Wendy Williams initially believed that a legal guardianship would be limited to oversee just her finances, not the entirety of her private life, according to a new report.
The former talk show host, 60, was assigned a court-ordered guardian after being diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia — a degenerative disease that causes memory loss.
However, Williams allegedly agreed with the courts to be overseen by her court-appointed legal guardian Sabrina Morrissey, People reports.
Williams’ healthcare advocate, Ginalisa Monterroso, has alleged that Williams sought out a guardianship because she thought it would tighten up her finances, not control her life.
“She wanted to make sure nobody’s in her money and she would be fine,” Monterroso told the outlet.
“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 she was assigned a court-appointed guardian, Williams was spotted passed out at a Louis Vuitton store in NYC.
The ordeal prompted her to check into a wellness facility in September 2022.
“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,” Monterroso said.
“Why would you not trust the courts, right? Why would the courts become your enemy?”
Under a legal guardianship, Williams is now unable to decide where she lives, how to spend her money or her time, without a special permission from Morrissey. She is also not allowed to vote or marry.
“You have no rights,” Monterroso said. “Somebody in prison has more rights than a person put under a guardianship.”
Last month, Williams took a mental capacity test during a routine hospital appointment.
In a surprise live call to “Good Day New York,” Williams told host Rosanna Scotto that she passed a mental acuity evaluation “with flying colors.”
As she remains holed up at the mental facility, her sister, Wanda Finnie, has continuously raised concerns over the way the guardianship system is handling Williams’ care.
“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?” Finnie asked.
Still, Williams is not losing hope.
“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 said.
“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.”
The Post has reached out to Williams’ reps for comment.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
