Former talk show queen Wendy Williams has had the opportunity to do a lot of talking lately, and she’s been doing so in a bid to end the guardianship that she’s been under since April 2022. What originally began as a financial guardianship has turned into Williams living in the memory ward of an assisted living facility, which she previously agreed is basically a “luxury prison.” Now, the situation has taken another turn, as the star is undergoing cognitive tests while the NYPD and others investigate, and her guardian’s lawyer has issued a statement.
What’s Happening With Wendy Williams, The NYPD And Cognitive Tests?
There has been a lot of movement where Wendy Williams and her guardianship are concerned over, roughly, the past month. It was in mid-February that TMZ released a documentary, Saving Wendy, on the 2025 TV schedule and featured Harvey Levin in conversation with Williams over the phone (and with a camera following her part of the interview from outside the window of her room). That was quickly followed by the Hot Topics host being able to sign an affidavit asking to be released from her guardianship because she had "regained capacity" and could now live without that court order.
While she underwent some cognitive tests shortly after, the Ask Wendy author was still being held at the assisted living facility. It was then on Monday, March 10 that her caregiver, Ginalisa Monterroso (who is not associated with the guardianship) was able to get the NYPD to do a wellness check on Williams and determine if she was, essentially, imprisoned. Officers on the scene then escorted her to Lenox Hill Hospital to get additional tests to determine whether or not she can be released from the guardianship.
At the time of this writing, she is still there and waiting on additional tests (she passed the one administered by a psychiatrist on Monday), and Monterroso spoke with TMZ about what’s going on right now, saying:
Hopefully, we’re trying to see if she can go into a less restricted environment. It’s day by day right now. She has to go through another [evaluation] right now just to kind of seal the deal. I think it’s a little more extensive, is my understanding…As of right now she’s safe and in a safe environment where she’s protected and she’s not confined and there’s people on her side…She doesn’t want to go back to a confined space. She doesn’t want to go back to a locked unit and she feels very protected at the hospital.
As you may recall, amid numerous other health issues such as Graves’ disease and alcohol addiction, Williams was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia in 2023, the same condition that prompted actor Bruce Willis to retire. But, in every recent phone interview, Williams can be heard with, seemingly, her full powers of cognition intact. This appears to mean that she’s gotten a lot better from when she was seen in the 2024 Lifetime docuseries, Where is Wendy Williams?. However, that condition is degenerative, meaning that she would be getting worse and not better, and could have been misdiagnosed.
What Has Wendy Williams' Guardian Said Through Her Lawyer?
In the midst of Williams being escorted to the hospital by police, the woman in charge of her guardianship, Sabrina E. Morrissey, had her lawyer send a letter to TMZ stating that their media coverage of the situation has been "untrue, inaccurate, incomplete, or misleading." It also refutes a number of the claims that Williams, her family and Monterroso have made about the state of her care, saying that she hasn’t been kept from seeing or speaking to family and friends.
The letter also alleges that the famed talk show host is getting "excellent medical care" from a facility where she can access a "spa, a workout room, excellent food, a dining room, and outside terraces." But, Williams has also previously claimed that she’s not allowed to use most of those amenities because she can only leave her room and floor with permission.
Morrissey’s attorney also made it clear in their letter that the guardian isn’t the one who ordered the guardianship, a judge did that, and alleged that Morrissey isn’t even being paid to act as guardian, noting:
[Morrissey has] received one payment of less than $30,000 for services rendered. Since 2022, the guardian has worked without pay. Only the Court will determine how much and when Ms. Morrissey is paid for her services rendered…False statements about Ms. Williams, her condition, and the Guardianship harm Ms. Williams and her interests, and undermine protection created by the Court for her health and welfare.
It’s clear that this situation is still developing, and all we can hope for is that Williams’ treatment gets a thorough evaluation and the best decision is made for her care.
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