The tragic decline of former talk show host Wendy Williams has taken a disturbing turn, as court documents reveal her ongoing battle with severe dementia and exploitation concerns surrounding a Lifetime documentary about her life. At the heart of this legal storm is Sabrina Morrissey, Williamsâ court-appointed guardian, who accuses Lifetime and its affiliates of taking advantage of Williamsâ vulnerability for profit.
In a November 12 filing obtained by *The New York Post*, Morrisseyâs attorneys described the 60-year-old media icon as âcognitively impaired, permanently disabled, and incapacitated.â Williams, once a towering figure in daytime television, is now under a court-ordered guardianship due to her diagnosis of primary aggressive aphasia and frontotemporal dementia, the same debilitating condition afflicting actor Bruce Willis.
Morrisseyâs ire is focused on Lifetimeâs documentary, *Where Is Wendy Williams?*, which premiered in February. She contends that the production preyed on Williamsâ declining health, manipulating her to provoke emotional reactions and capture humiliating footage. In her lawsuit, Morrissey argued that Lifetime and its associated entitiesâincluding A&E Television Networks, EOne Productions, and executive producer Mark Fordââcruelly took advantageâ of Williams at her most vulnerable.
The guardianship team is now pushing for key elements of Williamsâ personal and financial details in the case to be redacted, citing the importance of protecting her privacy as she navigates her health challenges.
However, the defendants are firing back. They claim Williams provided her consent and active participation in the documentary before her dementia diagnosis and the establishment of her guardianship. They further accused Morrissey of attempting to shift blame for her own alleged failure to safeguard Williams.
The legal proceedings, which are expected to span two to four weeks in federal court, have drawn significant attentionânot only for the troubling allegations but also for the broader issues they raise about celebrity culture and the mediaâs treatment of public figures in decline.
Before the documentary aired, Williamsâ family disclosed that she was living in a care facility and could only contact loved ones on her own initiative. Her transition from the spotlight to relative isolation has been heartbreaking for many longtime fans.
The former host of *The Wendy Williams Show* (2008â2022) has endured a litany of health challenges in recent years, including Gravesâ disease, lymphedema, and struggles with substance abuse. Her dementia diagnosis has compounded these difficulties, leaving her unable to advocate for herself in the face of media scrutiny.