Ciera Payton, Morocco Omari Cast In Lifetime’s ‘Wendy Williams: The Hot Topic’

Lifetime is set to start production this month on the biopic about the outspoken television host and former radio star Wendy Williams with Ciera Payton (The Oval, She’s Gotta Have It) taking on the lead role in Wendy Williams: The Hot Topic (working title). Joining her will be Morocco Omari (P-Valley, Empire) to star as Wendy’s ex-husband Kevin Hunter while award-winning director Darren Grant (The Chi, God Friended Me) is set to direct the film. Debuting in 2021, the movie will be paired with a feature length documentary on Williams.

Talk show host Wendy Williams executive produces the biopic on her life, revealing the highs and lows she has experienced throughout the years. Wendy has made herself the go-to source for great celebrity dish on her hit talk show, The Wendy Williams Show, but recently the spotlight has turned towards her. The authorized project provides a revealing look at Wendy’s journey, from her scrappy upstart days in urban radio to the success of her own syndicated talk show. Despite all the naysayers and obstacles Wendy encountered throughout her life, her strength and determination have allowed her to thrive.

A feature length documentary about the self-anointed Queen of all Media will follow the biopic. In it, Wendy sheds her private persona and speaks directly to the camera from her Manhattan apartment, discussing every inch of joy and humiliation she has experienced since childhood. 

Produced by Front Street for Lifetime and executive produced by Wendy Williams (The Wendy Williams Show), Will Packer (Girls Trip, Roots) and Sheila Ducksworth (Soul Food, Ambitions). Darren Grant will direct from a script written by Leigh Davenport (Run the World, Boomerang) and Scarlett Lacey (Magnum P.I., The Royals). The documentary is produced by eOne and Creature Films for Lifetime.  Executive producers include Wendy Williams, Tara Long, Mark Ford, Kevin Lopez, Sarah Girgis and Joie Jacoby. Brie Bryant and Gena McCarthy serve as executive producers for Lifetime.