Wendy Williams received the 2,677th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Thursday, joined by Jack Abernethy, CEO of Fox TV stations, radio host Elvis Duran, Los Angeles City Councilman Mitch O’Farrell and others who assembled on Hollywood Boulevard to celebrate the veteran TV host.
“If I don’t laugh, I’ll cry, so I’ll keep it light and laughter-y,” Williams said as she took the podium to accept her honor, choking back tears all the same. “Jack and Elvis and Mitch and people have said throughout the day … I’m successful because I’ve done things my way. No, not exactly. It’s because I’m a good listener to advice, and if I don’t like the advice, then I do things my way.”
The performer went on to thank her family, fans and “loyal, hard-working staff” at “The Wendy Williams Show,” as well as Mort Marcus and Ira Bernstein of Debmar-Mercury, which distributes the program. She also named some of her greatest talk-show inspirations, such as Mike Douglas and Dinah Shore.
“I did not know I would be a talk-show host, but I liked the chit-chat; I’ve always liked the chit-chat,” she said. “When they told me, ‘It’s going to be a live talk show,’ I was frightened — frightened. Doing it by myself, I had no problem with because most of my career I’ve been by myself. Even in a room full of a thousand people, I always feel like the person who doesn’t belong.”
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