Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - FEARS FOR WENDY WILLIAMS, CLAIMS HAS ONLY $2 IN BIZARRE VIDEO

Episode Date: February 12, 2025

Wendy Williams, the former talk show host known for her catch phrase, “How you doin’?”, has been under a court-ordered guardianship since 2022 after being diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia and aphasia. However, the star is disputing both her diagnoses and need for a guardian. Williams calls her life a prison and accuses her guardian of emotional abuse.   After a successful trial run of The Wendy Williams Show, the talk show is broadcast internationally and garners 2.4 million daily viewers. Williams trades off with Ellen DeGeneres as the number one female daytime television host for years. The daily show runs for 12 years straight while Williams starts her own reality TV production company with her manager, and husband Kevin Hunter. Williams’ heath issues become apparent in the later years of The Wendy Williams Show. Williams has always been open about her cocaine addiction in the 80’s and 90’s which she overcame with no treatment. The host also diagnosed with Graves’ disease, which causes hyperthyroidism. In 2017, Williams passes out during a taping of the show, and in the following years fills months of several seasons with guest hosts due to struggles with her health issues.    In 2019, after 20 years of marriage, Wendy Williams files for divorce from her manager and husband, Kevin Hunter, after discovering he fathered a child with another woman. Williams does not take the betrayal well and begins drinking heavily. Just before the divorce, Williams reveals she’s been in rehab for some time. During the treatment, Williams is diagnosed with alcohol-induced brain damage. By 2021, doctors say Williams, 57, has alcohol-induced dementia.   January 2022, Williams’ bank freezes her accounts after documenting a “pattern of unusual and disturbing” financial events. Wells Fargo requests a New York Supreme Court hearing to determine if Williams is in need of a guardian. A judge determines Williams’ is incapable of making informed decisions and appoints a temporary financial guardian, Sabrina Morrissey. Williams attempts to return to work in late November with plans to release a podcast, but the show never airs and by March 2023, Williams virtually disappears from the public. Williams is now asking for the guardianship to end.  Joining Nancy Grace today  Elizabeth J. McInturff  - Attorney specializing in Guardianship Issues / Partner at Selzer Gurvitch,   www.selzergurvitch.com; LinkedIn @elizabethmcinturff; Facebook @elizabeth.mcinturff.12 Dr. John Delatorre -  Licensed psychologist and mediator, specializing in forensic psychology, psychological consultant to Project Absentis: a non profit organization that searches for missing persons, resolutionfcs.com, Twitter, IG, and TikTok: @drjohndelatorre Tom Ruskin - Private Investigator, President of the CMP Protective and Investigative Group, Inc., Former New York City Police Detective Investigator, cmp-group.com, @tomruskin Dr. Dennis C. Doherty - Addiction Specialist; Founder and Medical Director of Right Relief Health; specializing in Anesthesiology, Pain Management, Hospice and Palliative Medicine; website: rightreliefhealth.com; Facebook @RightReliefHealth; James Vituscka  - Senior US Showbiz Reporter at DailyMail.com; Twitter and Instagram @james_vituscka  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I Heart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Fears for superstar Wendy Williams as she claims she has only two dollars to her name in a bizarre video. Is she living like a prisoner under a highly restrictive guardianship? I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us. Talk show host and media personality Wendy Williams wrapped up in a controversial conservatorship denying her dementia diagnosis amidst a legal battle.

Legal battle. Legal battle. That puts it very mildly. Claims that she is living like a prisoner in a highly restrictive guardianship with only $2 to her name. As a matter of fact, let's hear from the horse's mouth. I know what kind of money I have. Unfortunately, I only have $2. $2 to her name. That is from Fat Joe's Insta. Now, what is happening with Wendy? Listen. I am not cognitively impaired. You know what I'm saying? No. But I feel like I am in prison.

