Wendy Williams under fire for “disrespectful” Swavy tribute after TikToker’s death

Talk show host Wendy Williams is under fire for her “disrespectful” coverage of TikToker Swavy’s death, with many calling her out for treating the tragedy as if it were “funny gossip.”

On July 5, Matima Miller, also known as Swavy, passed away in what his family described as a “senseless act of gun violence.” They explained that “due to legality” they are unable to share the exact circumstances of his death, but said they are working diligently to get justice for him.

Swavy had a substantial following on TikTok, and many were hugely saddened to hear the news of his passing, sharing tributes and messages of love across social media.

Talk show host Wendy Williams has now come under fire after she reported on the TikToker’s passing in a segment of her show, with many calling her coverage of the news “disrespectful.”

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In a clip that now has over 60,000 likes on Twitter, Williams began the segment by saying: “I have no idea who this is, neither does Norman. Neither does one person in this building.”

She went on to say: “Well, he’s a TikTok star. He’s got more followers than me. 2.5 million.”

The audience laughed as she looked his picture up and down on the screen, before she abruptly informed them that the 19-year-old was murdered on Monday morning.

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Viewers immediately took to social media to call out the host for the way the segment was handled. “She is so hateful,” one tweet with over 10,000 likes read. “Like, she basically treated the announcement of his death like it was funny gossip. Why disparage him? Why even talk about him at all if you and your audience are that removed from even knowing who he is?”

Others slammed the host for approaching the news that way when she was the only one who knew where the segment was going.

Many pointed out that this is not the first time Williams has handled a segment this way, linking a clip that shows her announcing the death of her mother.

Both Twitter and YouTube have been flooded with comments condemning the host, but she has not yet addressed the backlash at the time of writing.