Though Wendy Williams has been relatively quiet and out of the headlines for the past several months, the latest update regarding her health has brought her back into the limelight...but in a rather sad capacity.
In a new statement from her official court-appointed guardian Sabrina Morrissey, obtained by PEOPLE, she alleges that the pop culture icon “has become cognitively impaired, permanently disabled, and incapacitated” due to her dementia.
If this news comes as a complete shock to you—you’re not alone. It’s no secret that Williams has been battling ongoing health issues thanks to her 2023 diagnosis of primary progressive aphasia and frontotemporal dementia and previous diagnoses of Grave’s Disease and Lyphedema just two years prior. That, in and of itself, surprised many and led them to wonder just how someone as young as the former eponymous daytime talk show host could be dealing with something of this magnitude.
Answers have been slim with some doctors noting that the cause of developing dementia at her age (late 50s at the time of diagnoses) can be brought on by a myriad of complex causes such as alcoholism, drug addiction and depression. All of the aforementioned issues are similar to the ones Williams has admitted to getting help with before. But to go from having dementia to being “permanently incapacitated” in this short amount of time is truly puzzling and sad, especially when Williams was allegedly still cognitive enough “to do many things for herself,” according to what her medical team told PEOPLE in Feb. of this year.
What’s more is that the unfortunate news about Williams’ health comes as the ongoing legal battle between Morrissey and A&E Network—over the controversial docuseries “Where is Wendy Williams?” released earlier this year—continues. In addition to the health revelation, Morrissey also alleged in court documents filed on Tuesday that Williams showed signs of some level of cognitive impairment, and was apparently filmed without Morrissey’s consent.
“This case arises from the brutally calculated, deliberate actions of powerful and cravenly opportunistic media companies working together with a producer to knowingly exploit [Williams],” the documents read in part, per PEOPLE.