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Wendy Williams taking action to end guardianship
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Wendy Williams has reportedly signed a legal document to end her guardianship following the release of TMZ's documentary Saving Wendy.
Williams is a well-known media personality, who rose to fame with her show The Wendy Williams Show (2008-2022), where she shared bold, and sometimes controversial, takes on celebrity gossip and pop culture. Before entering the TV space, she also worked as a radio DJ.
Clips from the documentary have since gone viral on TikTok, featuring the former TV host at the window of a New York facility, speaking to reporters over the phone. Williams has compared her living situation to "prison," with claims she has only been outside twice in the last 30 days.
"No, no. I am not allowed to go out. I can call you, but you can’t call me," she told journalist and TMZ founder Harvey Levin. "In the last 30 days, I went out twice."
"I want my life back. I want my freedom back," she said.
@tmz #WendyWilliams SPEAKS OUT from behind the glass of an assisted living facility, in the midst of her allegedly abusive guardianship. Watch ‘TMZ Presents: Saving Wendy’ NOW for free on @Tubi at the 🔗 in bio.
Williams was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia (FTD) in early 2024, though she argues it was a misdiagnosis.
Journalist Levin claimed: "Wendy is clear, she says she does not have frontotemporal dementia. Now, that had been how she was diagnosed previously. But, as we say in this documentary, frontotemporal dementia never gets better. People only get worse."
He continued: "It's very clear listening to her, watching her in the documentary how can she get better, if you never get better with that diagnosis. A lot of people, including Wendy, believe she was misdiagnosed."
"Just hours after" the release of Saving Wendy, Levin claimed, "the wheels are now in motion to end her guardianship".
Levin said his team had just discovered Williams had signed an affidavit asking the judge to "terminate the guardianship," and "in words in the affidavit," she has "regained her capacity to function normally".
Williams was appointed a legal guardian to oversee her personal affairs and finances back in 2022 after filming her last episode of The Wendy Williams Show. According to court documents, the guardianship came after Wells Fargo had "documented a pattern of unusual and disturbing events".
Sabrina Morrissey, a New York lawyer, is Williams' court-appointed guardian and is responsible for managing Williams' financial decisions. Williams' niece, Alex Finnie, appeared on The View in February 2024, where she claimed the family were "blocked out" in April 2022.
If the judge denies Williams' request to end the guardianship, then it is alleged her lawyer will "demand a jury trial which you can get in New York" in which jurors decide whether Williams has the capacity "to live as a free woman".
After spending hours talking to her on the phone and observing her at the window, Levin noted a personal remark: "Wendy Williams is back to being the Wendy Williams we all know."
Williams is due to have a medical re-evaluation on 18 February. The re-evaluation is reportedly scheduled with a doctor selected by her legal team who are fighting against the guardianship.
Indy100 reached out to Wendy Williams' representative for comment
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