Wendy Williams had ‘alcohol-induced dementia,’ lawyer claims
Wendy Williams Says She Is Not Incapacitated In New Interview
In a pre-taped phone interview with ‘The View,’ the former talk show host addressed her recent hospital visit and independent psych evaluation.
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Wendy Williams‘ attorney says she could be out of her court-appointed conservatorship “by year’s end” because she allegedly does not have frontotemporal dementia and aphasia.
In a Dec. 9 segment on ABC News’ “Nightline,” the talk-show icon’s high-profile attorney Joe Tacopina confirmed that a New York City neurologist who specializes in Alzheimer’s Disease, Dr. Samuel E. Gandy, has evaluated the 61-year-old and disagreed with her 2023 brain disorder diagnosis.
“Williams does not have frontotemporal dementia,” Tacopina said. He later added that Gandy’s assessment should be believed “because he’s the top” expert.
Instead, the attorney claimed, Williams’ faculties were impacted by alcohol addiction.
Wendy Williams may instead have ‘alcohol-induced dementia’
“There’s something called alcohol-induced dementia. That may have been something Wendy was suffering from back in [2023], 24. She was an alcoholic, no question about it,” Tacopina said. “Wendy was drunk almost 24 hours a day. She looked like she needed help. She did need help. She needed alcohol rehabilitation.”
However, Williams now “does not drink alcohol,” he later clarified.
Progressive aphasia is caused by damage to parts of the brain responsible for language, while frontotemporal dementia is the result of “damage to neurons primarily in the in the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain,” according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
Host Byron Pitts then asked Tacopina about People’s reporting in August that Williams’ frontotemporal dementia and aphasia diagnoses were upheld.
“I don’t agree with those results because I’ve not seen those results,” Tacopina replied. “We don’t know who the doctor is; we’ve not seen the report!”
Living in a ‘dump’: Wendy Williams speaks out in rare comments amid guardianship
Wendy Williams’ guardian denies ‘any wrongdoing’
Guardian Sabrina E. Morrisey’s attorney pushed back in a statement to “Nightline,” which read, “Ms. Morrissey emphatically denies any wrongdoing, mismanagement, or self-dealing with regard to Ms. Williams’ guardianship.”
The statement continued, “All of the court-appointed guardian’s activities are regulated and supervised by the court.”
In 2024 legal filings, Morrisey’s lawyers said Williams was “cognitively impaired and permanently incapacitated” months after representatives for the TV personality shared her FTD diagnosis with the public.
Though she has publicly spoken out about feeling like she’s living in a “prison,” Williams has had a few public outings since she was housed at the assisted living facility Coterie in New York City, including for New York Fashion Week.
Her longtime friend, “The View” personality Sunny Hostin, told “Nightline” that “I spoke to her several months ago, and she just sounds like the same Wendy.”
The latest in Wendy Williams’ ex-husband’s battle over her conservatorship
Though details of Williams’ conservatorship case are not public, her ex-husband Kevin Williams Hunter’s June lawsuit over her “improper, legally deficient, and overreaching guardianship” continues in New York federal court. Defendants are due to file their responses to Hunter’s amended complaint in January.
The complaint alleged “unlawful restraint upon Ms. Hunter’s civil liberties and that are a substantial departure from accepted professional judgment, practices and standards” by the defendants, who include Morrissey and Williams’ financial institution Wells Fargo, which originally petitioned for Williams’ guardianship in the New York Supreme Court in 2022.
Williams passed “a competency evaluation in or around March 2025″ and was “described by healthcare professionals as alert and oriented during welfare checks,” Hunter’s complaint said.
If you or someone you know is struggling with mental and/or substance use disorders, you can call the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration‘s free and confidential treatment referral and information service at 1-800-662-HELP (4357). It’s available 24/7 in English and Spanish (TTY: 1-800-487-4889).