Wendy Williams ‘permanently incapacitated’ by dementia, guardian claims

Wendy Williams‘ wellness appears to beryllium successful steep decline, with her guardian claiming the erstwhile TV big is “permanently incapacitated” pursuing her diagnosis of superior progressive aphasia and frontotemporal dementia.

In a tribunal filing from earlier this month, and viewed by respective publications, lawyers for Williams’ court-appointed guardian, Sabrina Morrissey, said the 60-year-old “has go cognitively impaired, permanently disabled, and incapacitated” from dementia.

Morrissey argues that Williams did not “have the capableness to consent to being filmed” for Lifetime’s contentious Where is Wendy Williams? docuseries, which was released earlier this year.

The docuseries explored Williams’ wellness challenges, beingness aft The Wendy Williams Show and her guardianship, and has descended into an ongoing ineligible battle with A&E Television Networks, Lifetime Entertainment and different affiliates progressive with the release.

“This lawsuit arises from the brutally calculated, deliberate actions of almighty and cravenly opportunistic media companies moving unneurotic with a shaper to knowingly exploit (Williams),” the documents read, according to People, referencing her frontotemporal dementia diagnosis. “FTD is simply a progressive disease, meaning that determination is nary cure and the symptoms lone get worse implicit time.”

The filing claimed the defendants “cruelly took vantage of (Williams’) cognitive and carnal decline by creating and publishing a documentary astatine a clip erstwhile (Williams) was highly susceptible and intelligibly incapable of consenting to beryllium filmed.”

Lifetime has not publically commented connected the filing.

Williams has been nether a court-appointed guardianship since May 2022 aft her bank, Wells Fargo, claimed she was “incapacitated.”

Earlier this year, erstwhile Williams and her squad decided to share her diagnoses publicly, they explained their reasoning for doing so.

“The determination to stock this quality was hard and made aft cautious consideration, not lone to advocator for knowing and compassion for Wendy,” the erstwhile speech amusement host’s squad noted successful the Feb. 22 property release, “but to rise consciousness astir aphasia and frontotemporal dementia and enactment the thousands of others facing akin circumstances.”

“Unfortunately,” the connection continued, “many individuals diagnosed with aphasia and frontotemporal dementia look stigma and misunderstanding, peculiarly erstwhile they statesman to grounds behavioral changes but person not yet received a diagnosis.”

Where is Wendy Williams? was filmed betwixt August 2022 and April 2023. Producers connected the task said they were, astatine the clip of filming, unaware of Williams’ cognitive issues.

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In an interrogation earlier this twelvemonth with Today, enforcement producers Mark Ford and Erica Hanson, who is besides showrunner, said they recognize wherefore immoderate of Williams’ fans person ethical concerns astir the documentary.

“We shaped the documentary, ultimately, successful a mode that we felt could payment Wendy, her household and the satellite astatine large,” Ford said. “What started arsenic a communicative astir Wendy and her biography turned into thing precise different. (It became) much astir what it is similar erstwhile your household member, who you attraction about, is placed nether ineligible guardianship and you don’t person immoderate entree to her anymore.”

The episodes, portion highlighting the taste interaction of Williams’ speech amusement career, amusement the prima successful a fig of susceptible moments.

Throughout the documentary, galore of Williams’ household members claimed they’d been chopped disconnected from contacting Williams, who the household said was surrounded lone by radical connected her payroll. In the 2nd episode, Williams’ manager, Will Selby, finds an bare vodka vessel by the star’s furniture and confronts Williams astir alleged dense drinking.

In the documentary, Williams is often agitated, weepy and confused.

The ailment asks that the defendants wage Williams unspecified compensatory and punitive damages and asks the tribunal to bid the defendants to permanently halt airing the show.

Morrissey said successful her filing that portion Lifetime has “profited immensely” from the production, Williams herself was paid “a paltry $82,000.”