Wendy Williams is truly living one of the darkest chapters of her life. In 2023, Wendy was diagnosed with primary progressive aphasia and frontotemporal dementia. A person suffering with this can be deemed to be “permanently incapacitated”-spearheading even day-to-day tasks beyond one’s mental abilities. Her fight against dementia has given rise to concerns regarding her health, legal battles, and privacy, while starting bigger public conversations about caregiving and guardianship complexities.
Wendy’s diagnosis comes after years of highly public struggles with her health, including an on-air fainting spell in 2017 and complications from Graves’ disease afterward. Primary progressive aphasia is a neurological disorder that has robbed her of her ability to speak, and frontotemporal dementia has caused an advanced decline in cognitive ability, affecting her independence.
These debilitating conditions have kept Wendy off the stage since the cancelation of The Wendy Williams Show in 2021. By 2023, it was apparent that she was no longer capable of managing her life without significant support.
Wendy was placed under a court-ordered guardianship in May 2022 after Wells Fargo raised red flags regarding possible financial exploitation. Now, her court-appointed guardian, Sabrina Morrissey, is in charge of Wendy’s health and finances. The guardianship has certainly had its fair share of criticism.
Wendy’s family has also complained of being left out of the process, citing minimal contact with her and involvement in her care and decision-making. There are also concerns about possible mismanagement on Morrissey’s watch that have raised public ire for greater openness.
Her guardian has been in a legal battle with Lifetime over the release of the documentary Where Is Wendy Williams?. According to the lawsuit, the documentary was produced and released without consent detailing Wendy’s issues and personal struggles.
Morrissey said the documentary takes advantage of Wendy in this vulnerable state and has asked the court to remove very sensitive information about her health and finances. The new layer of complexity added into her situation by this court action raises questions about ethics: Is it right to share intimate aspects of a person’s life when they are at an incredible low?.
Wendy’s family remains terribly worried about her condition and the limited access to her. The family members have been very heartbroken regarding her deteriorating health and frustrated with the current arrangement in guardianship.
Public reactions have ranged from sympathy to outrage. Fans of the media icon called for greater protection of her privacy and dignity, while others criticized the lack of family involvement in her care. The situation has also brought into question wider discussions about how society supports people with dementia and their families.
Wendy Williams was once a leading and innovative talk show host and pop culture commentator; for the rest of her life, she will be living highly out of the public eye. Her no-holds-barred celebrity interviews and the “Hot Topics” segment changed daytime television.
