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A lawyer is claiming that Wendy Williams has “good and bad days” but states that her recent call to The Breakfast Club isn’t a sign she’s free from dementia.
Media personality Wendy Williams’ call-in appearance on The Breakfast Club on Thursday (Jan. 16) was a welcomed listen for all of her fans, but an attorney representing the person overseeing her estate states that it is not a sign that she is altogether well. Williams, the former daytime talk show host, is currently in an unnamed care facility. “I am not cognitively impaired,” she said on the show. “But I feel like I am in prison.” She also complained about not having access to a phone or computer at the facility during the call. Williams’ niece, Alex Finnie, also joined the interview, expressing that she and other family members want her freed from the guardianship. “I’m not asking for a whole lot,” Finnie said. “All I’m saying is just treat the woman with dignity and give her the freedoms that she deserves.”
Roberta Kaplan, who represents Sabrina E. Morrisey, the woman mandated to oversee Williams in the guardianship, released a statement after the interview. “Unfortunately, because of her diagnosis, Wendy’s condition will only get worse with time and she will require care for the rest of her life,” Kaplan said. “But as anyone who has had a family member with dementia knows, Wendy has both good days and bad days. It is truly a shame that there is so much voyeuristic attention to this right now since it only leads to the same kinds of exploitation that we saw in the so-called documentary, as alleged in our complaint.”
Court papers showed Morrisey testifying that Williams was diagnosed in 2023 with frontotemporal dementia and aphasia. The guardianship was initiated by Wells Fargo, who handled Williams’ finances, citing that it had “documented a pattern of unusual and disturbing events” leading them to seek the court order. Court documents do not fully explain the specifics of Morrisey’s powers.
Kaplan’s statement referred to the two-part documentary entitled Where Is Wendy Williams?, which aired on Lifetime last year. The documentary gave fans a look at Williams’ life since undergoing a series of public moments that evoked concern from her fans. Morrisey had attempted to block the network from airing the film but was unsuccessful. She is currently suing A&E Networks, the parent company of Lifetime.
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Wendy Williams is a pioneer in the world of terrestrial radio and daytime talk shows and became infamous for her no-holds-barred approach to reporting on celebrity happenings and the like. Having stepped away from broadcasting due to reported health issues, Wendy Williams broke her silence and joined the cast of The Breakfast Club morning show to discuss her health issues, the widely reported conservatorship, Diddy’s legal woes, and more.
Wendy Williams joined The Breakfast Club by phone accompanied by her niece, journalist Alex Finnie. Williams’ former mentee, Charlamagne, opened up the chat by explaining to an audience what a conservatorship and some readers might recall singer Britney Spears was once under a similar guardianship.
Williams, sounding just as vibrant as her radio days, shared with the hosts that she is not cognitively impaired as many outlets have reported and likened the conservatorship to being in prison. Speaking from an undisclosed facility, Williams was quick-witted and humorous, highlighting that she shouldn’t be housed with individuals who are suffering from deeper mental and physical disabilities than she is.
Finnie jumped in for Williams and explained that where her aunt is being held was, “essentially a luxury prison” and confined to a small space where she isn’t allowed to interact with the outside world. That said, for all the reports of Williams’ cognitive decline, she sounded very much like the host of old and denies that she’s in as dire a place as has been widely shared in the media.
Naturally, Williams kept up with what was going on outside of the facility and had some choice words about Sean “Diddy” Combs.
“Diddy will go to prison for life, people. You don’t know the things that I know about Diddy back in the day. You know what? It’s about time, people. It is about time. Diddy done,” Williams said.
There is a GoFundMe effort for Wendy Williams aimed at her having the conservatorship lifted and retiring to Florida to be next to her family. Click here for more information.
We’ve got reactions regarding the video from X listed below.
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Last month, it was reported that Wendy Williams’ dementia had left her “cognitively impaired and permanently incapacitated.” Luckily for her son, she was able to make his graduation ceremony earlier this week.
According to TMZ, Wendy Williams made an extremely rare public appearance in Miami this past Thursday (Dec. 19) when her son, Kevin Hunter Jr., graduated from Florida International University. Rocking a black and silver dress while rolling around in a mobility scooter, Williams was joined by a couple of armed guards and her father, Thomas Williams Sr. While our hearts break to see Wendy Williams in such conditions, it is nice to see that she can still enjoy special moments like this with her family when she can.
