The judge handling the Wendy Williams guardianship case is reportedly upset by the former talk show host continuing to speak to the media and wants to add even tighter restrictions.
In a fiery email to Williams’ lawyer, obtained by TMZ, Judge Lisa Sokoloff says she previously ordered Williams be moved to a more restrictive assisted-living facility than the one she’s in now, which Williams has referred to as a “luxury prison.”
“I have always contended that [Wendy] will be given the independence she can handle. I question how well she has handled the independence she has been given,” Sokoloff reportedly wrote in the email.
Sources told TMZ the judge is angry that Williams has been giving interviews complaining about her guardianship and the New York City facility where she’s been living.
Williams has previously spoken to TMZ, saying she’s confined to her room and is not allowed to leave the facility to get fresh air without an attendant letting her down the elevator. The 60-year-old says she has no access to the internet, can’t receive phone calls and can rarely have visitors.
Williams has denied the claims that she’s “permanently incapacitated” due to dementia and aphasia. In an interview with “The Breakfast Club” radio show earlier this year, she detailed the allegedly oppressive conditions to which she’s been subjected in recent years.
“I am not cognitively impaired, no, but I feel like I am in prison,” she said. “This system is broken, this system that I’m in. This system has falsified a lot. … This has been three years I’m caught up in this system.”
The former TV star has been in the care facility since September 2022. Last month, she asked the judge to end the court-ordered guardianship imposed on her, and said she plans to request a jury trial if the judge turns her down.
“Tell your client that if she wants a jury, she should refrain from trying to poison the jury pool,” the judge reportedly wrote in another email regarding Williams’ recent interviews.
On Monday, Williams aced a mental competency test at Lenox Hill Hospital, but Judge Sokoloff is still seemingly pushing for more restrictions against the star.
Sources close to Williams tell TMZ the judge is retaliating against her for publicly defending herself and trying to “get out of an abusive guardianship.”
