Wendy Williams is speaking out against her legal guardian who declared last year that the former TV host is “cognitively impaired, permanently disabled, and legally incapacitated.”
“I am not cognitively impaired,” the 60-year-old daytime talk personality confirmed Thursday morning. Williams and her niece Alex called Finney Radio show “The Breakfast Club”.They raised allegations regarding Williams’ care under the guardianship of Sabrina Morrissey.
“I feel like I’m imprisoned,” Williams said.
Williams was placed under financial conservatorship amid a legal battle with Wells Fargo in 2022. Later that year, “The Wendy Williams Show” aired its final episode after 13 seasons. The daytime soap was canceled amid its host’s physical, mental and financial struggles.
Her niece said Thursday that she has been receiving treatment since 2022 at a little-known facility — a “luxury prison” in New York. Williams and Feeney spoke to “The Breakfast Club” about the allegedly tight security at the facility and accused Morrissey of preventing the former radio presenter from seeing and contacting her loved ones.
Morrissey’s role as Williams’ legal guardian received public attention last year ahead of Lifetime’s four-part documentary “Where Is Wendy Williams?” Prior to the documentary’s release in February, news emerged that Williams had been diagnosed with aphasia and frontotemporal dementia. That same week, Morrissey filed a lawsuit against “Where’s Wendy Williams?” team, including lifelong parent company A+E Networks. At the time, Morrissey requested a “ghosting” restraining order. [the] documentary, but a New York judge gave Lifetime the green light to go ahead.
Williams on Thursday deflected questions about the documentary (“I don’t want to watch that again,” “I don’t want to talk about that”) and focused on her cognitive state. In a legal filing in September, Morrissey claimed that Williams “did not have the capacity to consent to being photographed” for the Lifetime documentary, and that her diagnosis of dementia and aphasia left her “cognitively impaired.”
“How dare you,” Williams said Thursday. “Do I look that way?”
“For the past three years, I’ve been stuck in the system,” she added.
Feeney, who has spoken out against her aunt’s guardian, encouraged “The Breakfast Club” listeners to spread the word about Williams’ experience and take action “to make sure my aunt is in a place where she lives her life with dignity.” She called on Williams’ caregivers to “give her the freedom she deserves.”
Before the new year, Williams attended her son, Kevin Hunter Jr.’s college graduation. Williams said she hoped to have some time with family to celebrate her father’s 94th birthday, but claimed – apparently holding back tears – that Morrissey might not allow it. “My life is like a f–up,” Williams said.
Roberta Kaplan, an attorney representing Morrissey in the lawsuit against A&E, bolstered the trustee’s claims in September about Williams’ cognitive health. “The state court found her legally incapable, meaning she is unable to make legal and financial decisions on her own,” Kaplan said in a statement Thursday.
“Unfortunately, because of her diagnosis, Wendy’s condition will get worse over time and she will need care for the rest of her life,” Kaplan added. “But as anyone who has had a family member with dementia knows, Wendy has good days and bad days. It’s a real shame that there are so many Of voyeuristic interest in this matter at the moment, because it only leads to the same kinds of exploitation that we saw in the so-called documentary, as alleged in our complaint.
Near the end of her appearance on “Breakfast Club,” Feeney condemned the “broken” conservatorship system. Last month, Hunter also expressed concern for his mother and told fans that his mother is “sober and wants to come home.”
“The longer she stays under this conservatorship, the longer they’ll have the keys to her life, her personal life, her financial life, her emotional life…everything,” Feeney said.