Per TMZ:
There are also pictures from inside the graduation — showing WW seated to watch the culmination of her son’s college years.
It’s a rare day out for Williams … who it was revealed earlier this year suffers from dementia during a legal battle over the controversial documentary “Where Is Wendy Williams?”
She was photographed earlier this month grinning big from the back of an SUV … though her guardian recently claimed in court filings that the disease has left her “permanently incapacitated.”
Looks like she felt well enough to cheer her son on while he accepted his diploma … making for a happy family memory.
Good for her!
What are your thoughts on Wendy Williams these days? Sound off in the comments section below.
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Sad news is coming out of Wendy Williams’ camp as it seems that the mental health and well-being of the iconic talk show host has declined significantly since we’ve last heard from her.
According to Page Six, the attorney for Wendy Williams’ guardian, Sabrina Morrissey, wrote a memo to the judge overseeing their lawsuit against A+E Networks to inform him that Williams’ battle with dementia hasn’t only gotten worse but has left her “cognitively impaired and permanently incapacitated.” The revelation comes as Morrissey continues to battle the network for getting Wendy Williams to do their four-part series Where Is Wendy Williams? for which she was only paid a paltry $82,000 while the network raked in a fortune.
Morrissey states that she wasn’t aware that A+E and Williams were filming the show until several months into the process and that the network exploited Williams for their own gain as she was clearly struggling with her mental health at the time of filming. A+E Networks for their part denied any such wrong doing and tried to shift the blame on Morrissey instead.
Per Page Six:
They argued in a filing obtained by Page Six that the guardian was pursuing legal action against them to “attempt to excuse her own failure to protect” Williams and “deflect from her own decision” to allow the former host to be filmed “without checking in on her.”
Morrissey’s lawyer wrote in response, “None of the defendants ever gained the guardian’s consent for [Williams’] participation to be filmed, and the guardian did not learn of the talent agreement until March
2023, seven months after the start of filming.”
Though the show was a hit, it became obvious that Williams wasn’t in her right state of mind and was eventually diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia and aphasia, which is known to affect memory loss and causes people to act erratically, behavior Williams exhibited during the filming process.
How this will end up playing out is anyone’s guess, but our prayers and well wishes go out to Wendy Williams and her family.
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For decades, Wendy Williams has been suggesting that Diddy had become Hip-Hop’s version of Caligula, allegedly. Without being able to provide any proof of her knowledge, people wrote it off as just another rumor about one of the most hated on artists in the music industry.
Now that authorities have taken Diddy into custody and his dirty laundry is being aired for all to see, Wendy Williams is chiming in on the shocking revelations. In an exclusive interview with Daily Mail UK, Williams says everyone is giving her the proper just due for calling out Diddy for his alleged behind-the-scenes behavior. Speaking to the publication from across the pond, Williams reiterated what people have been telling her since news broke about Diddy’s many crimes against humanity.
Per Daily Mail UK:
‘What is really weird is that I have been told by so many people “Wendy you called it,”‘ she told DailyMail.com exclusively. ‘Including some people from my family who have said the same.’
The popular TV host, who said she was ‘doing good’ in the wake of her aphasia diagnosis and health concerns, said she was horrified at the video of Combs abusing his then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura in a hotel lobby.
‘You know how I feel about that? It is about time,’ she said. ‘To see this video on TV of [Cassie] getting pummeled … it was just horrific.
‘But now you have to think, how many more times? How many people? How many more women? It’s just so horrible.’
We’re low-key surprised that it took this long for someone to reach out to Wendy Williams to get her reaction to the news as she’s been alluding to this kind of stuff for as long as we can remember.
After being hit with sex trafficking, racketeering and a slew of other charges, Diddy pleaded not guilty but was denied a $50 million bail bond as the court probably feels the billionaire might make a run for it and hop on the first flight out the country.
Interestingly enough, Diddy’s lawyer suggested that the Bad Boy Records founder can’t wait to take the stand in his defense, which spurred many social media users to suggest that Diddy is ready to take down an entire cabal of rich and famous sex offenders a la Nino Brown in New Jack City.
What do y’all think will come of Diddy’s trial when it’s all said and done? Let us know in the comments section below.
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The Wendy Williams saga continues. Her representatives claim she was only paid $82,000 for the controversial documentary on her life.