I'm in this place where the people are in their 90s and their 80s. Wendy Williams, the former talk show host known for her catchphrase, how you doing, has been under a court-ordered guardianship since 2022 after being diagnosed with frontal temporal dementia and aphasia. However, the star is disputing both her diagnosis and a need for a guardian. Williams calls her life a prison and accuses her guardian of emotional abuse. What is happening with Wendy Williams? Is she suffering from a mental illness, dementia? Or is she caught like a prisoner, trapped in a highly restrictive conservatorship where people are just trying to make money off Wendy Williams. Joining me in All-Star Panel to make sense of what we know tonight,

you were just hearing from our friends at The Breakfast Club on Power 105.1 when Wendy called in straight out to a special guest joining us. It's James Vituska. He is joining us as a senior U.S. showbiz reporter at DailyMail.com. James, you have been in touch with not only Wendy herself, but her son. First of all, explain to me what is being alleged about her mental state. I know Wendy. She has invited me onto her show many, many times. And I find this very hard to believe. You know, Nancy, what's being alleged is that, you know, she's incapable of caring for herself.

And she's you know, she's she's not medically able to to to just kind of live her life as you know, on her own, you know, under her own terms. And, you know, actually, I spoke to I spoke to Wendy in October. And this is, you know, prior to, you know, you know, a lot of the reporters that have spoke to her. And I was instantly surprised at how normal she sounded. You know, during our conversation, it was about 20, 30 minutes long. And she was very coherent. She remembered things that, you know, from her past and specific details. We talked about ditties.

She remembered exact locations. And it didn't seem any different than the Wendy that, you know, that we're used to seeing're used to seeing on, on, on TV, you know, she sounded a little bit sad, you know, but she, you know, she was, she has all the right to be. And, you know, and during the time and, you know, during her conversation, you know, she even gave a, you know, how you doing, you know, so it was, it was really shocking to see, you know, all of the, the, what kind of came about after that November, you know, with all these people speaking out about her dementia and everything like that, because I just didn't get that impression. I'm not a doctor, you know, but but from our conversation for about 20, 30 minutes, I was like, she sounds so normal. You know, and I told my editor this was like, are we sure this is she's very sure this is Wendy.

I'm like, no, it's Wendy. And her voice stick out anywhere. So, yeah, it was. OK, that's really odd, James, because I had the very same experience the last time Wendy kindly invited me onto her program. As a matter of fact, predating that, Wendy invited me on her program to announce this, crime stories. I went on and announced it, that it was happening, and that we were launching it with Wendy. Right. So, and then the last time I was with her, I had the very same experience that you're talking about completely lucid. I don't know. I'm just having a hard time, but we're lay people. What do we know? You're a Hollywood reporter. I'm a trial lawyer. We're not doctors, but we can see, right? Watch this. Costume contest. We do it every year.

It's always a lot of fun. Let's get started. Our first caress. Williams' health issues become apparent in the later years of the Wendy Williams Show. Williams has always been open about her cocaine addiction in the 80s and 90s, which she overcame with no treatment. The host also diagnosed with Graves' disease, which causes hyperthyroidism. In 2017, Williams passes out during a taping of the show and in the following years fills months of several seasons with guest host due to struggles with her health issues. You were earlier seeing a clip from the official Wendy Williams show. Joining me, as I said, an all-star panel, in addition to James Vituska from Daily Mail,

I want to go now to Dr. John Delatore, renowned psychologist, mediator specializing in forensic psychology. Dr. Delatore, if she is not mentally impaired, and that's probably the wrong phraseology for it, then somebody's in a whole heap of trouble. Okay. This is bringing back all of the memories of the free Britney movement and whether you like watching her twirl around naked on Insta or not, her life choices that many people may not approve of. I don't care one way or the other, about her life choices does not mean that she is mentally incapacitated and needs a conservator. Just because you don't like

what she does, that means nothing. Okay. Only a shrink, not the church lady is set to make that decision. Same thing here. But I've got an issue, Dr. John Delatore. All we know about is Graves' disease combined with past drug use and saying cocaine. Well, that is kind of euphemistic. It was crack, crack. Wendy was a crack addict and look how she overcame it and what she became. I mean, a superstar in the talk industry. So how can graves, which I don't believe affects your mental ability and a long ago addiction equal this draconian conservatorship? The first thing that any kind of mental health professional is going to be doing when they're asked to conduct a guardianship evaluation is a medical examination where we're looking at whether or not someone is gravely disabled meaning that they can't care for

themselves at all due to some mental disease or defect or they're persistently or acutely disabled meaning that their mental disease or defect kind of impairs them when it's, you know, floridly an issue, but not necessarily their entire life that with enough treatment, they can care for themselves. The problem that we run into. I don't know what you just said. That was a lot of no offense, psychobabble. Please speak regular English. How can Graves disease, which does not affect you, your mental capacity to my understanding, and a long ago crack habit land you in a conservatorship?

