Kevin Hunter, Wendy Williams' ex-husband, has filed a lawsuit against the producers of "The Wendy Williams Show."

Kevin is suing the production company Debmar-Mercury, as well as the show's producers Ira Bernstein and Mort Marcus, for wrongful termination, according to court records obtained by the newspaper The Sun.

In the early hours of this morning, The Shade Room claimed that a lawsuit had been filed in a New York court.

According to the document, Kevin stated that Ira and Mort launched Debmar in 2004, and that they were successful. Approximately three years later, Wendy and Kevin were approached by the company to participate in a six-week tryout for a talk show.

Kevin maintains that he was acting on behalf of his then-wife during the negotiations.

As stated in the lawsuit, "[Hunter] was accustomed to working behind the scenes of Williams' previous projects and leveraged his business acumen and street smarts to negotiate a considerable financial raise from the first contract that was being offered to Williams."

After its debut in 2008, "The Wendy Williams Show" was an instant success, garnering more than 100 million viewers. It dominated the 10 a.m. daily morning time slot, and no other network has ever been able to compete with the show's time slot to this day, according to Nielsen ratings.

Kevin went on to say that he was one of the reasons the show was a success, and that he was even involved in the development of the majority of the show's concepts and branding.

Kevin Hunter served as the show's executive producer from 2007 until their divorce in 2019, and was only fired when Wendy filed for divorce as a result of his romance with Sharina Hudson and the birth of a love child with her.

According to the lawsuit, Kevin was the one who came up with the concepts of "Hot Topics" and "Shoe Cam," as well as the person who had the ultimate say on who will be appearing on the show. He also planned marketing programs and tours to increase the show's ratings.

As well as creating ties between "The Wendy Williams Show" and many media outlets, he was responsible for bridging the gap between the show and the African American community, employing and developing security employees, and coordinating Wendy's security plan.

He also listed a number of other roles on the show for which he claims to be auditioning.

Kevin asserted in the case that he was unfairly terminated in 2019 solely because of his "impending divorce" from Wendy, and that everyone "ignored all of the efforts that Kevin made to make the show a success." The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Los Angeles.

He went on to say that the show never recovered after he left and that the producers overestimated his contribution. He is now seeking damages in the range of $7 million to $10 million.

Tags
Wendy williams, Kevin Hunter, The Wendy Williams Show