‘Still Trying to Get His Hands on Her Money’: Wendy Williams’ Son Calls Out Her Ex Manager After Dad Kevin Hunter Files $250M Lawsuit Over Her Guardianship

By Nicole Duncan-Smith

The drama never seems to end for Wendy Williams, and this time it’s coming from an unexpected source.

Her former manager and ex-husband Kevin Hunter has launched his own legal crusade to liberate the entertainer from the guardianship that has governed her daily life for the past three years, but Williams isn’t having any of it.

Wendy Williams slammed her ex-husband’s $250 million guardianship lawsuit, says she has nothing to do with it. (Photo by Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)

The daytime television icon, who continues to navigate health challenges including Graves’ disease and alleged dementia and aphasia, while residing in a New York assisted living facility, has firmly rejected Hunter’s intervention with characteristic directness.

According to legal documents obtained by Atlanta Black Star, Hunter filed a federal lawsuit on her behalf in New York seeking $250 million in damages and demanding the immediate termination of Williams’ court-appointed guardian, Sabrina Morrissey. Hunter himself also is listed as a party to the suit.

The comprehensive legal action names multiple defendants including Wells Fargo bank, Williams’ former financial adviser Lori Schiller, and her ex-manager Bernie Young, alleging a conspiracy of abuse, neglect, and financial exploitation.

However, Williams herself has completely distanced herself from the lawsuit.

Speaking directly to TMZ after the legal documents were filed, Williams made her position unmistakably clear: she has absolutely nothing to do with Hunter’s lawsuit.

“I had no idea nor do I want him to be a part of my life like that, no,” Wendy told show producer Harvey Levin over the phone.

“He’s a money grubber. He’s always been that way,” she added. “It’s good to know that he’s doing such evil things again. He won’t win.”

This stark rejection comes despite court documents showing Hunter’s attempt to sue on his ex-wife’s behalf, creating a puzzling disconnect between the former couple’s objectives. Williams’ blunt dismissal of her ex-husband’s efforts suggests she views his intervention as unwelcome and financially motivated.

The lawsuit targets multiple parties, including Morrissey, Wells Fargo bank, Williams’ former financial adviser Lori Schiller and her ex-manager Bernie Young. Hunter claims Williams is being held in “fraudulent bondage,” despite allegedly passing a competency evaluation in March 2025 and being described by healthcare professionals as “alert and oriented.”

Now, the former couple’s son has spoken up against his mom’s longtime colleague who he says failed to keep her best interest. “I heard Bernie Young outside looking for a new victims. Say less goofy,” wrote Kevin Hunter Jr. in a since-deleted post on his Instagram Story.

In a video, Wendy added, “I know for a fact that Bernie Young used my American Express card to hire an attorney to file a petition against me. That was done with my American Express card. Bernie Young, you’re no good and this is not fair at all.” 

In the lawsuit, Hunter Sr. accuses Bernie Young of serious misconduct related to the guardianship of his ex-wife According to the complaint, Young used his prior business relationship with Williams to exploit her trust and misappropriate her funds. Specifically, he allegedly used $10,000 from her American Express account — without her knowledge or consent — to retain legal services from Abrams Fensterman, LLP for the purpose of initiating a guardianship petition against her. This act is described as a “retaliatory guardianship petition” and is central to the broader claim of financial exploitation and abuse of fiduciary duty.

Kevin Sr. asserts that Young breached his legal and ethical obligations by acting as though he still represented Williams, despite having been terminated as her manager prior to August 2021. He allegedly continued to exercise control over her financial matters without authorization and misrepresented his role to third parties. The complaint states that Young failed to consider less restrictive alternatives to guardianship and aligned himself with others who stood to profit from Williams’ legal incapacitation.

Further, Hunter accuses Young of colluding with others in the guardianship scheme for personal and professional benefit, including directing his employee Leah Abraham to misuse Williams’ credit accounts. These actions, according to the suit, were not only unethical but part of a deliberate effort to gain control over her estate and image by leveraging unauthorized access to her finances.

However, the timing of Hunter’s legal intervention raises questions about his motivations, particularly given his ongoing financial disputes with Williams’ guardian.

Hunter’s lawsuit follows the halt of his $250,000 monthly alimony payments in 2022, around the time “The Wendy Williams Show” ended and Williams was placed under guardianship.

Now battling her guardian over unpaid support, Hunter claims financial exploitation, alleging Williams is being overmedicated, held at a luxury facility against her will at the Coterie, a luxury assisted living facility in New York City, and secretly photographed for profit. He argues she passed a competency test in March 2025 and was coerced into the guardianship amid financial and emotional turmoil after their divorce.

Public reaction to Hunter’s legal intervention has been overwhelmingly skeptical, with many questioning his motives. 

Page Six readers have been particularly vocal in their criticism.

One commenter observed, “Kevin helping because his money is low and he is trying to gain access to that account. All help is NOT good help.”

Another user was more direct: “He’s still trying to get his hands on HER money. The guardian stands in the way. They’ve been divorced for a few years, she’s had serious mental health issues, yet he still continues to hound her. Poor woman has been used and abused for quite some time.”