Because we hear her speaking. You just heard James Vituska state he has been speaking with her recently and she's extremely lucid. Right. But we're not speaking with her every single day. It's certainly possible that there are times in which she is better off than in other times. It's often called sundowning, where individuals who are experiencing high levels of dementia are perfectly capable of interacting well enough to overcome the deficits in Graves disease, along with hyperthyroidism, can in fact impair cognitive abilities, which can impair personality functioning. There are these different kinds of neurological conditions.

Wait, wait, wait. Affect personality functioning. That, okay. Again, I'm not a shrink. You are. Personality functioning. Okay. Does that mean she can't get up and take a bath and put her clothes on?

Maybe. If she's hungry, walk in the kitchen and open a can. What is personality functioning? What does that mean? It can sometimes turn an individual more aggressive than they have been from before. Maybe they're more high risk, meaning that they engage in more problematic behaviors than they had from before. The frontal lobe is the part that controls kind of the higher order functioning. It's what separates us from other animals. Dr. Delatore,

nothing you are saying makes me think she can't take care of herself. If she's more aggressive, people on her show would probably like that even more. Speaking of the issue, I want you to see just a clip from Lifetimes. Where is Wendy Williams? The boss is walking, everybody. Nobody can do it like Wendy. No one. People love Wendy. You are stars. She was in her living room every single day for 12 years. Yep, I guess that'll do it. And that's what people responded to, her authenticity. And then at the peak of her career, she was gone.

Again, that's from our friends at Lifetime in their special Where Is Wendy Williams. I'm asking the same question. While many are turning their backs on Wendy and pretending this isn't happening, it's happening. And if this can happen to Wendy, you don't think it can happen to you? I was at a big, a giant symposium and was approached by about 20 people, middle-aged, it looked like moms and dads, and they were all dressed up in business clothing to meet me, to ask me something, to ask for help. All of their parents had been put in draconian, harsh conservatorships against the will of the parents and the children.

And they wanted help to get the parents out. And guess what? It worked. We are not turning our back on Wendy, but I need to know what's really happening. Listen. They said you're cognitively impaired and you're incapacitated

do i seem that way no you've been calling me five times a day for the last two weeks no you don't seem that way january 2022 williams bank freezes her accounts after documenting a pattern of unusual and disturbing financial events wells Wells Fargo requests a New York Supreme Court hearing to determine if Williams is in need of a guardian. A judge determines Williams is incapable of making informed decisions and appoints a temporary financial guardian, Sabrina Morrissey. Williams attempts to return to work in late November with plans to release a podcast, but the show never airs, and by March 2023, Williams virtually disappears from the public. That earlier clip was from our friends at Breakfast Club, Power 105.1.

Now joining me, an expert in this field, Elizabeth McInturff. She is a veteran lawyer specializing in guardianship issues, and she is a partner at Gerzer Silvich. Elizabeth, thank you for joining us. While we can make our own layperson civilian observations, I've talked to Wendy. James Vituska has talked to Wendy much more recently than myself, and she's totally lucid. So how is it that a bank, I mean, I'm sure banks don't like a lot of decisions their clients make over spending, going into their credit line, going bankrupt, blah, blah, blah, it goes on and on and on. Gambling, fiscal irresponsibility. So I'm sure the bank doesn't like that. But how does a bank walk in and say, I want to have a hearing and get

her committed? How does that happen, Elizabeth? That's not quite what the bank did. The bank noticed that there is a safety concern regarding Ms. Williams and her accounts. I think in particular there was some unusual spending. And oftentimes banks are kind of a first line of defense when somebody is being exploited financially. You think of the scammers that we get online, the emails that we're answering, phone calls they're picking up. Is there the ones who are seeing mom and dad come in and withdrawing their entire life savings?

