Kaplan Martin Sues to Protect Wendy Williams

“As our complaint shows in painful and excruciating detail, A&E, Lifetime and [producer] Mark Ford viciously and shamelessly exploited Wendy Williams for their own profit while she was obviously incapacitated and suffering from dementia,” said Morrissey’s attorneys Kaplan Martin LLP and Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP in a statement. “Their behavior truly shocks the conscience, and they should not be permitted to profit from her suffering. We are proud to represent her guardian in holding them accountable.”

In the new filing Morrissey — along with famed civil rights litigator Roberta Kaplan (who won a $83.3 million jury verdict in her representation of E. Jean Carroll against former President Donald Trump and who successfully argued United States v. Windsor, which required the federal government to recognize same-sex marriage) and her partner Tim Martin of Kaplan Martin LLP have taken on Wendy’s case — claim the network and defendants took advantage of Williams and should pay her for her medical care and supervision for the rest of her life.

The complaint was part of a legal battle initiated by Morrissey that sought to block the documentary’s release. A temporary restraining order was granted before the ruling was reversed by a higher court. Since then, Roberta Kaplan, who represented E. Jean Carroll in a defamation case against former president Donald Trump, joined Williams’ legal team, which includes Ellen Holloman. In a statement on the amended complaint, Kaplan said the defendants “viciously and shamelessly exploited Wendy Williams for their own profit while she was obviously incapacitated and suffering from dementia.”