It’s been a decade since the intense, on-air clash between daytime talk show host Wendy Williams and now-former White House aide Omarosa Manigault-Newman, but there’s the possibility for the two to meet face-to-face again when the 10th season of Williams’ show beings in September.
Williams, who is in the Washington, D.C., area promoting “The Wendy Williams Show,” told the Washington Examiner in an interview Tuesday that she was open for a rematch.
“Sure, why not. We’ve made up,” she said, before adding, “I’ll have to see how I feel on that day.”
Manigault-Newman is scheduled to publish a book mid-August detailing her time in the Trump administration, which she was reportedly fired from in December, though she said she resigned on her own.
Williams and Manigault-Newman in 2008 had what has become one of daytime talk show history’s most memorable encounters.
It was the first season of Williams’ syndicated show and Manigault-Newman had become a household name for her villainous portrayal on NBC’s “The Apprentice” and “Celebrity Apprentice,” starring Donald Trump.
Williams invited Manigault-Newman on the show to promote a new self-help book but the 10-minute interview was contentious from the start and it ended with both parties insulting each other’s appearance.
“They say good black doesn’t crack; she’s cracking,” Williams said of Manigault-Newman, after suggesting to the reality TV personality that she should consider getting cosmetic injections on her face.
“And I would suggest a wig that doesn’t sit off my head three inches,” Manigault-Newman shot back.
Williams was also in the Washington, D.C., area to promote a campaign by her charity, the Hunter Foundation, to combat drug addition.
“I’ve been where you are,” Williams, a former cocaine addict, said of those affected by drug addiction. “And it’s not how you fall down or how low you go in life, but if you can get yourself up and set an example for even one person, then you’ve done your job.”
The “Be Here” project’s goal is to raise $10 million over five years for research funding, educational scholarships and awareness campaigns.
Williams said her 10-city tour promoting her show’s new season stopped in Washington because she has a wide fan base in the area. But she said her program, unlike some other talk shows, will not veer strongly into politics when it starts back in September.
“No, I feel like politics is nobody’s business but my own,” she said.
However, if President Trump wanted to come on, however, she said he’d be welcome.
If she could ask him one question, she said it would be the same question she asks all her guests: “How you doin’?”
