Montel Williams’ life has been an ongoing journey of resilience, breaking barriers, and facing challenges head-on. From making history as a Marine at the Naval Academy to navigating personal health battles, Williams continues to inspire with his unwavering commitment to service and advocacy. In a recent conversation with Sean Hannity during The Sean Hannity Show, Williams sat down to discuss his new book The Sailing of the Intrepid, his history-making military career, his work with Military Makeover, and the struggles that continue to shape his life.
Breaking Barriers at the Naval Academy
“I was the first African American to attend the Naval Academy Prep School,” Williams shared, setting the tone for his extraordinary path. “I went into the Naval Academy Prep School as a Marine. Most of the Marines that go to the Naval Academy Prep School, they get to go to the Academy, come out and get commissioned in the Marine Corps. I couldn’t get commissioned in the Marine Corps.”
The reason for this, as Williams recounted, was an incident that would change his future forever. “About eight weeks before graduation, we get what’s called pre-commissioning immunizations.” Williams went on to describe the traumatic event that followed. “We were the last group of people in the US military to get immunizations using a gun. Remember they used to stand. And they would put like three or four of these things in the gun at the same time. The gun for the first 100 guys that went through that line, I was number eight, was set too high. So, I got an overdose of diphtheria, typhoid, and there was one more that I put in, rubella.”
The consequence was severe. “Sent me right to the hospital. I went blind in my left eye.” The blindness, while temporary in some sense, left lasting damage. “Permanent damage? Permanently damaged, but some of it came back.” This event led to Williams being placed on medical hold, and as he put it, “I’m one of the only people in the history of the academy to walk across the stage, receive your diploma, and not be commissioned on the same day.” His journey took an unexpected turn, but his determination to serve and succeed was unshaken.
Living with MS and Overcoming Personal Struggles
Williams reflected on his time at the Naval Academy, where he had been a part of the VT&A program, a flight school program. “I got 40 hours of flight time at the academy while I was there. I was going to get my license. I wanted to be a pilot.” But the effects of the immunizations left him with more than physical scars. “Two hours later, I went blind in my left eye.” Despite this setback, Williams would go on to make history in a different way. “I’m one of the only peacetime guys to graduate to literally serve in the rank of midshipman.” His determination continued to define him, even when the course he had hoped for was no longer possible.
His health, however, continued to present challenges. In addition to his blindness, Williams has been living with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) since 1999. Yet, he has never allowed the condition to limit his voice or his mission to help others. Despite the daily challenges MS brings, he is adamant about one thing: living fully. “I’m struggling with MS. I just try to pay attention to my health now every day. I still go to the gym. You know I’m still dealing with the MS.”
But there was a time, not long after his MS diagnosis, when Williams found himself consumed by despair. Hosting back-to-back episodes of his former daytime talk show, often featuring the darkest aspects of human behavior — stalking, abuse, murder — began to take an emotional toll. At one point, he was recording up to three shows a day, three days a week, amounting to more than 70 intense interviews in a single production cycle. “I’d leave the studio and just cry. I couldn’t take it anymore,” he recalled. The unrelenting pain he absorbed through his guests’ stories followed him home. “I was sitting with 72 horrific experiences in my head.”
The emotional burden collided with his own personal struggles, including a recent divorce and the isolation that came with it. The weight became so heavy that Williams contemplated ending his life — more than once. He described moments when he sat alone in his closet, surrounded by guns he owned legally, and considered pulling the trigger. What stopped him, he said, were his two young children asleep just two doors away. “I didn’t want them to find me like that.”
One day, while walking to his studio near Columbus Circle in Manhattan, he stood on the sidewalk and contemplated throwing himself into traffic. “I figured if I got hit by a cab, no one would know it wasn’t an accident,” he said. He did step into the street — deliberately — but the driver braked just in time. “I got up, told the guy I tripped, and went to work. I still had to do three shows that day.”
That day marked a turning point. “I decided I was done with the drugs,” he said. “And I needed to put my energy into understanding what was happening to me.” He began spending hours in the library each night, obsessively researching pain management, MS, and mental health.
Montel Williams and His Work with ‘Military Makeover’
A major part of that fight now includes Military Makeover, the show where veterans and their families receive a complete home transformation. “It’s an award-winning show,” Williams proudly said. “We won the Family Film Awards last year. We won it for Best Reality Show.” The show has become an important resource for veterans, with Williams explaining the mission behind it. “What we do is we basically turn their house into a forever home.” For veterans facing physical disabilities or post-combat challenges, the show provides critical assistance. “If the veteran’s wounded, if the veteran’s got a disability, we go in and we take care of things like widening the bathroom doors,” Williams detailed. “We do an entire makeover — from roofs to floors to kitchens, you name it.”
The heart of the show lies in the community that rallies behind each makeover. “The thing that’s so great about it is that the entire local community comes out and supports,” he said. “This thing gets done in 10 days.” Williams likened his work on Military Makeover to his own experiences with wounded soldiers. “I remember when I first went to Bethesda, Walter Reed, and I met these kids. They had their legs blown off, their arms blown off, they’re disfigured.” The impact was profound. “I walked out of there embarrassed because, you know, we all in the course of life think we have problems. But you meet these kids and realize, my problems are not anywhere near as severe.”
As a passionate advocate for mental health, Williams has become outspoken about the importance of addressing PTSD. “PTSD isn’t just something that happens to war fighters. It happens to people. It does. In all people.” He emphasized that it’s not just soldiers who are impacted. PTSD affects a wide range of individuals, and Williams has highlighted a groundbreaking therapy called RTM (Reconsolidation of Traumatic Memories), which has shown promising results in treating PTSD. “If I told you that there has been a cure for PTSD in existence for the last 12 years that happens and works in 5 to 10 hours, no medication, would you believe me?” Williams challenged his audience.
The protocol, which has been used in places like Ukraine to great effect, uses no medication. Instead, it helps individuals mentally process their trauma by envisioning it as a projection on a movie screen. “You sit down with a doctor and do talk therapy, but that talk therapy is different from what they try to use in something called prolonged exposure therapy,” Williams explained. Unlike traditional methods that force people to relive their trauma, this process allows them to confront their experiences in a safe, controlled way. “You basically break that hardwire, rewire it, make it something that, yeah, it’s bothersome, but it’s not going to be something that ends your life.” The approach offers a new path toward healing that many veterans desperately need.
New Chapter: ‘The Sailing of the Intrepid’
Williams has also openly discussed his stroke in 2018, which forced him to relearn basic physical tasks. “The stroke changed everything,” he admitted. “I had to re-learn how to walk, how to function. It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to face.” But in true Montel Williams fashion, he never allowed the setback to defeat him.
Montel Williams’ appearance on The Sean Hannity Show was a powerful moment, as he shared about his struggles and triumphs with raw honesty. This is exactly what soldiers need to see — veterans who are willing to speak their truth show others that strength comes from sharing their challenges. When soldiers witness this, it empowers them to face their own battles. Now, Williams is channeling that same resilience into his new book, The Sailing of the Intrepid, where he takes readers on a journey through an incredible survival story. It’s another chapter in his life and another chance to learn from his experience.
Will you be reading it?
