Former talk show host Wendy Williams broke down in tears on the air Thursday morning and said she is not “permanently incapacitated,” denying previous claims made by her guardian.
Williams was joined by her niece, Alex, speaking clearly on a phone call to American radio show “The Breakfast Club,” breaking her silence on her reported dementia diagnosis and revealing harrowing details on her experience with her conservatorship.
“I am not cognitively impaired,” Williams said. “But I feel like I’m in prison.”
“My aunt sounds great. I’ve seen her in a very limited capacity, but I’ve seen her and we’re talking to her. This does not match an incapacitated person,” Alex said.
According to court filings made public by Deadline in November and obtained by a number of news outlets, Williams’ court-appointed guardian, Sabrina E. Morrissey, claimed the American media personality was “cognitively impaired, permanently disabled and incapacitated.”
Williams, 60, was first diagnosed with primary progressive aphasia and frontotemporal dementia in 2023, but it became known to the public in February through a statement on behalf of her caretakers.
Alex told radio host Charlamagne tha God of the suffocating living conditions her aunt is facing, calling the New York City apartment she lives in under guardianship a “luxury prison.”
“It’s small. She has a bed, a chair, a TV, a bathroom and she’s looking out one window of buildings across the street,” Alex said of her aunt’s apartment, which she visited in October.
Williams added that all of her belongings from her previous apartment, which has since been sold, are in storage.
When asked about allegations of “guardianship abuse,” Williams called the system of the conservatorship “broken” and said that it has “falsified a lot.”
“For the last three years, I have been caught up in the system,” Williams said, adding that she cannot leave her unit until someone unlocks the door and elevator for her.
According to Alex, Williams can phone her family but they’re not allowed to call her and she isn’t permitted to leave her apartment without permission from her guardian.
“This is what’s called emotional abuse,” Williams said after she mentioned she has spent her last three birthdays alone.
Williams said in December she was granted visitation to Florida where her entire family lives, to attend her son Kevin Hunter Jr.‘s college graduation, but she got emotional when expressing that she wants to go back to celebrate her father’s upcoming 94th birthday.
“I’m exhausted thinking about what if I can’t see my dad for my birthday. At 94, the day after that is not promised,” Williams said before sobbing.
In a post on Instagram, the “Breakfast Club” radio show linked a GoFundMe campaign reportedly from friends of the Williams family calling for expediting Williams’ return to her family in Miami, Florida.
“Wendy’s family is passionately advocating for her return to Florida, where she can once again be surrounded by the love and support of those who care about her,” the campaign reads. “They are suffering emotionally as they witness the toll her isolation is taking on her well-being.”
Who is Wendy Williams?
Williams is a former TV host and American media personality who, between 2008 and 2021, hosted her own daytime talk show, “The Wendy Williams Show,” featuring celebrity gossip and entertainment news, presented with a confrontational approach.
Before she made her TV debut, Williams gained popularity as a radio disc jockey for over a decade, establishing herself in the industry in the mid-’90s before she went on to host her own daily radio show, “The Wendy Williams Experience.”
What is a conservatorship?
A conservatorship, sometimes called a guardianship, is arranged when an individual no longer has the capacity, including mentally or physically, to make decisions for themselves. It allows courts to give another person — usually a relative, friend or court-appointed guardian — control over a person’s money and at times, their choices in life.
Perhaps one of the most well-known conservatorships is that of Britney Spears, whose finances and medical decisions came under the power of her father, Jamie Spears, when it was implemented in 2008 before being finally terminated in 2021 after a years-long legal battle.
What kind of dementia does Wendy Williams have?
Williams was diagnosed with a rare form of frontotemporal dementia, also known as FTD, which damages the temporal and frontal lobes of the brain affecting behaviour, motor function and language. As the dementia worsens, these parts of the brain shrink.
FTD is incurable and usually occurs in people in their 40s, 50s and early 60s. It can affect a person’s personality, causing a loss of inhibition or inappropriate behaviour. It is sometimes mistaken for depression or bipolar disorder, and can take years to diagnose.
The disease often includes primary progressive aphasia, which means it causes problems with language skills. A person with this type of FTD might have trouble finding words or understanding speech.
In most cases, people with FTD don’t have a family history of dementia, however those with relatives who suffer from or had FTD are more likely to be diagnosed with it.
Which other celebrities have dementia?
Renowned American actor Bruce Willis, known for his leading man roles in action films such as “Die Hard” and cult classic “Pulp Fiction,” was also diagnosed with FTD, which was announced by his family in February 2023.
A year before, his family said the 69-year-old would be stepping away from acting after being diagnosed with aphasia.
Since then, Willis’s condition has worsened. His daughter, Tallulah Willis, shared a recent photo of herself with her father and mother, actor Demi Moore, on social media on Tuesday.
Actor Sean Connery lived with dementia in the final years of his life, and actor and comedian Robin Williams, who died by suicide in 2014, had been diagnosed with Lewy body dementia.
Why did Wendy Williams’ guardian sue A&E Television Networks?
The legal dispute between Morrissey and A&E Television Networks erupted after a Lifetime documentary called “Where Is Wendy Williams?” about the challenges that led to Williams’ departure from her eponymous TV show.
In an interview with NBC News, Williams’ former publicist, Shawn Zanotti, slammed the decision to air the documentary — which portrayed Williams’ drinking problems — saying Williams was being “exploited.”
“She would be mortified,” Zanotti told NBC News. “There’s no way you can convince me that she would be OK with looking and seeing herself in that way.”
With files from The Associated Press
