Wendy’s Ex, Kevin Hunter, Suffers Legal Setback In $7 Million Wrongful Termination Case Against ‘The Wendy Williams Show’ Producers

Kevin Hunter, the ex-husband of Wendy Williams, recently suffered a major legal setback.

via: In Touch

According to court documents obtained by In Touch, on April 8, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit vacated a big win for Kevin, 52, in the legal battle.

As In Touch previously reported, back in 2023, Kevin filed a bombshell lawsuit against the production company behind The Wendy Williams Show, Debmar-Mercury, along with individual producers Ira Bernstein and Mort Marcus.

In his complaint, Kevin claimed he was wrongfully terminated from his role as executive producer on the talk show after Wendy, 60, filed for divorce in 2019.

“The termination of [Kevin] was based strictly upon [Kevin’s] marital status and his impending divorce to the Show’s host, ignoring all of the contributions that [Kevin] made to make the Show a success,” his lawsuit read.

In his filing, Kevin took credit for The Wendy Williams Show’s massive success. He claimed he led the ship behind the scenes and made sure Wendy was taken care of. He claimed to be responsible for popular show segments Hot Topics and Shoe Cam.

Kevin said he had final say on the guests for the show and even had input on marketing decisions. Kevin accused the producers of violating New York law when they fired him due to his “marital status” and said they had no right to terminate his contract.

Wendy’s ex-husband demanded $7 million in damages.

Demar-Mercury and the individual producers denied all allegations of wrongdoing. In their response, they disagreed with Kevin and his legal team’s argument and interpretation of New York law.

They argued that the law said an employer cannot discriminate against an employee based on their marital status, basically whether they are married or not married.

Debmar-Mercury argued that Kevin’s claims warranted dismissal due to his “marriage to [Wendy], in particular, is not a protected characteristic” by the law. They said New York law did not cover discrimination based on an employee’s marital status in relation to a specific person.

In September 2023, the federal judge presiding over the case ruled Kevin’s lawsuit could move forward.

The judge said, “Given [Kevin’s] allegations that he was terminated because of his impending divorce from Wendy Williams — i.e. terminated because he would no longer be married to [Wendy] … Morse requires this court to find that he has stated a claim for marital status discrimination.”

The producers appealed the decision to deny their motion to dismiss.

In the recent decision by the United States Court of Appeals, the court sided with Wendy’s talk show producers. The higher court decided to vacate the lower court’s decision denying the producer’s request to dismiss the case.

The higher court said another court previously ruled, in a separate case, that “marital status” refers to “whether a person is participating in a marriage, not the nature of one’s relationship with another specific person.”

The order reads, “This reasoning squarely resolves the question here. Hunter does not allege that he was fired because of his status as married, unmarried, or divorced, but, instead, because of his marital status specifically to Williams.”

The case was remanded down to the lower court, where the case will continue, but the decision to deny the producers’ motion will be vacated.

As In Touch previously reported, Wendy is currently under a court-ordered guardianship that she does not believe is needed.

In the past couple of months, a #FreeWendy movement started by her family, friends and fans pleading for her to be let out of the guardianship has been growing.