There has been a twist in Wendy Williams‘ dementia case that may leave you speechless. Williams’ health has been a concern for a couple of years now. After her memory started to fail her in 2023, the television host underwent testing. In 2024, her team revealed that she had been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia, a condition that gets worse with time (via Page Six).
However, as TMZ has reported, Williams has shown great neurological resilience ever since she went sober three years ago. Sources have told the outlet that she went through a number of tests in NYC recently, and a neurologist has confirmed that she, in fact, does not have dementia.
The test results were then handed to Williams’ legal team late last month, since it was because of the previous “diagnosis” that she was kept under a highly restrictive guardianship. Williams, who is also battling Graves’ disease and lymphedema, has been under a legal guardianship since May 2022 that oversees her finances and health (via PEOPLE).
TMZ has been told that Williams’ legal team will file legal documents in the next two weeks to terminate the guardianship. However, if the court refuses for any reason, lawyer Joe Tacopina will ask for a jury trial to free her.
Wendy Williams Has Been Trying to Plead Her Case for a Long Time
Wendy Williams’ team had previously stated that her health has been declining ever since the dementia diagnosis. However, during a conversation with The Breakfast Club (January 2025), the host fought against the claims, stating, “Do I seem that way, goddamn it?“
She added that she’s “not cognitively impaired“, and that she has been feeling like she’s in “prison.” Here, Williams was talking about the NYC care facility where she’s living. She continued,
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.
Williams also stated that she has to take mysterious pills at the facility, even though she has “no idea” what they contain. She was joined by her niece, Alex, during the conversation. Alex backed Williams’ claims, stating, “She’s looking out one window at buildings across the street,” she said. “That’s her life.” Her niece also added that while Williams is allowed to call people, her loved ones can’t call her.
The television host then made a heartbreaking admission, stating that she had spent three birthdays all alone, “This is what is called emotional abuse.” She told The Breakfast Club hosts that all she wants to do is break free from the guardianship and move to Miami to be close to her family.
Speaking of her father, she said, “I am exhausted thinking about, What if I can’t see my dad for his birthday? At 94, the day after that is not promised…My life is, like, f*cked up.“
Speaking with TMZ’s Harvey Levin for TMZ Presents: Saving Wendy Williams, she revealed that she hasn’t seen a doctor for a long time despite the previously believed diagnosis. “I’ve been in here for six or seven months and I haven’t seen anybody“, she said of the medical facility.
The Tragic Story of Wendy Williams’ Guardianship
Williams has been opening up about the tragic details of her guardianship, even going as far as to say that she wants a different guardian, and not court-appointed Sabrina Morrissey.
She stated (via Variety), “I need a new guardian“, before adding that she isn’t “incapacitated” like the court claimed. Talking about her medical facility, Williams revealed the prison-like condition she has been living in for some time now:
I am not permitted to do anything but stay on this floor. The memory unit floor, where the people are 90 and 80 and 70 … why am I here? You know what I’m saying? Where people don’t remember anything. So I stay in the bedroom the majority of the time. I never go out to eat. I stay in the bedroom.
Williams’ ex-husband, Kevin Hunter, filed a lawsuit, supposedly on her behalf, against 48 defendants who, according to him, have violated her constitutional rights. As per the filing, the lawsuit wasn’t looking to end the guardianship, but to get Williams a new “impartial legal guardian”, freedom from confinement, and $250 million in damages (via PEOPLE).
Hunter asked to be named as Williams’ “next friend”, aka a party that can legally act on behalf of an individual unable to assert their own rights and web no guardian is acting in their best interests. The motion to proceed was denied, and Williams told TMZ that she had nothing to do with the lawsuit.
The Wendy Williams Show‘s former producer, Suzanne Bass, uploaded a video on her Instagram in February 2025, stating that she hadn’t heard from Williams for years. However, she added that Williams had recently reached out to her.
My phone rang and it was Wendy. I cried, she cried…This horrible guardianship she’s in — It is horrible and it’s terrifying.
It’s safe to say that the misdiagnosis turned out to be the biggest mistake in Williams’ life, one that has taken away her freedom for the last few years. With the new revelation, do you think it’s finally time the world will #FreeWendy? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