The sentiment was echoed by additional commenters who stated, “Ex really wants to get his hands on her money, that’s what it’s all about” and simply, “Kevin Hunter wants back in.”

Hunter’s push to end Williams’ guardianship comes amid his own legal battles, including an alimony dispute and a failed wrongful termination suit tied to his affair. Meanwhile, Williams’ niece, Alex Finnie, has described her living conditions as a “luxury prison” and launched a GoFundMe that’s raised nearly $50,000 to fight the guardianship.

 Despite the legal turmoil surrounding her, Williams has shown signs of maintaining her independence and family relationships. She recently attended her son’s college graduation and has participated in live interviews, demonstrating moments of clarity that contrast with the picture of incapacitation painted in court documents.

Full Article & Source:
‘Still Trying to Get His Hands on Her Money’: Wendy Williams’ Son Calls Out Her Ex Manager After Dad Kevin Hunter Files $250M Lawsuit Over Her Guardianship 

See Also:
Wendy Williams' Ex-Husband Sues Her Guardian, the Judge Presiding Over Her Case and Others for $250 Million on Her Behalf 

Guardianship Judge to Wendy Williams on Career: "It's Done"

Wendy Williams Originally Asked for a Guardianship, but Didn't 'Think Her Whole Life Would Be Taken Away' (Exclusive Source) 

Wendy Williams wants ‘to move on with my life’ despite guardianship: How she got here 

Wendy Williams begs medical guardian to 'get off my neck' as she insists she's not mentally incapacitated 

Wendy Williams' Ex-Husband Sues Her Guardian, the Judge Presiding Over Her Case and Others for $250 Million on Her Behalf

Williams' ex-husband Kevin Hunter claims she was "abused, neglected, and defrauded" in the June 17 complaint 

By Liza Esquibias and Danielle Bacher 

NEED TO KNOW

• Williams' ex-husband Kevin Hunter has filed a lawsuit — which he claims is on her behalf — for $250 million against 48 defendants who he claims participated in the implementation of her guardianship
• Williams was first placed under a legal guardianship in 2022 and it was later revealed that she had been diagnosed with dementia
• The lawsuit is not seeking an end to the guardianship, but is requesting a new legal guardian

Wendy Williams' ex-husband Kevin Hunter is taking legal action against the facilitators of her years-long guardianship.

According to court documents obtained by PEOPLE, Hunter filed a lawsuit — which he claims is on her behalf — demanding a jury trial on Tuesday, June 17, which named 48 defendants who he claims have violated her constitutional rights. Among them are her legal guardian Sabrina Morrissey, the judge presiding over the guardianship Lisa Sokoloff, Wells Fargo, her assisted living facility and several lawyers.

“Guardianship is a civil death. In New York, more than 28,000 adults, which includes [Williams], are being abused, neglected, and defrauded under the care of court-appointed guardians," the complaint alleges.

However, LaShawn Thomas, the attorney who filed the lawsuit, acknowledged in a statement to PEOPLE that Williams is "not legally aware of all of the evidence that supports our claims that she should not be forced to suffer from this guardianship."

"I plan on laying out sufficient evidence to support our claims and ensure that her rights are vindicated and she is made whole financially," the statement continued.

PEOPLE has reached out to Morrissey, Hunter, Sokoloff, Schiller and the assisted care living facility for comment while Wells Fargo declined to comment.

The filing notes that the lawsuit is not seeking an end to Williams' guardianship; however, Hunter's requests include “new impartial guardian," the unsealing of her case’s files, her release from “involuntary confinement,” a full forensic accounting and $250 million in relief for financial loss, reputational damage and harm, emotional distress, legal expenses and deprivation of liberty.

Hunter is named as a co-plaintiff in the case, and is seeking appointment as Williams’ “next friend,” which is a party who can legally act “on behalf of an individual unable to assert their own rights and when no guardian is acting in their best interests," per the complaint.

The complaint alleges that the proper legal standards were not met in the implementation of her guardianship.

In the complaint, Hunter claims that Williams “has been the victim of unrestrained abuse, maltreatment, and fiscal malfeasance” in the three years since her guardianship was first imposed, in what he alleges was “a secret proceeding” where she was not provided the opportunity to obtain "adequate legal representation.” At the time, it was attributed to her dementia diagnosis, although she has since denied being cognitively impaired.

The complaint further alleges that Williams “was not afforded an independent medical evaluation” before being placed under a guardianship and has since been “subjected to overmedication and undue restrictions.”

Hunter claims Williams has been taken advantage of by several people involved.

When she was placed in her assisted-living facility, Hunter via the complaint alleges Williams' care specialist took photos of her “in a state of undress without consent, disclosed [Williams’] location to third parties, and sold or attempted to sell the images and information to media outlets.”

Hunter is also accusing Judge Sokoloff of not allowing Williams' retained counsel to submit filings, make appearances in court and have access to previously filed documents.

“[Williams] remains a captive of a corrupt, criminal enterprise, and Plaintiffs submit this action to the Court in hopes of freeing her from this fraudulent bondage,” according to the complaint, which slams the guardianship as “a weapon, not a shield.”

