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Wendy Williams spoke out against her guardianship in rare new interview, revealing she is currently ‘trapped’ in a facility in New York, comparing it to a ‘prison’.
The talk show icon, 60, took a step back from the spotlight in 2022, amid many health issues – the following year, she was diagnosed with aphasia and frontotemporal dementia (FTD).
In November, court documents appeared to share the extent of her condition, alleging that she was ‘permanently incapacitated’.
Earlier today, she called into the Breakfast Club and sobbed as she discussed her diagnosis, insisting that she is not ‘cognitively impaired’.
When the host asked whether she was ‘cognitively impaired and incapacitated’, the Wendy Williams show host replied: ‘Do I seem that way, God damn it! Who I naturally am is who I naturally am!
‘I am not cognitively impaired, you know what I’m saying? But I feel like I’m in prison.
Wendy Williams took part in a new interview earlier today (Picture: Getty)
‘I’m in this place where the people are in their 90s and their 80s and their 70s … There’s something wrong with these people here on this floor.’
Wendy’s niece, Alex Finnie, was also on the call, and continued: ‘She’s there in New York, in this place, essentially what some would call a luxury prison.
‘This apartment is small, she has a bed, a chair, a TV, a bathroom, and she’s looking out one window, at buildings across the street.
‘She can call us, we can’t call her. That’s been the reality since 2023. That room that she’s sitting in, she’s there every day, all hours of the day, every week, every month, she’s not getting proper sunlight.
She has faced various health struggles over the years (Picture: Shutterstock)
‘I went to New York in October to visit her. And the level of security and the level of questions that there were in terms of, “Who am I? Why am I here? What’s the purpose?” I mean, it was absolutely just horrible.’
‘This system is broken, this system that I’m in. This system has falsified a lot,’ Wendy said, before sharing an insight into the unnamed facility.
‘Where I am, you have to get keys to unlock the door to press the elevator to go downstairs, first of all.
‘These people here, everybody here is a nursemaid. They come in and give you pills, and then they leave.’
Wendy was diagnosed with aphasia and frontotemporal dementia (Picture: Getty)
Wendy was placed under a court-ordered guardianship in 2022, with Sabrina Morrissey placed as her guardian.
Documents obtained by the US Sun at the end of 2024 described her as ‘an acclaimed entertainer who, tragically, has been afflicted by early-onset dementia and, as a result, has become cognitively impaired and permanently incapacitated.’
They added that after a ‘pattern of disturbing events concerning [Wendy’s] welfare and finances’ financial institution Wells Fargo ‘took the highly unusual step of initiating a guardianship’ for her ‘financial affairs’ in January 2022.
What is aphasia?
Aphasia is a condition that impacts a person’s language skills.
This means it can cause trouble with:
reading
writing
listening
speaking
According to the NHS, it usually starts due to damage to the left side of the brain after something like, for example, a serious head injury or a stroke.
Perhaps most noticeably, people who have aphasia might have problems speaking, such as by possibly mistakenly using certain words, using the wrong sounds, or using words in the wrong order.
It does not impact a person’s intelligence, but it can emerge both by itself or alongside other health issues like mobility problems and issues with memory.
Find out more about the condition here.
Sabrina then took legal action against a Lifetime special focusing on the TV host’s health after it was scheduled to air last February, asking for certain parts of her ‘health, familial relationships, and finances’ to be redacted for her privacy.
The original request was overturned, but she later filed an amended complaint in September, against Lifetime and the production company associated – the suit was then moved to federal court in October.
Ahead of the special, titled Where Is Wendy Williams?, Wendy’s care team issued a lengthy statement to the public explaining her medical condition.
‘As Wendy’s fans are aware, in the past she has been open with the public about her medical struggles with Graves’ Disease and Lymphedema as well as other significant challenges related to her health,’ it read.
She compared her current facility to a ‘prison’ (Picture: Getty)
‘Over the past few years, questions have been raised at times about Wendy’s ability to process information and many have speculated about Wendy’s condition, particularly when she began to lose words, act erratically at times, and have difficulty understanding financial transactions.
‘In 2023, after undergoing a battery of medical tests, Wendy was officially diagnosed with primary progressive aphasia and frontotemporal dementia (FTD).’
‘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.’
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