So that's what they have at least alleged they saw here. They then petitioned the court to review whether or not Ms. Williams needed a temporary guardianship. They did not ask for her to be committed, is my understanding, but for the court to kind of undertake the process to see if there was a safety protocol needed for Miss Williams, including a temporary or permanent guardian. And the court ultimately found that she did. Okay, let me understand something, Elizabeth. Wells Fargo swoops in when they say that they see, and I have no reason to doubt what they're saying, unusual spending.

What constitutes unusual spending to the point that they freeze your accounts and ask for a judge to put you in a conservatorship? Which they said is temporary, but it's been a long time. So it often depends on the circumstances. And in this case, they certainly knew Ms. Williams very well. They historically knew her spending and how and who had access to her account. My understanding is in this situation, this was kind of a far cry from how things were typically done in our more kind of relatable, your and my everyday life situation. And it might be again, because mom or dad or a neighbor is going in and with wrong money orders to send abroad.

Those are the type of things that raise red flags on a financial institution that may cause them under guidelines to freeze an account or to ask the court to step in and intervene. Why is Wendy Williams being kept a prisoner, her words, not mine, in an extremely draconian or harsh conservatorship now claiming she, quote, lives like a prisoner and has only two dollars to her name left of her immense fortune that she earned and squirreled away. Can one pivotal incident trigger a breakdown that lands you in a conservatorship? That has been alleged about superstar Britney Spears. Listen. She was rushed to the hospital. Police say she was under the influence. The drama occurred after a three-hour standoff over custody of Spears' children. Brittany's supposed to turn boys over to ex-husband Kevin Federline, but Federline eventually calls police.

Brittany's seen outside the gates of her home two and a half hours after police first showed up. That incident with SWAT teams and helicopters hovering over overhead, Brittany and her bathtub clutching her two little boys, not wanting to give them up. Did that trigger a series of events that lands her in a multi-year conservatorship? Now, what could have triggered problems for Wendy Williams? Can I say the husband? Listen. 2019, after 20 years of marriage, Wendy Williams files for divorce from her manager and husband, Kevin Hunter, after discovering he fathered a child with another woman. Williams does not take the betrayal well and begins drinking heavily. Just before the divorce, Williams reveals she's been in rehab for some time. During the treatment, Williams is diagnosed with alcohol-induced brain damage. By 2021,

doctors say Williams, 57, has alcohol-induced dementia. What are they just throwing everything in the pot and seeing what boils over? We're hearing graves. We are hearing a prior addiction to crack many, many years ago. And now this, um, can it all be true? Where is this coming from? Can one pivotal incident trigger a multi year conservatorship where you have no control over your finances or your own life to James Vituska joining us, DailyMail.com, the husband. Can we start with that? Kevin Hunter, who seemed to attach himself to the Wendy Williams show as what some sort of a producer. Then he had basically is living close to full time, but part time with his mistress a few miles away from Wendy's home. Does he actually have his name on the mailbox so you can drive by and see it?

From what I hear, you know, he actually did it at the time, you know, when when when those allegations were made. I don't know if he still does. I haven't driven by there myself. But, you know, a lot of it, a lot of it can be placed on, you know, he he he, he kind of bled her dry in a way, you know, he was, he was working on the show with her. He was an executive producer role, but he had his fingers kind of in, in all of her money, you know? So it's kind of interesting when, you know, she knew that he was having an affair. Everybody knew that he was having an affair. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. You know, it's one thing for your husband to cheat. It's another thing to just put it all out there because you know what? A lot of times it's easier for people to live with rose colored glasses, right?

Yeah. Maybe she didn't want to fully confront. Her husband was slung up with somebody else. Maybe she didn't want to admit that. But when he puts the name on the mailbox and has a baby with the mistress, and then I believe somebody outed it and it made all the headlines, she had to confront it. Do you remember that spectacle? I do. Yeah, no, absolutely. I absolutely do. And I feel like there's a difference between, you know, confronting an affair and, you know, and suffering from a severe mental illness.