Hunter makes accusations against the judge's bias in Williams' case.

In addition to claims that she passed “a competency evaluation” in March, which Morrissey previously told PEOPLE Williams “declined to participate in,” Hunter cites Williams' 2024 tax lien, the loss of profit on her NYC penthouse and the sale of her personal items as examples of financial mismanagement. 

Hunter, who estimates that Williams' has lost $20 million per year in earnings from not being able to work, also alleges that her son was not given access to his college fund and accuses the defendants of using her money to pay for the case against her.

Moreover, she claims her Wells Fargo financial advisor Lori Schiller paid a total of $60,000 from Williams' account to Dr. Rami Kaminski, who allegedly wrote the January 2022 medical opinion letter stating Williams “had impaired judgment and was incapable of making reasoned decisions.” Williams' lawyers allege they have information showing that Wells Fargo and her court-appointed attorney Linda Redlisky "are financial contributors to Judge Lisa Sokoloff’s re-election campaign."

“Beginning in February 2022, a coordinated and coercive campaign to silence and isolate [Williams] was executed through judicial orders and extrajudicial acts, depriving [Williams] of access to counsel, family, communication tools, and the ability to control her own narrative,” the complaint reads. 

Full Article & Source:
Wendy Williams' Ex-Husband Sues Her Guardian, the Judge Presiding Over Her Case and Others for $250 Million on Her Behalf 

See Also:
Guardianship Judge to Wendy Williams on Career: "It's Done"

Wendy Williams Originally Asked for a Guardianship, but Didn't 'Think Her Whole Life Would Be Taken Away' (Exclusive Source) 

Wendy Williams wants ‘to move on with my life’ despite guardianship: How she got here 

Wendy Williams begs medical guardian to 'get off my neck' as she insists she's not mentally incapacitated 

Guardianship Judge to Wendy Williams on Career: "It's Done"

by Jillian Bowe

Lord in the morning! The judge in Wendy Williams' conservatorship wants all the smoke with her and she gave it to her in court. On Thursday, Williams was in court for a hearing and Judge Lisa Sokoloff ripped into the former talk show host and her family TMZ is reporting. The site claims Sokoloff lit into Williams' niece WPLG Local 10 Miami news anchor Alex Finnie and accused her of leaking info about Williams and the case to the media and threatened to impose sanction on her in the future.

Sokoloff then ripped into Williams' family and said they were no good. Girl what? Sokoloff went on to discuss Williams' career and said, while she had a great one, she won't have it again and told her that her career was over and said:

It's done.

Sokoloff who has no experience in the entertainment industry, left many, including Williams baffled by her comments and hurt by what she said.

Last month, Sokoloff sent out an email to Williams' attorney chastising her for speaking to the press. She threatened to put more restrictions on her including moving Williams to another facility with more limitations than the one in which she currently resides.

The site claims Williams' personal attorney Joe Tacopina, will take on the guardianship case if it heads to a jury trial. Tacopina is the lawyer who helped rapper A.$.A.P. Rocky, Rihanna's boyfriend and the father of her children, beat his attempted murder charges

Full Article & Source:
Guardianship Judge to Wendy Williams on Career: "It's Done"

See Also:
Wendy Williams Originally Asked for a Guardianship, but Didn't 'Think Her Whole Life Would Be Taken Away' (Exclusive Source)

Wendy Williams Originally Asked for a Guardianship, but Didn't 'Think Her Whole Life Would Be Taken Away' (Exclusive Source)

A health care advocate tells PEOPLE that Williams wanted the court to protect her financially. Now she's protesting her guardianship with #FreeWendy movement

By Danielle Bacher

Wendy Williams speaks onstage during her celebration of 10 years of 'The Wendy Williams Show'. Photo:

Paras Griffin/Getty

•  Wendy Williams’ health care advocate Ginalisa Monterroso tells PEOPLE that the former talk show originally wanted to be in a guardianship despite her desire to end it now

• Monterroso claims Williams “passed” the mental capacity exams during her hospital visit on March 10, adding, “She was alert and oriented, and we were satisfied with that”
• Williams will hold a protest against her guardianship in New York and Los Angeles on Tuesday, April 1

Wendy Williams recently amped up her demands to be free of a restrictive guardianship that she alleges controls every aspect of her life. But her desire to end it wasn't always this way. Three years ago, Williams allegedly agreed with the courts to be overseen by her court-appointed legal guardian Sabrina Morrissey.

Since May 2022, the former TV host, 60, has been living under a legal guardianship that oversees both her finances and health. Williams is currently living in a luxury high-rise assisted-living facility in New York to address her cognitive issues and dementia diagnosis in 2023. Morrissey is the only person who currently has unfettered access to her. Williams' family told PEOPLE last year that she can call them, but they cannot call her themselves.

However, Williams’ health care advocate, Ginalisa Monterroso, exclusively tells PEOPLE that Williams initially wanted to be placed in a guardianship with the courts. She claims her client didn't know all her rights would be taken away — including having no access to the Internet or a cell phone.