As spotted on Huffington Post the media mogul’s caretakers are taking action against the production company who developed the Lifetime series Where Is Wendy Williams?. Released earlier this year the four part project gave her fans a behind the scenes look into the rollercoaster life of the former talk show host. The footage showed that the Ocean Township, New Jersey native was dealing with mental health issues, alcohol abuse as well as being placed under guardianship. Ultimately a large portion of her fanbase felt that the documentary showed her in a poor light.
Earlier this week Wendy Williams’ legal team filed a suit against the state the procedures alleging they “viciously and shamelessly exploited” her and depicted her “in a highly demeaning and embarrassing manner. According to court documents she was only paid $82,000 for her participation and her rights. “This is a paltry sum for the use of highly invasive, humiliating footage that portrayed her in the confusing throes of dementia, while Defendants, who have profited on the streaming of the Program have likely already earned millions,” the filing reads. “As our complaint shows in painful and excruciating detail, A&E, Lifetime and Mark Ford viciously and shamelessly exploited Wendy Williams for their own profit while she was obviously incapacitated and suffering from dementia,” said Kaplan Martin LLP and Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP in an exclusive statement.
In turn her team is looking for the production company to forfeit all earnings on the project to cover her medical expenses. The defendants have yet to formally respond.
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Uncle Sam is after Wendy Williams. The media mogul is apparently behind on her taxes and is in danger of losing her New York City condominium.
TMZ is reporting that the Ocean Township, New Jersey native is not current with her financial responsibilities to the government. Thirty Mile Zone says the former talk show host was served with a tax lien on her midtown Manhattan home located at 50 West 50th Street. The IRS estimates that Wendy Williams owes $568,451.57 due to unpaid taxes stemming from 2019 and 2021. According to records posted online the lien was originally filed in January of this year and was registered with New York City Department of Finance this February.
This is not the first time Wendy Williams has faced money woes. In 2022 Wells Fargo froze her accounts and filed a petition for a temporary financial guardianship citing that she is of “unsound mind”. As reported by Page Six she quickly refuted the claims and pointed the blame at a former “disgruntled” financial advisor. “This request for relief arises from, among other things, Wells Fargo’s failure and
refusal to reopen my personal, business, deferred compensation and investment accounts and unfreeze my financial assets, which has caused and is causing imminent and irreparable financial harm to myself, my family and my business,” she wrote in a statement.
Recently her Where Is Wendy Williams? documentary premiered in February. The Think Like A Man Too was shown to be confused, aggressive and at times drunk prompting concern from her fans and family. You can view the trailer below.
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Last week, we were saddened to learn that Wendy Williams was diagnosed with dementia and aphasia. Now, her son is revealing the reason that his famous mother allegedly ended up with the tragic conditions.
Page Six is reporting that Williams’ son, Kevin Hunter Jr., took part in Lifetime’s Where Is Wendy Williams? show and revealed that his mother’s condition was due to her alcoholism, which he felt took its toll on her “headspace and her brain.” While many people drink alcohol to have a good time and unwind, some develop a dependency and become alcoholics that abuse the substance to the point of no return. Unfortunately, it seems like that’s the road that Wendy Williams went down with devastating consequences.
Per Page Six:
“[Doctors] basically said that because she was drinking so much, it was starting to affect her headspace and her brain. So, I think they said it was alcohol-induced dementia.”
Williams, 59, first learned of her brain damage in 2019 when she had entered a Florida rehab facility, but she didn’t receive the official dementia and aphasia diagnosis until 2023.
The former shock jock’s niece Alex Finnie said she learned of her aunt’s diagnosis in 2022 but had a suspicion she was unwell when she began forgetting memories and facts.
“But after seeing my aunt and really spending time with her in a state where she’s in right now, I quickly realized that things were just not normal,” she said in the doc.
“It’s heartbreaking.”
On the other hand, Wendy Williams’ former attorney, LaShawn Thomas, blames Williams’ court-ordered guardianship for her deteriorating health and isn’t sold on her diagnosis. Posting a video on Instagram showing a healthier Wendy Williams, Thomas questioned how she went from being okay to broken down. “These Wendys are not the same,” Thomas said. “How did her health deteriorate so quickly, and why isn’t her only child allowed to be by her side. She wasn’t like that when he cared for her. ASK THE HARD QUESTIONS!”
Check out the video, and let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
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Former radio and talk show host Wendy Williams has been diagnosed with dementia and aphasia, as expressed in an announcement to fans.