I don't necessarily believe that she was anyone who would be in that. James, are you a shrink? Do you have your psychiatric degree? Did you go to medical school and then specialize in psychiatry? No. Did you? Did not. No, you didn't.

Neither did I. So let's go to a shrink. Dr. John Delatore, can a single pivotal moment like the SWAT team breaking down your door, helicopters hovering overhead when you don't want to give your children back, when you want to keep your babies, or when you are forced to confront on a public forum that your husband has been cheating for years and actually has given birth and slung up at the mistress's house, choosing her over you. All right.

When he was her love object for many, many years, her rock, her husband. I mean, that's huge. And it seemed to trigger a series of events that have now landed her in this conservatorship. Yeah, I think so. Can it be the impetus? It absolutely can. And can it compel someone to start drinking alcohol excessively? Yes. Then the other problem that we have is her long term history of crack cocaine abuse, which already Swiss cheeses the brain. Now, all of this other stuff and her being in a conservatorship for years upon end, that's the problem with the program itself.

That's the problem with conservatorship and guardianship is there no mechanism to eject if what you're really dealing with is trauma and grief and other kinds of addiction issues that once the person gets the appropriate treatment, they can actually get out of. That's what Wendy Williams is challenging is the ejection part, the escape. How can she escape?

All this other stuff is certainly possible to get you there, but escaping is Wendy Williams' biggest issue. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Thank you. How is a prior addiction? And she admitted she had gone to a sober house more recently. The crack cocaine addiction was long ago. But more recently, she admitted she was in a sober house after this turn of events with her husband, such as he was in a sober house and had started drinking again. That was the admission. How can alcohol or a prior drug addiction, and crack cocaine is very powerful, but it was years ago, how does that affect your permanent mental health or does it? Right now we're looking at a different paradigm in how we address substance use disorders.

And the treatments to date haven't really addressed the real issues. For instance, you know that there'll be a contextual trauma or a precipitating event that might make somebody who's at risk during recovery to drink. And not many years ago, you know, you were sent to your AA prison back to the beginning or in the 1950s, hung on a hook at Bellevue ER to be bettered. But the fact is that the very techniques that were used, they don't do anything that's helpful to allow the brain to change. So shaming, guilting, and particularly isolating someone is insane scientifically. Guys, is she truly in the throes of dementia?

Or did this whole thing get started because the bank feared those people closest to her were bleeding her dry of all her money. Is that a reason to keep her in prison? Her words, not mine. Take a listen to our friends at Lifetime. As her family, we were all sitting on the sidelines watching and she was crying out for help. Did you drink this whole thing today? Keep it there. Okay. Keep it there. She has people around who are yes people and allowing this to continue. This is all too much. Go!

Drive! I have no idea where we are. This doesn't look like anything familiar. I think she's losing memory. Have you guys noticed that? How dare him? I control men. From Lifetime's Where is Wendy Williams?

After her show's cancellation and a shocking dementia diagnosis, in 2024, talk show host Wendy Williams fights for freedom from a conservatorship. It's very hard for many of us to believe that Wendy Williams is so incapacitated that she can't make any of her own decisions and has no access to her own business affairs? Or is Elizabeth McInturff correct that Wells Fargo believes those closest to Wendy are bleeding her dry and she is helpless to stop them for whatever reason? Look at this from Lifetime. My mom has done a great job making it seem like everything is okay, always. Wendy, make sure you look here.

One, two, three. But in reality, there's something wrong going on. Did you see a neurologist? To find out if I'm crazy? Mm-hmm. Oh, my God. No, I can't do this. I can't do this. I have to sit down again. She was put in front of a judge and given a guardian.

That was when they took her away from us. Hmm. That for my friends at Lifetime, it's their new doc, Where is Wendy Williams? In the last days, those around Wendy and Wendy herself speaking out about the way she is living. Listen. At the care facility her guardian has placed her in, Williams does not have any of her personal belongings or electronics. Williams has a phone but can only make calls. She cannot receive them. Williams cannot leave her room without a staff member unlocking the door, much less make a trip

to the store. Not that she has any of her own money to spend anyway. Williams is not allowed to travel to her family and visits must be pre-approved. Family members are fearful Williams could be moved to a new facility without their knowledge. This is amazing. How is that, if it's to be believed, happening to Wendy Williams? You know, I remember vividly the Free Britney movement. No one seems to be speaking out for Wendy Williams. To James Vituska joining us, senior showbiz reporter at DailyMail.com, are those living conditions that we just heard?