In early 2022, Williams' 24-year-old son Kevin Hunter Jr. and her ex-husband, Kevin Hunter, were the subjects of public scrutiny when court filings showed that Wells Fargo froze her accounts after her financial adviser at the time, Lori Schiller, alleged that she was of “unsound mind." In a letter to the court on Feb. 4, 2022 — and obtained by PEOPLE — Williams claimed Wells Fargo had "denied [her] any access, whether online or otherwise, to her financial accounts, assets, and statements" for more than two weeks. 

Hunter Jr. was Williams' power of attorney and reportedly took a large sum of money from her account, ultimately raising flags at the bank. The bank successfully petitioned a New York court to have Williams first placed under temporary financial guardianship that turned into a full guardianship under the state laws of New York.

The court documents stated at the time that Wells Fargo had "several million dollars" of Williams' funds in its possession. The bank, in its filings to the court, said it froze the funds because "Wells Fargo has strong reason to believe that [Williams] is the victim of undue influence and financial exploitation." It did not specify who or what is exploiting or unduly influencing Williams.

Monterroso now claims that Williams thought that because Wells Fargo flagged the account — and that it went through the courts — they would protect her financially. "She wanted to make sure nobody's in her money and she would be fine," adds Monterroso. "She kind of felt like, 'Hey, I have the court. They're going to sign me a money person. I'm going to be good.' In no way did she think that our whole life was going to be taken away from her."

A month after the guardian was appointed, Williams was caught on camera passed out at a Louis Vuitton store, drunk. She entered a wellness facility starting in September 2022 and has been living at another facility in New York for the past few years.

"A lot of people would be like, 'Well, I would question [the guardianship] more. But when everything is happening so quickly and the bank is saying, 'Somebody's trying to take your money and there's something going on, you're just trying to kind of save yourself," says Monterroso. "Why would you not trust the courts, right? Why would the courts become your enemy?"

But under Williams' guardianship, she can no longer decide where to live, how to spend her money or have a bank account. She can't vote, marry or decide the doctors she'd like to use or what friends can visit her at the facility. She has to get special permission from Morrissey and sometimes even Judge Lisa A. Sokoloff, who is overseeing her affairs, to travel out of state. "You have no rights," says Monterroso. "Somebody in prison has more rights than a person put under a guardianship."

As far as Williams' family petitioning to be her guardian in the interim, Monterosso says that her client "really didn't want her family to be involved. She didn't want to kind of burden them with anything," she adds.

"How did she go from this aunt or sister that we love and is healthy one minute to this person who’s in and out of the hospital?” Williams' sister Wanda Finnie asked in PEOPLE's February 2024 cover story. “How is that system better than the system the family could put in place? I don't know. I do know that this system is broken. I hope that at some point, Wendy becomes strong enough where she can speak on her own behalf."

But now Williams has a voice. "Wendy feels as if she has a voice and change to get out, so she doesn't have to try to get an alternate plan," Monterosso continues. "She's able to get counsel, everybody's looking at the case — and there's movement. People are listening to her now, so she's confident that she's going to continue to fight."

On Thursday, Jan. 16, Williams was in tears as she begged to get her out of her guardianship and return to life outside the walls of the wellness facility in New York City in which she's been ordered to live. Appearing on The Breakfast Club for a rare interview, she spoke out about her situation to host Charlamagne Tha God.

"I am not cognitively impaired but I feel like I am in prison," Williams said. "I’m in this place with people who are in their nineties and their eighties and their seventies... These people, there's something wrong with these people here on this floor. I am clearly not."

Two months later, Williams pressed a handwritten note to the window of her luxury high-rise assisted-living facility that read “Help! Wendy!” This resulted in police and medical personnel intervening and sending her in an ambulance for evaluation on March 10. She was then escorted out of the building, and EMS transported her in an ambulance to a local hospital “for evaluation,” a spokesperson for the New York Police Department told PEOPLE at the time.

Monterroso claims that the note was "more of a joke" but that she and Williams planned the call with 9-1-1 the day before to attract media attention and get another evaluation for her client. After filing a complaint with Adult Protective Services earlier this month, Monterroso says Williams is "excited" for a jury to determine if her guardianship should be terminated following additional mental competency testing.

"I wanted to make awareness to the public that this is very serious and it is a crime to keep somebody isolated," Monterroso continues. "And so I just said [to Wendy] 'We're going to call the police. “It was just more of a strategic move to just kind of get more evidence because this case has been stuck,” she explains. 

She adds the decision to transport via ambulance was made because they could “at least do a short mini-assessment” at the hospital and “have some documentation from somebody else outside of this guardianship that can attest” to Williams not being incapacitated. Monterroso further claims Williams “passed” the mental capacity exams at the hospital, adding, “She was alert and oriented, and we were satisfied with that.”

After the brief hospitalization, Williams went out to dinner with her niece Alex Finnie and headed back to her unit wearing a pink fuzzy Versace robe and waving to onlookers. Although Williams has in no way given up her fight for more freedom, the police were called after she was reported missing at her facility. (A police report was filed but Monterroso claims it was a "misunderstanding").

