Wendy Williams: Queen of the Media

Wendy Williams: Queen of the Media

She’s your best friend (in your head at least). She says all the things you probably want to say, but just can’t muster up the courage to do so. Her boldness is what attracts people to her and she has been noted as the infamous “queen of radio.” I’m sure you’ve probably seen or heard about her talk show The Wendy Williams Show. You at least have to recognize the popular phrase “How You Doin?” She is a mother, best-selling author talk show host, and she’s still climbing the ladder of success.
Wendy Williams grew up in Ocean Township, New Jersey. She got her first taste of the media life while attending Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts. She majored in communications and was also a disc jockey for the college radio station WRBB. Williams went on to become an intern at Kiss 108 in Boston.

In an interview with NJ.com, Williams stated that she “used to enjoy listening to radio. I wanted to be a newscaster. I listened to ABC, KTU and WBLS at the time.”

“When I got to college, I realized that part of that career, (as a newscaster) was that you have to live the lifestyle, and I have a very wacky personality. People see it every day. What you see is what you get. I can go from laughing to crying,” she continued in the interview.

Her career spans over 20 years. After graduating from college she landed a gig way down in St. Croix, Virgin Islands as a DJ for WVIS radio station. It wasn’t long before Williams found herself moving back north. After only ten months in St. Croix, she took a job as a DJ at a radio station in Washington, DC. Moving on from there she found herself as a fill-in DJ at 98.7 Kiss FM. Eventually becoming full-time, her career took off as she was awarded a Billboard award for “Best On-Air Radio Personality,” in 1993.

Emmis Broadcasting ended up purchasing Kiss FM and Hot 97 came to life. Williams didn’t last too long at this station because she was allegedly involved in an altercation with her co-worker Angie Martinez that supposedly involved Williams releasing private information regarding Martinez. To this day, Williams believes that the station literally used the incident to end her contract with the station, which is discussed in great detail on her show “The Wendy Williams Experience” that aired on VH1.

Her book “Wendy’s Got The Heat” discusses the struggles she went through as she climbed her way to success. She suffered from drug addiction, a divorce and several miscarriages. Earlier this year during a segment on her show she broke down in tears as she talked about singer Whitney Houston’s alleged drug abuse. She was quoted as saying “Have you ever tried drugs? Well I have. It’s been many years; I can laugh about it now, too. It’s the stupidest thing I ever did in my life, you know, but I am familiar with every form of cocaine including crack and that whole bit.”

She even talked about the struggle of being different growing up. In the book she wrote, “I was the black girl in practically all-white school. And among the handful of blacks, I was the white girl, the outcast. I knew that one day my being different would pay off.”

Her other books by Williams include “Wendy’s Got The Heat”, “Drama Is Her Middle Name: The Ritz Harper Chronicles Vol. 1,” “Is the B**** Dead, Or What?: The Ritz Harper Chronicles Book 2.”

A few years later she returned to New York working with WBLS on her show, which was syndicated in several media markets.

Williams is no stranger to controversy, because she is bold. She tells it the way she sees it and she doesn’t care what anyone has to say about it. Maybe that’s why people love her so much.

Several artists such as Jay-Z, Will Smith, Lil’ Kim, 50 Cent, Mariah Carey and Rick Ross have all referred to Williams in their songs. She was criticized strongly by Rapper Method Man, because she revealed on her radio show that his wife was suffering from cancer.

In 2009, she was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame. She is the second African-American to ever be nominated for this recognition.

Most recently, Williams was a contestant on ABC’s Dancing With The Stars. Although she only lasted two weeks, she did an incredible job.

When she’s not in front of the camera giving us the latest gossip, she’s being a wife to husband Kevin, Sr. and mother to her son Kevin, Jr. She also is a contributor to the Life &Style magazine. Be sure to check your local Fox station for the Wendy Williams show.

-Markysha Cannon