Wendy Willams Speaks Out: 'I Am Not Cognitively Impaired'
Wendy Williams has returned to radio—true to form—with some rather shocking revelations and refutations regarding her current state.
On Thursday, the former daytime talk show host and pop culture icon joined The Breakfast Club to discuss her conservatorship, the care facility she's been living in, and, yes, Sean "Diddy" Combs. Since 2022, Williams has been under a guardianship, and in 2024, her care team said she had been diagnosed with dementia and aphasia, which impacts language and communication abilities.
“Do I seem that way, god damn it?” she asked the show's hosts, DJ Envy, Charlamagne Tha God and Jess Hilarious.
“I am not cognitively impaired, you know what I’m saying? But I feel like I’m in prison,” Williams described of the New York City facility where she's been placed due in part to her guardian, Sabrina E. Morrissey. “I’m in this place where the people are in their 90s and their 80s and their 70s. There’s something wrong with these people here on this floor.”
Williams’ niece, Alex, also joined the show in support. She described Williams’ apartment in the care facility as having “a bed, a chair, a TV, a bathroom, and she’s looking out one window at buildings across the street.” She added that while her aunt is able to call her loved ones, they aren't able to call her. Williams is also without access to the internet via a laptop or an iPad. These restrictions, Alex said, are not only unnecessary but undue punishment.
“My aunt sounds great,” Alex told the show. “I’ve seen her, in a very limited capacity, but I’ve seen her and we’re talking to her. This does not match an incapacitated person. And that’s why we say she’s in a luxury prison, because she is being held and she is being punished for whatever reason that other people are coming up with as to why she has to be kept in this position.”
Furthermore, Williams told the hosts that she's spent her last three birthdays alone due to the facility’s high security, adding: “This is what is called emotional abuse.” She also broke down in tears, alleging that her two beloved cats were sold without her knowledge and that because any travel she wants to do must be approved by her guardian, she might not be allowed to see her father on his 94th birthday.
When asked about the two-part Lifetime documentary, Where Is Wendy Williams?, which aired shortly after the announcement of her diagnosis, Williams said Morrissey sued in an attempt to prevent its release, claiming exploitation. A&E and Lifetime then countersued, alleging that Morrissey's filing was due to the fact that it would spotlight criticism of her as Williams' guardian.
“She was the one who wanted to do that, you understand what I’m saying?” Williams said of the documentary, tacking on: “What do I think about being abused? Look, this system is broken, this system that I’m in. This system has falsified a lot.”
In typical Williams fashion, she concluded the phone call with a bit of commentary on the current celebrity goings-on—namely, Sean "Diddy" Combs.
“Diddy will go to prison for life, people,” Williams said. “You don’t know the things that I know about Diddy back in the day.”
“You know what? It’s about time, people," she added. "It is about time. Diddy done.”
If fans want to support Williams, Alex said, they should use the hashtag #FreeWendy on social media and sign their petition on Change.org.
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