Investigative journalist Diane Dimond — who released a book about the guardianship system, We’re Here to Help: When Guardianship Goes Wrong, in September 2024 — told PEOPLE last year an estimated 2 million people are presently living under the court's control.

"A guardian can be a family member, it could be your best friend, it could be a perfectly trustworthy commoner, so to speak," Dimond said. "After investigating this for eight or nine years now, judges are overlooking family members, they're overlooking friends and they're going immediately to these professional, for-profit appointees, and they're complete strangers to these wards of the court. So within that, the ward of the court loses all their civil rights. They have no more rights to decide anything about their personal life or their financial life."

Recently, Williams called into The View, saying she wanted Morrissey to “get off my neck."

"Wendy has expressed her frustration and desire for freedom on multiple occasions, stating publicly: 'I feel like I’m in prison,' " a source close to Wendy tells PEOPLE. "No one should feel imprisoned in their own life — especially not someone who has proven time and again that she is capable, intelligent, and deserving of dignity. This movement is about dignity. It’s about voice. And it’s about justice."

Bicoastal rallies for Williams will be held at Coterie Hudson Yards in New York and the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles at Williams' star on Tuesday, April 1 beginning at 10:00 a.m. local. A GoFundMe has also been launched to raise $50,000 to support Williams' legal fight.

The same source says Williams will be cheering supporters from inside the window of her New York facility until 2 p.m. ET.

Full Article & Source:
Wendy Williams Originally Asked for a Guardianship, but Didn't 'Think Her Whole Life Would Be Taken Away' (Exclusive Source)

See Also:
Wendy Williams wants ‘to move on with my life’ despite guardianship: How she got here

Wendy Williams wants ‘to move on with my life’ despite guardianship: How she got here

Former talk show host Wendy Williams declares, “I’m finally able to speak” on “The View” amid her efforts to leave an allegedly contentious guardianship.

(Willy Sanjuan / Invision / Associated Press)

By Alexandra Del Rosario

How’s Wendy Williams doing? Not as bad as her guardian alleges, or at least that’s what she asserted as she called in to “The View” last week.

The boisterous former talk show and radio host returned to the daytime space Friday in a different capacity. Williams, who made a living by dishing on the latest celebrity gossip, was on the other side this time. She called in to “The View” to dismiss narratives about her mental condition and shed more light on the guardianship that allegedly landed her in the memory unit of a New York care facility and away from public view.

“I’ve been doing important things all of my life, and these two people don’t look like me, they don’t dress like me, they don’t talk like me, they don’t act like me, and I venture to say they will never be me,” Williams said of her guardian and the judge allegedly keeping the guardianship in place. “I need them to ... get off my neck. I can’t do it with these two people again. I can’t.”

She added: “I need a new guardian and then I’ll get out of [guardianship].”

“The View” was the latest to hear from Williams after she was hospitalized last week. New York police confirmed to The Times that officers on March 10 responded to a welfare check at the 500 block of West 35 Street. That’s the address for the assisted living facility where Williams reportedly dropped a handwritten note pleading for help out a window.

Police confirmed to The Times that “EMS responded and transported a 60-year-old female to an area hospital for evaluation.” TMZ published video of Williams, 60, arm in arm with an officer as police escorted her to an ambulance. A day later, Williams called multiple TV and radio shows about her latest headlines. She touted the positive results of her mental evaluations to “Good Day New York” host and friend Rosanna Scotto and joked off claims that she is incapacitated in her latest call into “The Breakfast Club.” Her interview with “The View” on Friday was no different.

“I sound like me. I’m finally out. I’m finally able to speak,” Williams told the hosts.

She added: “I wish I was allowed to actually put on nice clothing and come see you in person, but I cannot.”

In the recent streak of revelations from Williams, several stand out. Here’s a refresher of the twists and turns that led to them, from financial concerns to the appointment of the guardian allegedly overseeing her restrictive care.

Williams presented several throughlines in her conversations with the press this week, including assertions that challenged narratives about her allegedly diminished mental capacity.

In the past, the former radio shock jock was open with the public about her physical health. On-air during the “Wendy Williams Show,” the host informed fans how her Graves’ disease and lymphedema diagnosis affected her appearance and physicality. But in 2024, years after her series ran its course, a major reveal about her mental capacity came down without so much as a word from Williams. 

Representatives announced in a news release that Williams was diagnosed with progressive aphasia and frontotemporal dementia (FTD), the same affliction that led action star Bruce Willis to retire from Hollywood. Later in 2024, Williams’ guardian Sabrina Morrissey claimed in legal filings that the former TV host had become “cognitively impaired and permanently incapacitated” by her dementia. Williams, who spoke out against those claims in January, said this week she has test results to prove otherwise.

She recalled her recent hospital visit to “The Breakfast Club,” telling its co-hosts that she did various tests to evaluate her competency. Williams explained that she was asked simple things including her date of birth and the identity of the current United States president.

