Radio and television host Wendy Williams has been under court-ordered guardianship for three years, since 2022. The shocking transition of the beloved and wealthy media personality from queen of television to hidden-from-sight celebrity is now being questioned by the public, the star, and her family.

Ms. Williams was placed under New York state guardianship, despite her mother and other family members offering to care for her, after Wells Fargo said it had “documented a pattern of unusual and disturbing events” related to her welfare and finances, according to court documents. The Wells Fargo notice led to Ms. Williams being placed under guardianship in 2022.

Now, Williams and her niece, Alex Finnie, are requesting to end the guardianship.

Recently, Williams was interviewed on the top US radio show The Breakfast Club, hosted by ‘Charlemagne tha God’ after she called into the show. During that interview, Ms. Williams clearly expressed outrage at being kept in a care facility and claimed she was misdiagnosed with dementia.

The radio interview, heard by millions, was not easy to coordinate, she said, since she has been locked away in a New York private care facility, that she referred to as a luxury “prison,” without easy means of communication or free movement. During the interview, Williams vehemently disagreed with her diagnosis of frontotemporal dementia and aphasia, calling it “ridiculous.’

“I am not cognitively impaired,” Ms. Williams strongly said, during the interview. “I feel like I am in prison,” said Ms. Williams in her radio interview. “I’m in this place where the people are in their ’90s, their ’80s, and their ’70s. There’s something wrong with these people here on this floor.”

After the public interview, Sabrina Morrissey, the court-appointed guardian of Williams, 60, who controls the celebrity’s finances and medical care, said that she believes the star should proceed with a new medical evaluation, based upon her ward’s claim that she is not suffering from dementia.

In a letter from her attorney sent to TMZ, Ms. Morrissey said it “would be prudent for [Williams] to undergo a new medical evaluation that will involve comprehensive neurological and psychological testing by a specialist in the field.”

New York Justice Lisa Sokoloff, who oversees the star’s guardianship case, declared Williams “incapacitated” in 2022.

Williams recently fired her attorney after discovering the lawyer allegedly did not file paperwork for an upcoming trial regarding her request to legally ask the court if a guardian is necessary.

In 2024, friends and family of Ms. Williams created a four-hour documentary about her life in 2022-2023 and are now working to help her be legally removed from state care and guardianship. In addition to the documentary and campaign to help Ms. Williams be removed from state care, her niece Alex Finnie appeared on The View, one of the top talk shows in the U.S. During her interview on The View, Ms. Finnie said those in charge of the guardianship were not transparent about her aunt’s care.

During the interview, Finnie said that her aunt’s situation, where Williams was seen in the documentary seemingly intoxicated or having other issues, is complicated and layered. But, she said, “She can’t call us and we can’t call her.”

“I would love it if my aunt could be here today to tell her story,” she said. “Our contact is limited. I finally got some sort of a response (from the guardianship) but (it) has been a big problem with family in terms of can we get an update on how she is” Finnie also explained, for instance, “There was no way to contact her,” when Ms. Williams’ 93-year-old father was ill. “The family was blocked out.”

Beyond the viral interview, the docuseries “Where is Wendy Williams” led to a lawsuit brought by Ms. Morrissey, who claimed in court documents that the TV show was “humiliating.” The series aired on Lifetime on February 24 and 25, 2004.

In legal documents from 2024, Williams’ guardian said that the docuseries filmed Williams when she was “in an obviously disabled state” and “cruelly implies” that her “disoriented state” was due to substance abuse and intoxication.

Due to the new Wendy Williams interview on the Breakfast Club and the request for new medical testing, Ms. Morrissey asked the judge in the Lifetime case to stop the claim against the network.

There is no known date yet for the testing or court hearing as of today.