Amid news Wendy Williams claims she passed a mental competency test, Dailymail.com is taking a closer look at the embattled talk show host’s legal guardian, Sabrina Morrissey.
Williams, 60, said on Good Day New York on Tuesday that she was cleared from an assisted living facility after passing a series of mental competency tests ‘with flying colors.’
Morrisey fell into controversy earlier this year when fans of Williams, 60, took to social media to condemn what they felt to be ultra-restrictive living conditions she imposed on the TV star amid her health battle.
Fans of the talk show host used the hashtag #FreeWendy in a move comparable to past efforts when pop star Britney Spears was in a controversial conservatorship.
In a January chat on The Breakfast Club, Williams told radio personalities DJ Envy, Charlamagne Tha God and Jess Hilarious that she had been the victim of ’emotional abuse’ and had been ‘trapped’ in a New York City medical facility.
In the radio appearance, Williams denied she was ‘cognitively impaired’ and claimed Morrissey confiscated her phone and left her with only $15. Her niece Alex Finnie supported her on the call.
Morrissey has overseen the guardianship Williams has been living under since 2022. Dailymail.com has reached out to Morrissey for further comment on Monday’s events surrounding Williams.
Amid news Wendy Williams was transported by ambulance to a New York City hospital Monday morning, Dailymail.com is taking a closer look at the embattled talk show host’s legal guardian, Sabrina Morrissey
Williams, 60, who is battling dementia while residing at an assisted living facility, was taken to a medical facility at around 11:15 a.m on Monday
Morrisey statement
Morrissey sent Dailymail.com’s legal team an expansive statement in which she said that media coverage of the guardianship is ‘untrue, inaccurate, incomplete, or misleading.’
Morrissey in her statement said that ‘consistent with general practice in New York, guardianship proceedings are kept confidential to this case.’
The letter read, ‘Recently, however, the Court determined that misinformation circulating in the media is harmful to Ms. Williams interests and the Guardianship.’
The statement read that ‘contrary to many media reports, Ms. Morrissey, as guardian, did not declare Wendy Williams to be legally incapacitated’ as no guardian has that power.
The statement read that ‘contrary to many media reports, Ms. Morrissey, as guardian, did not declare Wendy Williams to be legally incapacitated’ as no guardian has that power.
Lawyers for Morrisey said that ‘the decision to declare a person legally incapacitated rests solely with the Court’ which the Supreme Court of New York County did toward Williams in August 2024, declaring her ‘to be legally incapacitated.’
‘Passionate about representing elderly clients and protecting them from fraud and abuse, Sabrina appears regularly on their behalf in the New York state courts, helping them to obtain appropriate support in the home, safeguard their assets, and plan for the future.’
Williams pictured in February of 2023 in NYC, the year her team says she was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia and aphasia
Morrisey background
According to a bio on her website, ‘Morrissey’s primary focus is estate planning, administration, and litigation, and guardianships.
Morrissey has past been the president of the New York Women’s Bar Association and on the group’s Board of Directors and the co-chair of its committees for Elder Law and Disabilities; and Solo and Small Firms.
‘Sabrina has worked as General Counsel for a mid-size international staffing firm, gaining invaluable expertise in company formation and operation,’ her bio reads. ‘She developed policies and procedures for the hiring and training of staff around the world, and advised the officers and directors on business decisions on a daily basis. ‘
Williams’ frontotemporal dementia and aphasia diagnosis was announced in February 22, 2024 by her medical team.
Williams’ team at the time said that Williams had been diagnosed the prior year, and that the ailment ‘presented significant hurdles in Wendy’s life.’
Said Williams’ team: ‘Wendy is still able to do many things for herself … most importantly she maintains her trademark sense of humor and is receiving the care she requires to make sure she is protected and that her needs are addressed.’
Morrissey has said that amid her health woes, the one-time daytime TV staple has ‘become cognitively impaired, permanently disabled, and incapacitated.’
Morrissey has said that amid her health woes, the one-time daytime TV staple has ‘become cognitively impaired, permanently disabled, and incapacitated’
Williams pictured in better times, as she got a Hollywood Walk Of Fame star in 2019
Williams who is residing at an assisted living facility, was taken to a medical facility at around 11:15 a.m. Monday following a medical check, law enforcement sources told the New York Post.
The veteran media personality, who has been staying in the memory ward of the facility, had penned a note that read ‘Help! Wendy!!’ and tossed it out a window from her room on the facility’s fifth floor, according to the newspaper.
Williams was subsequently seen ‘waving her arms at a Post reporter while speaking on the phone,’ the newspaper reported.
Williams, who is attempting to scuttle a guardianship ordered on her by a New York City court, was later pictured heading to an ambulance with the aid of police officers.
Monday’s medical visit for Williams coincided with a timeframe in which she was planning a reemergence into the limelight, as she had been slated to appear Friday on The View on ABC.
‘Prepping a very special friend for her appearance @theviewabc to air this Friday … #freewendy,’ an Instagram post from Williams former co-executive producer Suzanne Bass read Sunday.
Bass has been critical of the guardianship overseen by Morrissey, calling the arrangement ‘horrible’ and ‘terrifying.’
Friday’s planned outing would mark the first time the talk show host has been on a daytime show since she departed her program, The Wendy Williams Show, in 2021.
It was not immediately clear if the appearance would continue amid Williams’ medical issues Monday, or what platform the appearance would be conducted in, either in person or virtual.
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