“Oh please, he’s a friend of mine who was on the show and also beyond,” Williams told the “Breakfast Club” regarding the latter. She seemingly referred to President Trump, who appeared on her talk show multiple times.

Williams told “Good Day New York” anchor and friend Scotto that she passed her tests “with flying colors.”

Additionally, Williams alleged she is confined in the memory unit of her luxury living facility, where monthly care rates begin at $13,200. She asserted that other people living on the same floor are much older than her and, unlike herself, have issues with their memory. Williams also told “Good Day New York” she is “not allowed to go outside” and that she only has access to a landline since her guardian “has been having my phone for years now.”

Throughout her recent interviews, Williams seemed careful not to identify her guardian by name, instead calling her “the guardian” and “my guardian person.” On Friday, Williams confidently asserted on “The View”: “I don’t want a guardian. I don’t want Sabrina period.”

Elsewhere on Williams’ recent press streak, caregiver and healthcare advocacy executive Ginalisa Monterroso accused the star’s guardian of playing “Jedi mind games” with the narratives about the host’s condition.

“She really just wanted the world to believe that Wendy was incapacitated,” Monterroso said Tuesday on “The Breakfast Club.”

Monterroso added: “Her big mistake was she didn’t realize who Wendy Williams was. She has a platform like ‘Breakfast Club’ and she’s very well connected, and there are people who will back her up.”

How did the guardian come into the picture?

Sabrina Morrissey is an attorney with New York-based firm Morrissey & Morrissey, LLP, which specializes in estate planning, administration and litigation and, yes, guardianship. Morrissey is “passionate about representing elderly clients and protecting them from fraud and abuse,” according to her online profile.

In the months before the lackluster end of “The Wendy Williams Show” in 2022, Wells Fargo requested, and eventually established, a guardianship over the host citing fears of financial abuse. Morrissey was assigned to Williams’ case but wasn’t too familiar with the purveyor of petty, according to a report by Vanity Fair.

Williams told “The View” she was initially open to the guardianship with the impression that it would help her protect her finances. Williams alleged in a February interview with TMZ that her adult son “overstepped his boundaries” and “was inappropriately using my money without telling me crap about it.” He had previously denied those allegations in 2023.

New York courts sealed legal documents pertaining to Williams’ guardianship proceedings, but Morrissey’s role became public knowledge in February 2024 amid the premiere of the Lifetime docuseries “Where Is Wendy Williams?” The series explores her life under guardianship which has largely cut her off from her family. The four-part docuseries also gave an inside look at Williams’ struggles with sobriety.

Williams’ FTD and aphasia diagnoses were not the only clouds looming over the release of “Where is Wendy Williams?” Days before the premiere, Morrissey sued Lifetime parent company A+E Networks and production company Entertainment One (also known as eOne) and filed a temporary restraining order to keep the docuseries from hitting airwaves. A judge denied her request and decided the project could air as intended.

Morrissey has alleged, among several other accusations, that the Lifetime project (on which Williams served as an executive producer) “exploits [Williams’] medical condition to portray her in a humiliating, degrading manner and in a false light,” according to legal documents. In a February 2024 interview with The Times, “Where Is Wendy Williams?” executive producer Mark Ford said, “We never would have brought this story to air if we didn’t think it would have a positive ending for Wendy, her family and the world at large.”

As litigation over the docuseries continued, Morrissey made more claims about Williams’ health, including that she was “permanently incapacitated” and could not consent to being filmed. Those allegations were “meritless,” the series’ team said in a November countersuit against Morrissey. The producing team also claimed it was unaware of Williams’ dementia diagnosis “until near completion of the documentary.” 

The Times has learned “Where Is Wendy Williams?” is unavailable to stream due to litigation. Proceedings in this case are currently on hold pending another neurological evaluation of Williams.

Morrissey did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment on Williams’ recent allegations.

The #FreeWendy Movement

Williams has publicly decried the alleged terms of her guardianship for months now — and she isn’t alone.

Williams’ niece Alex Finnie has been a staunch and vocal advocate for the host’s release. Finnie, who also appeared in the Lifetime documentary, has in recent years openly criticized her aunt’s guardianship. “The longer she’s under this guardianship, the longer they have the keys to her life,” Finnie told “The Breakfast Club” in January, “her personal, her financial, emotional ... everything.”

Finnie also touts the #FreeWendy tag on social media, a nod to the growing movement calling for Williams’ release from her guardianship. As part of the #FreeWendy movement, supporters created GoFundMe and Change.org petition pages and took to social media to amplify Williams’ claims about her guardianship. In videos shared to the Change.org petition (which says it has verified more than 25,000 signatories), supporters co-signed claims about Williams’ independence and allegations about her isolation. Morrissey denied several claims in Vanity Fair about her allegedly restrictive guardianship over Williams. She said, “Nobody’s saying that Wendy can’t leave a building” and that it was Williams who decided not to split her twin cats and go petless in her facility, which the talk show host mentioned on “The Breakfast Club” in January.

