Imagine being a rich & famous talk show host one day, just to become voiceless the next. That’s the story of what happened to Wendy Williams. Williams, who hosted the hit talk show “Wendy” from 2008 until 2022, is no stranger to the public eye—except for when she disappeared from it.
Wendy’s work ethic is one that is overlooked at face value, but one that becomes far more detailed and difficult as you look into it. For the many years that she hosted her talk show, she allowed her health to be pushed to the side. A key example of her declining health happened during a special Halloween-themed live broadcast of her talk show in 2017, when she suddenly passed out while standing on the stage. Crew members quickly rushed onto the stage to assist Williams after she had passed out. The following day, she addresses the public regarding the incident during another episode of her talk show. She stated that the reason she had passed out was due to heat exhaustion, although many people have doubted the legitimacy of her claims—especially as time went on and her health continued to decline.
In the five years between the incident and the show’s cancellation, the public witnessed Wendy’s health and well-being decline, through the lenses of paparazzi—who followed Williams nearly everywhere she went due to her celebrity status. Executives behind Williams’ talk show confirmed upon the show’s cancellation that it was due to health concerns. People who worked for her talk show and the network stated that Williams caused several instances of on-set meltdowns, although not much is known in detail about these meltdowns and not much is known as to the causes of them.
Something else happened in Williams’ personal life towards the end of her talk show’s run, specifically her being placed under a conservatorship in May of 2022. A conservatorship (also known as a guardianship) is when a guardian or protector is put in charge of one’s finances and personal decisions if they are proven to be incapable of making decisions independently. Wendy’s story isn’t the first time that the mainstream has heard about conservatorships and the many problems that typically come along with them. We heard about conservatorships most notably in the case of pop singer Britney Spears, who was in a conservatorship managed by her father from the years of 2007 until 2021.
Conservatorships typically aren’t a major problem, but when someone is put in charge of the assets and decisions of a celebrity, those put in charge can tend to become a bit greedy and start to use the conservatorship to their advantage. The major difference between the two is that in the case of Spears, her conservatorship was managed by a family member, whereas in Williams’ case, her family has openly spoken out against the conservatorship to the media on numerous occasions.
For the past ten months, Williams has been in an unknown healthcare facility for “cognitive issues,” as she was just recently diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia and aphasia. Both of these health conditions are often diagnosed interchangeably, as both of them are disorders of the brain that commonly affect the recollection and mental capabilities of those affected. This shouldn’t come as a surprise, though, as Williams’ health has seen a physically noticeable decline ever since the infamous incident on her talk show in 2017; unfortunately, things have not been looking much better since then.
This hasn’t stopped Williams and her family from coming out and speaking out against the conservatorship that she has been forced into, as family members of Williams have spoken out against her court-appointed conservator, whose identity has been protected by the courts.
One thing is for sure, though—Wendy Williams is far from finished. She has recently announced the release of her new two-part docuseries special “Where Is Wendy Williams?” which will be airing on Lifetime on February 24th and 25th. Included in the new documentary is new footage of Wendy speaking about her entire situation along with many others.
