would like for you to think about how you are negatively representing Black people on television. Is making money that important to you that you would be willing to exploit your own race?
I wish you all of the best! Have a great day!
Sincerely,
Antonio Maurice Daniels
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Revolutionary Paideia 
This is quite the open letter. There are a couple of things that I feel are bold and brash in your line of questioning. First, asking her is she’s a man, I’m sure it’s nothing that she hasn’t heard or addressed before. If this reaches her, therefore, she’ll have no problem in telling you that she is a woman. I am of amazonian statue and have a sultry, prolific, inspiration and motivational speaking voice, but I’m not a man…trust me. LOL! Second, I do not think that she “lives” for gossip. In her industry or former line of work at a radio talk show host, she gave the public exactly what they wanted. Yes, there were several occasions that caused or fostered drama in some of her celebrity circles, but nothing that Hollywood has not seen, heard, or talked about before. I am admittedly a reality tv show head and I watch because I like. I am NOT stating that you are on your soap box against every talk show host that doesn’t structure their shows like an Oprah or a Rachel Ray, you are entitled to your own opinion. I am, however, stating that the Wendy Williams show is part of her branding and marketing empire and may not be for all else. I like that she will not confirm to a “standard.” Whatever that may be. I do not think that she only represents negative connotations of Black people. She like to talk and many of us like to hear about what is going on good or bad with some famous people. I will not internally or externally delight in the bad or shameful things that happen in the daily lives of celebrities. Celebrities are in the lime light, whether they like it or not. Yes! There are many ways in which the paparazzi go to far, for example, the death of Princess Diana and to many other to name, but Wendy Williams is Wendy Williams and does not “try” to be Wendy Williams. I can not say this for other personalities or artist *clearing throat* rap artist. 🙂 I’m sure there will be a blog post about that concern soon enough and I will look forward to reading it as I look forward on some days to Wendy’s Hot Topics. I like your open letter and I hope it reaches her. Would be great publicity for Revolutionary Paideia if she decides to respond via her show. Keep these coming.
Thanks, Santresa for your engaging and thoughtful response! I don’t think that Wendy Williams is really being Wendy Williams. She is just falling prey to the stereotype of the traditional “gossip girl.” Yes, her show can be quite entertaining, but I think that the reason her show is so entertaining–gossip–speaks poorly on how the general public rather go for the silly over the substantial. Her show is not funny–it is not comedy. It is just about trashing people like TMZ. For her show to be successful, she has to live for gossip. If you take gossip away from her show, then she has no content besides “how you doing?”–which has some origins in the gossip scene too. Her radio talk show was exploitative too. I don’t want her to be Oprah–she cannot be her. What I want from Wendy Williams and other Black people who put things out in public to do is be more responsible about their content. I want them to think about how their content might do violence to African Americans in the public imagination. There are even bloggers who constantly put negative things up about Black people that depict them in the most negative light. For those who do that, they are not any better than Wendy Williams. Yes, I would love for her to respond to this open letter. While it would certainly be good publicity for Revolutionary Paideia, it would, more importantly, start a wider discourse about how Black people should be depicting themselves and other Black people, while still maintaining individuality and truthfulness. Again, I very much appreciate your thoughtful and engaging response. Oh, by the way, you do not have a prolific, sultry, inspirational, and motivational speaking voice! Lmbo!
Wendy Williams should not be offended by any portion of the letter. She has made a living as a shock jock and a terrible one at that. It is beyond me that BET would give this clown of a woman a TV show. Her NY radio show has had a long run and been highly successful much to my own disbelief.
You would think for someone to be this offensive, they would at least have to be attractive.
Lol! Wendy Williams is certainly not attractive. She does not do her job well at all. She simply goes after the most superficial things without giving us anything substantial.