Some supporters also took to social media to contemplate whether race plays into Williams’ guardianship. “Two white women have taken conservatorship over a self-made Black woman’s empire,” one X (formerly Twitter) user remarked in February 2024. The post shared photos of Morrissey and the New York judge overseeing the guardianship.

Williams’ public revelations last week have only further galvanized the #FreeWendy force, as some supporters laud her “flawless” interview with “The View” and observe that she “sounds absolutely fine.”

What’s next for Williams?

Williams made it clear to “The View” on Friday: “At this point in my life, I wanna terminate the guardianship and move on with my life if that’s possible at all.”

Monterroso, amid Williams’ hospitalization, told “Good Day New York” that she reached out to New York Police Department and Adult Protective Services requesting an investigation into the host’s guardianship. Despite this, Williams said she’s concerned the judge and Morrissey might come down harder on her for speaking out amid pending legal proceedings.

“It makes me very, very nervous,” she told TMZ on Wednesday before admitting, “I don’t know what could be tighter than where I am.”

Shortly after that interview, the strict restrictions of Williams’ New York living facility — and Morrissey’s claims that Williams can come and go as she pleases — came into question again. The facility reportedly filed a police report accusing Finnie of allegedly evading staff to take her aunt out of the building for dinner, according to TMZ. Williams and Finnie denied the “unbelievable” allegations. A day after the alleged incident, paparazzi spotted Williams out and about on a motorized scooter.

While on “The View,” Williams announced she will continue living her life alcohol-free and looked forward to a new chapter free of an allegedly oppressive guardianship. “It’s time for my money and my life to get back to status quo,” she said.

And when it does, the “fabulous purple chair” from which she dished on celebrities on “The Wendy Williams Show” will be there with her too.

“It’s in storage, but when it comes out of storage I’m keeping it with me for my life. It will definitely be in my new apartment.”

A legal representative for Williams did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for additional comment.

Full Article & Source:
Wendy Williams wants ‘to move on with my life’ despite guardianship: How she got here

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Wendy Williams begs medical guardian to 'get off my neck' as she insists she's not mentally incapacitated

Wendy Williams begs medical guardian to 'get off my neck' as she insists she's not mentally incapacitated

Wendy Williams' team has said she was diagnosed with progressive aphasia and frontotemporal dementia in 2023

By Emily Trainham 

Wendy Williams appeared on "The View" this morning to defend herself against claims that she is mentally incapacitated.

The former talk show host, who has been under a court-appointed guardianship since 2022, spoke to the show via phone about why she made the decision to undergo a competency test this week, which she'd previously said she'd passed with "flying colors."

"I needed a breath of fresh air. I needed to see the doctor, so that’s why I went to the hospital," she told the hosts of "The View" about the independent evaluation.

She added, "It was my choice to get an independent evaluation on my incapacitation, which I don’t have it. How dare they say I have incapacitation. I do not."

Williams, who has been living in the memory care unit of an assisted living facility for nearly a year, was discharged from the hospital on Wednesday. In the facility, she claimed that she's not allowed to have visitors, and that she typically stays in her bedroom. She said she's not permitted to leave her floor of the facility.

Host Sunny Hostin shared that the show had received a statement from the care facility's legal team that she hadn't been kept from her family and has received excellent medical care, which Williams continued to deny.

The former "Wendy Williams Show" host also complained about her guardian and the judge involved in her case, saying, "I need them . . . to get off my neck. I can't do it with these two people again."

"I don’t want a guardian . . . It’s been over three years, it’s time for my money and my life to get back to status quo," she insisted.

Williams, along with her caregiver, Ginalisa Monterroso, explained that the guardianship was first put into place in 2022 after her bank froze her account after noticing some unusual spending. She agreed to being appointed a guardian, because she believed the arrangement could help her get her finances under control, but soon afterward, she says the guardian took control of her life.

"At this point in my life, I want to terminate the guardianship and move on with my life, if that's possible at all," she said. 

Earlier this week, Williams was taken to a hospital after a 911 call was made to her assisted care facility in New York.

"On Monday, March 10, 2025 the NYPD responded to a welfare check at 505 West 35 Street," the New York Police Department said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital. 

"EMS responded and transported a 60-year-old female to an area hospital for evaluation."

According to the New York Post, Williams had thrown a handwritten note that read "Help! Wendy!!" out the window.

One day after being rushed to a New York hospital, she spoke with Rosanna Scotto on a live segment of "Good Day New York" to discuss the outcome of her competency tests, which she says she'd requested herself.

Williams said she passed her tests with "flying colors."

"Everybody knows factually that Wendy is not incapacitated," Monterrosa, who was also present during that interview, told Scotto.

During an appearance on "The Breakfast Club" that same morning, Williams further explained why she had pleaded to go to a medical facility and be evaluated by an independent doctor. 

"The police showed up. I'm exhausted. I wanted to go to the hospital to talk to the doctor," Williams told the hosts. 

Monterroso said that they have been laser-focused on trying to get "some kind of motion" into the TV personality's guardianship case. 

"We were pretty stuck at one point, waiting for the lawyers to break through and get some type of trial," Monterroso said while on "The Breakfast Club." "I did two things. I wrote a letter to the Adult Protective Services and explained to them Wendy's situation. She was isolated and needed an investigation."

