“Things don’t work in China the way they work in the United States,” a lawyer representing a manufacturing company in China told New York’s Daily News about the strange case of Wendy Williams’s shoe line. Called Adorn, the popular television host of her Wendy Williams Show had contracted the Chinese firm Max Harvest International Holdings to deliver 12,140 pairs of shoes.
The alleged failure of the talk show host and her husband Kevin Hunter to pay the resulting $419,000 bill has sparked a spiral of chaos that is not typical of American business practices.
Associates of the factory hired by Max Harvest to produce the shoes took aggressive action on two fronts upon not receiving their remuneration. Workers from the plant protested holding aloft a giant red banner demanding that Williams, by name, “Pay us now.” Fists held in the air in a gesture reminiscent of a black power salute, the stiffed workforce stood shoulder to shoulder with shopping bags bearing Wendy’s Adorn logo held to their chests like breast plates.
Additionally, the owner of the shoe plant kidnapped a Max Harvest manager in retaliation. “The kidnappers held the man for two weeks before releasing him shaken but unharmed,” the Daily News reports.
The Hong Kong couple that owns Max Harvest International Holdings have fled their city and wish to remain anonymous according to sources. Speaking through their Los Angeles-based attorney, the pair related their intention to sue Williams in Manhattan Supreme Court if the star does not pay her bill soon.
The lawyer claims her clients have been trying to resolve this matter for months.
Representatives of Wendy Williams were contacted by theGrio for comment, and did not respond to messages in time for publication. Williams declined to comment to the Daily News.
Follow Alexis Garrett Stodghill on Twitter at @lexisb.