Former talk show host Wendy Williams told “The Breakfast Club” radio show Thursday morning that she’s not cognitively impaired as her guardian has alleged, saying through tears that she’s being kept in a “luxury prison” with only limited contact with her family.
Williams, who retired from the public eye in 2022, called in to the show to dispute reports about her mental capacity.
“I am not cognitively impaired,” Williams said on the morning show, “but I feel like I am in prison.”
At one point breaking down during the interview, Williams painted a bleak picture of her everyday life.
“I’m in this place where the people are in their 90s and their 80s and their 70s. … I have breakfast, lunch and dinner right here on the bed. I watch TV, I listen to radio, I look out the window, I talk on the phone,” she said.
One of Williams’ nieces, Florida news anchor and reporter Alex Finnie, joined her on the show, agreeing with Williams that the New York site where her aunt is staying is a “luxury prison.”
“She’s there every day, all hours of the day, every week, every month. … I went to New York in October to visit her. And the level of security and the level of questions that there were in terms of, ‘Who am I? Why am I here? What’s the purpose?’ I mean, it was absolutely just horrible,” she said.
“Breakfast Club” host Loren LoRosa, another of Williams’ nieces, matched Finnie’s description of Williams’ living conditions. Both visited Williams and described her living space as a small apartment where she spends most time alone, and where outside visitors cannot enter without permission from her guardian.
NBC News has reached out to Williams’ guardian, Sabrina Morrissey, for comment on Williams’ claims on the radio show.
Williams retired from her TV show in 2022. In February 2024, her team said she was diagnosed the previous year with primary progressive aphasia, a nervous system syndrome that affects the ability to communicate, and frontotemporal dementia, which affects the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain and is usually associated with behavioral and personality changes, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Williams had also been open with her TV audience in the past about her struggles with addiction and Graves’ disease, an autoimmune disorder.
Morrissey had stated in a November court filing in New York that Williams was “cognitively impaired and permanently incapacitated.”
That filing was part of a lawsuit Morrissey filed against A&E Television Networks, Lifetime Entertainment Services and others in connection with the release of the docuseries “Where Is Wendy Williams?” in February.
Morrissey had sued to try and prevent the docuseries’ release, citing exploitation. A&E and Lifetime countersued in November, alleging Morrissey had realized the series included criticism of her guardianship, Variety reported.
A&E had previously told NBC News it looked forward to unsealing documents in Morrissey’s suit, as “they tell a very different story.” The docuseries filmmakers previously told TODAY.com in February they were not aware of Williams’ diagnosis during production, though they said, “Some days, Wendy was on and very Wendy. Other days, she wasn’t.”
The case and countersuit are ongoing in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. An attorney for Morrissey did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request for comment.
Radio host Charlamagne tha God told Williams on Thursday’s radio show, “They said you’re cognitively impaired and you’re incapacitated.”
Williams replied, “Do I seem that way?” to which others on the show gave a resounding “no.”
Williams said the guardianship system is “broken.”
Williams said she wants to be with her son in Miami and became emotional when she discussed how she wants to visit Florida for her father’s 94th birthday next month.
“I don’t know whether I’m allowed to fly to Miami to say happy birthday to my dad,” she said. “I’m exhausted thinking about, ‘What if I can’t see my dad for his birthday?’ You know, at 94, you know, the day after that is not promised.”
Finnie asked that the public keep talking about Williams and her well-being.
“There’s the hashtag #FreeWendy. There’s also that Change.org petition as well. Just making as much noise as possible, GoFundMe, whatever we have to do to make sure that my aunt is in a place where she is living her life in dignity,” Finnie said.
“My aunt sounds great,” Finnie said. “I’ve seen her in a very limited capacity, but I’ve seen her. We’re talking to her. This does not match an incapacitated person.