"Yesterday morning, during our morning calls, I told Wendy, 'We will be calling the police and telling them that you're isolated.' I pleaded with the police as if Wendy was my child. ‘Please, you need to get her off this floor. She is confined.’"

Williams said that during her chat with law enforcement, she told them, "I am not incapacitated as I've been accused [of]."

"This floor that I live on is the memory unit," Williams explained. "The people who live there don't remember anything, unlike me. Why am I here? What is going on? It's a cry for help."

Earlier this year, Williams denied that she was cognitively impaired and admitted during an interview with "The Breakfast Club" that her guardianship felt like a "prison."

"I am not cognitively impaired, but I feel like I am in prison," Williams said in January. "I’m in this place with people who are in their 90s and their 80s and their 70s. . . . These people, there's something wrong with these people here on this floor. I am clearly not."

"Where I am . . . you have to get keys to unlock the door to press the elevator to go downstairs, first of all. Second of all, these people here, everybody here is like nursemaids, so to speak," she said. Williams admitted that she isn't privy to what medication she's given. "Excuse me, doctor, can you tell me what this pill is for?"

In February 2024, Williams' team announced that she had been diagnosed with both progressive aphasia and frontotemporal dementia.

Full Article & Source:
Wendy Williams begs medical guardian to 'get off my neck' as she insists she's not mentally incapacitated

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Wendy Williams Hospitalized Amid Battle Over Guardianship, But It's Not What You Think

Wendy Williams Hospitalized Amid Battle Over Guardianship, But It's Not What You Think

The daytime talk show host has been embroiled in this fight for years, but she just might be getting closer to freedom.

By Shanelle Genai 

Just when Wendy Williams was supposed to be getting ready for her return to daytime television later this week (more on that later), she’s instead having to deal with a trip to the hospital. But don’t be alarmed...it’s not for the reason you might think.

As we previously told you, thanks to her persistent outcries and subsequent action by her court-appointed guardian Sabrina Morrissey, Williams was set to undergo another medical evaluation to determine whether or not she she has frontotemporal dementia. That diagnosis is the one the very things that caused her to be remanded to an assisted living facility in New York City for the last three years that she previously described as a “prison.”  

Now, on Monday (March 10), it appears as if she’s finally had her tests as police were spotted outside of her facility were seen escorting her from her facility to Lenox Hill Hospital for the evaluations. In videos captured by TMZ, Williams was mostly quiet as she dodged questions about how she was feeling and her upcoming interview on “The View” on Friday. ABC announced the news that she’d be coming onto the show as a guest via telephone over the weekend.

This sighting also comes just after two local agencies were reported to be looking into Williams’ guardianship. The first agency was Adult Protective Services who reportedly had an interview with Williams and her niece Alex Finnie, according to TMZ. The New York Police Department also pulled up on Williams prior to them escorting her to her appointment to do a welfare check on her and her condition.

Per ABC News, two officers and a sergeant showed up to the facility in response to a 911 call of a woman in distress. However, when they arrived, Williams was reportedly calm and was able to walk with the officers and out of the building.

If the results of Williams’ second evaluation prove that she isn’t suffering from dementia—this could call the legal validity of the guardianship into question as Morrissey was only taking over things due to Williams’ alleged failing mental state. Moreover, if those results are brought in front of the judge and the guardianship is finally called off, this could be the start of a long-awaited comeback for Williams.

Full Article & Source:
Wendy Williams Hospitalized Amid Battle Over Guardianship, But It's Not What You Think

Wendy Williams hospitalized amid guardianship investigation

By David Matthews

The NYPD and Adult Protective Services are investigating Wendy Williams’ guardianship after performing a wellness check at her adult care facility in Manhattan on Monday that ended with her hospitalization.

Police responded to the assisted living facility around 11:16 a.m. They determined that Williams did not need any help but remained at the scene as EMTs arrived and Williams threw notes out a window to the assembled press.

The city’s Adult Protective Services is also looking into the circumstances of Williams’ stay at the facility, where she is reportedly in a memory unit and barred from leaving, according to TMZ.

She was transported to Lenox Hill Hospital for an independent cognitive examination around 2 p.m., the gossip site reported.

Williams’ guardian claimed last November that the former talk show host was “permanently incapacitated” due to her dementia diagnosis. She was diagnosed with primary aggressive aphasia and frontotemporal dementia about a year after being placed under a legal guardianship and put in a care facility in 2022.

In a January interview on “The Breakfast Club” radio show, Williams said she is “not cognitively impaired, no, but I feel like I am in prison.”

Last month, Williams made a legal filing to have the guardianship ended and has vowed to go to a jury trial if necessary. She has previously complained she is not suffering from any health issues and that her diagnosis was made in bad faith.

ABC reported on Sunday that Williams will give a phone interview on “The View” later this week.

Full Article & Source:
Wendy Williams hospitalized amid guardianship investigation

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Wendy Williams says she passed competency test with ‘flying colors’ after being rushed to hospital