How she doin’?
Wendy Williams, 60, called into “The View” on Friday to speak with co-hosts Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin, Sara Haines, Ana Navarro and Alyssa Farah Griffin.
The former television host started off the pre-taped interview by explaining why she went to the hospital on Monday.
“Well, I went to the hospital. I was having a little angina… I went to the hospital where I lived, you know what I’m saying, at this memory unit on this floor. I needed a breath of fresh air. I needed to see the doctors. That’s why I went to the hospital. And then when I was at the hospital I also got my blood drawn for my thyroid,” Williams told the hosts.
“But most importantly, at the hospital it was my choice to get an independent evaluation on my incapacitation, which I don’t have it. How dare they say I have incapacitation. I do not.”
Williams also addressed going to dinner with her niece Alex Finnie on Wednesday, in which the New York City assisted living facility where she resides accused Finnie of kidnapping her aunt.
“Well, I thought it was great at first. Alex and her boyfriend they flew out from Miami to New York. They got me at the hospital. And then with permission from the guardian, of course, we left the hospital,” Williams explained. “We stayed here about an hour because we knew we were going out to eat. Just to celebrate, you know, life. I was off that floor for a moment. So we went to Tucci’s and we had a great dinner. When we finally got back here there was paparazzi so we stopped. That’s what I do. I stopped, I posed. You know what I’m saying?”
When she got back to the facility, Williams noticed two staff members waiting for her.
“I’m like ‘oh my god, what is about to happen?’ It is a locked unit. They have to use keys — the people who work here — to take the elevator downstairs. I’m not permitted to do anything but stay on this floor. The memory unit floor where these people are 90 and 80 and 70. Look, I’m 60. …. Why am I here? Where people don’t remember anything. So I stay in the bedroom the majority of the time.”
Williams revealed, “I never go out to eat with them. I stay in the bedroom. Am I permitted to have my friend Gina come visit me? No.”
Hostin then mentioned that Williams’ legal guardian, Sabrina Morrissey, has said that the former radio personality was declared legally incapacitated by a judge due to a 2023 dementia diagnosis and is not being kept from her family.
“The View” host added that the statement notes Williams is receiving excellent medical care.
Before Williams could address the claims, Hostin thanked her for “giving me my start” on the air before asking her former mentor how she keeps her spirits up when she is unable to do what she loves.
“I am glad you’re talking with me about that,” Williams admitted. “I am a college educated woman, global international person from radio to television. I’ve been doing important things all of my life and these two people don’t look like me, they don’t dress like me, they don’t talk like me, they don’t act like me. … They will never be me. I need them to — with my knees — get off my neck. I can’t do it with these two people again. I can’t. And I’m speaking of the guardians and the judge. I need a new guardian.”
Williams was joined on the phone by Ginalisa Monterroso, the founder and president of Connect Care Advisory Group, which aims to help patients and caregivers navigate their benefits.
Monterroso explained that “the guardianship was triggered by Wells Fargo. There was some unusual activity going on in Wendy’s bank account and Wells Fargo froze the account and initiated a guardianship.”
Williams added that at the time, she was okay with having a guardian because it was about protecting her money.
“But at this point in my life,” she stated, “I want to terminate the guardianship and move on with my life, if that’s possible at all.”
Monterroso shared with the hosts that “Wendy didn’t realize this person was going to take her whole entire life,” to which the former TV personality chimed in, “Exactly! Everyone played really nice to me and I was like, ‘Okay no problem. Where am I going next? I’m going to Connecticut.’”
“And next thing you know, from New York, I’m in Connecticut and the entire building is memory unit. It was the worst of all – it was worse than where I am in New York. Nothing but grass and trees and memory units. And why am I there?”
Williams claimed they isolated her.
“They took my phone so I have to call them, they can’t call me. And as far as family, that’s all I was calling. There were no friends that I could call because the guardian kept my phone and I’m in this memory unit in Connecticut. And then I moved to New York after a year being in Connecticut. And it’s the same thing. And here’s my life,” she shared.
If the guardianship were to end, Williams revealed, “First of all, I’m staying in New York.”
She went on to explain, “I don’t want a guardian. Put it this way, I don’t want Sabrina. Period,” adding, “It’s been over three years. It’s time for my money and my life to get back to status quo.”
Williams also took a moment to touch on her relationship with alcohol after past substance abuse issues, calling it “fine and wonderful.”
The New Yorker, who has been to rehab several times, shared, “I am easily going on with my life alcohol free for the rest of my life.”
However, Williams confessed she relapsed over the summer, stating, “I must admit to you, that when I got from Connecticut to New York, it was my birthday, July 18, and yes, I celebrated,” she admitted. “You know what I’m saying?”
Williams spearheaded her talk show, “The Wendy Williams Show,” which aired for 14 seasons from 2008 to 2022 when the guardianship began. During her time on the air, she sat in an iconic purple chair each episode as she ran down the hot topics in Hollywood.
Today, the chair is “in storage.”
“And the guardian, by the way, the last time I wanted to go to storage she told me no, I won’t be going to storage,” Williams shared. “All of my clothing, all of my sneakers, all of my handbags, everything in storage. And yes, the fabulous purple chair is in storage but when it comes out of storage I am keeping it with me for my life. It will definitely be in my new apartment.”
“The View” interview concludes an eventful week for the radio personality, who tossed a handwritten note begging for help out the window of her New York assisted living facility on Monday.
The message read: “Help! Wendy!!”
At the time, police and law enforcement sources told The Post that they received a call that morning after Williams threw the note from her room. The star was also seen waving her arms while on the phone in front of her window that same day.
She was then transported to Lenox Hill Hospital via ambulance and underwent a psychological examination called a “capacity test.”
According to TMZ, she scored a “10 out of 10,” answering all 10 questions used to determine whether she was alert and oriented correctly.
“The Wendy Williams Show” alum has been living in a memory care unit at the facility while fighting to end her court-ordered guardianship that was put in place in 2022.
She was also diagnosed with aphasia and frontotemporal dementia in 2023. However, in recent months, Williams has been more vocal about what is going on in her life.
After the ordeal on Monday, Williams phoned Rosanna Scotto at “Good Day New York” to talk about the cognitive test.
“I passed with flying colors,” she told the journalist live on air. “I want [to be] independently tested. That’s what I want, and that’s what I got.”
“Look, it’s not that I’m scared to talk,” added Williams. “It’s just under these circumstances, there are certain people that I don’t care to talk to or talk about, you know what I’m saying.”
Williams claimed she is forced to remain on the fifth floor and needs an escort to leave – even if she’s just going to the gym on the third floor.
Scotto inquired if Williams would be willing to have a “sober companion” and a financial advisor if she were allowed to leave the facility.
“As far as a sober companion, I don’t need that,” Williams expressed. “I am not drinking, ever in my life. A financial advisor, I’ve had that. A financial advisor? Of course, of course a financial advisor, somebody to look after my money. Because the money that I have right now is all with my guardian person.”
In January, Williams and her niece, Alex Finnie, originally called into “The Breakfast Club” to address her aunt’s living facility and mental state.
“My life is f–ked up,” she shared. “I feel like I’m in prison. I’m definitely isolated. I keep the door closed, I watch TV, listen to the radio and look out the window. Sit here as my life goes by.”
Williams’ family members have continued to plead for her release.
“She is in great shape mentally and physically,” her brother, Tommy Williams, told Us Weekly on Wednesday. “Let her out.”