On Thursday (February 22), it was revealed that media personality Wendy Williams was diagnosed with primary progressive aphasia and frontotemporal dementia, with both afflictions affecting her ability to communicate and her cognition. “The decision to share this news was difficult and made after careful consideration, not only to advocate for understanding and compassion for Wendy, but to raise awareness about aphasia and frontotemporal dementia and support the thousands of others facing similar circumstances,” a press release issued by her team said.
The diagnosis of frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and aphasia is similar to the same one that veteran TV & film actor Bruce Willis received last year. Williams is also dealing with the health challenges of Graves’ disease and lymphedema.
Despite those issues, the 59-year-old is “still able to do many things for herself,” and is receiving cognitive treatment at Weill Cornell Medicine. “Most importantly she maintains her trademark sense of humor and is receiving the care she requires to make sure she is protected and that her needs are addressed,” said the press release. “She is appreciative of the many kind thoughts and good wishes being sent her way.”
The news of Williams’ health comes as Lifetime will air the two-part documentary Where Is Wendy Williams? on February 24 & 25. Since stepping back from hosting her television show in 2019, Williams has mostly kept out of the limelight since the show went off the air in 2022, which was the same year that she entered into a guardianship at the urging of her bank believing that she was being taken advantage of. The guardian, who has been identified as Sabrina Morrisey, filed a lawsuit against Lifetime’s parent company, A&E Networks. “The film was signed off on by Wendy, her management, her attorneys, the guardianship,” said Mark Ford, executive producer of the documentary. “They were aware of the filming all the way through. So, we did go by the book and get all the permissions that we needed to get.”
The situation has led to a further cloud of confusion, with family members claiming they’ve been unable to speak to Williams. “All I know is that Wendy and her team walked into the courtroom one way, and they walked out, and the family is completely excluded,” said Wanda Williams, Wendy’s sister in an interview with PEOPLE.
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Former radio shock jock/talk show host Wendy Williams has remerged in a new 2-part documentary coming to Lifetime, and it already has people talking.
The trailer for Where Is Wendy Williams? shows the 59-year-old struggling with her health while her family and friends try to support her and the issue with her court-appointed guardianship.
The trailer features clips of a very sick Williams, who is dealing with apparent mental issues as well. Williams says in one part of the trailer, “I have no money, and I’m gonna tell you something. If it happens to me, it could happen to you.”
In another clip, her son, Kevin Hunter Jr., says, “Mom has done a great job making it seem like everything is OK always, but in reality, there is something wrong. My mom always talks about how she wants to work, but I think she’s worked enough. She has people around her who are ‘yes’ people that have allowed this to continue.”
The documentary, which also claims to have had “unparalleled access” to Williams, also touches on her battle with alcohol abuse. In one scene, a person grabs a bottle, asking her if she drank the whole thing, and she tells him to: “keep the bottle there.”
The official synopsis for the documentary reads:
“After Wendy Williams was placed under a financial guardianship and her hit talk show was unexpectedly canceled, she was determined to make a career comeback.
Opening the doors to her private life like never before, cameras chronicled her comeback journey to reclaim her life and legacy despite facing health issues and personal turbulence.
With unparalleled access granted by Wendy to film with her and her family for nearly two years, what was captured was not what anyone expected.
The documentary provides a raw, honest, and unfiltered reality of Wendy’s life after she was placed under financial guardianship, shedding light on the vulnerabilities that has turned Wendy into the Hot Topic herself. Suffering mental and physical issues, Wendy’s delicate state of mind, erratic behavior, and declining health were all captured by the cameras.
Where Is Wendy Williams? is the story of Wendy’s journey to resurrect her career and what filmmakers discovered along the way. But many questions remain — who truly has Wendy’s best interest at heart? Is she healthy now?”
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Social Media Users Have Early Thoughts About Where Is Wendy Williams?
The reactions to the documentary’s trailer are pouring in, with people saying they will watch it but are very suspicious about the process of making it.
“Wendy said it best in the trailer, “This is all too much.” I hope she gets back to health in her finances and life,” one person on X, formerly Twitter, wrote.
Another X user added, “In the trailer her son says people are exploiting Wendy for money/clout. But what is this documentary doing? Cuz showing her in this seemingly very painful, unhealthy place can’t be good for her mental health either.”
Where Is Wendy Williams? the two-night documentary event goes down on February 24 and 25 at 8 pm ET/PT on Lifetime.
You can see more reactions to the doc in the gallery below.
1. Very much so.
2. Complicated