Is that true? Well, you know, actually, I had a conversation with a family who I'm in constant contact with Wendy's, you know, direct family, her, you know, her son and also other family members. And actually, you know, what I found is, you know, what they said recently is interesting. And it's not that they don't believe that, you know, Wendy, you know, that she needs no care, like they're open to, you know, her possibly, you know, you know, seeking, you know, care, but they want it to be in Florida, they want her to be around the family. They don't want her to be isolated in New York. And, you

know, they're open to having her, you know, take evaluations and even, you know, undergo if she needs, you know, some, some basically, you know, help on the side, you know, they want to be the ones to do it. And I think that's, you know, I think that's a fair request, you know, that, that, that she's being given. Okay. I don't know what you're saying. You're telling me the family wants to oversee her rehab? The family wants her to move in. The family wants her to be in Florida. That's basically the whole thing right now is that, you know, if she needs, you know, care, she needs some help on the side or whatever, you know, they're willing to, you know, to do it. But, you know, they can't do it

if, you know, they're all in Florida and she's in New York, you know, they want her to be there so that they can, you know, have her close. And that's what she wants, too. That's all she wants. James, regarding where she is now, you have spoken to her very recently. She has no personal belongings or electronics. She has a phone but can only make calls, not receive. She cannot leave her room without a staff member unlocking the door.

Is this true? I mean, when I spoke to her in October, I called her and she picked up the phone. I don't know if it was a cell phone or a house phone, but she did pick up the phone. And she told me she was making breakfast. So I'm not sure exactly all those specifics, but I do know that I'm sure she's restricted on many things, as she says. But as far as electronics go, she picked up and hello. Interesting. Tom Ruskin joining us, renowned private investigator and president of CMP, Protective and Investigative Group, for my purposes, former New York City police

detective investigator. Tom, thank you for being with us. Now, who are we supposed to trust? The facility holding her under those draconian, very harsh conditions, if they are to be believed or her family. And seemingly Wells Fargo was concerned that the family was bleeding her dry, that they were actually hurting her. Many people claim the same thing about Britney Spears' father. Listen. Britney Spears' father, Jamie, is back in the headlines, this time suggesting the pop superstar has dementia. Fans have disputed the explosive claim, saying it couldn't be possible that Spears had dementia while releasing four albums, as well as putting on high-energy global tours in over 250 Las Vegas shows. Yeah, I don't get that either. How could

she do all that, Tom Ruskin, but have dementia? No, I mean, I'm not a shrink, but it just doesn't make sense to me. And in this case, if Wendy can talk to James Vituska, James Vituska on the phone, can give interviews outlining the conditions of her guardianship, how can she do that and have such horrible dementia? She can't live alone, that she has to be in a facility. How do you ferret that out, Tom? How do you find the truth as an investigator? You systematically go out, you can conduct surveillances, you do interviews, and you try and determine what the facts are. We're a finder of the facts. And then we turn it over either to the court or to an attorney like Elizabeth or a law

firm that we're working for or the family and basically reveal what we find. This is a very complicated case because you don't know to believe the bank. You don't know to believe the family. And from what you're learning from the reporter, she sounded normal and capable of handling her own affairs. Clarence. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Guys, at a certain point, Britney Spears demanded to be heard by the court. Listen.

Britney Spears wants to address the judge in her conservatorship case. During today's hearing, Spears' court-appointed attorney said that the pop star wants to address the judge in court. He did not say what the 39-year-old singer wants to say, and the judge did not say if she would grant the request. To Elizabeth J. McIntyre, joining us, high-profile lawyer specializing in guardianship issues. Elizabeth, why can't Wendy Williams have a hearing like the one Britney Spears demanded and got? That is actually what her attorneys are moving to do right now, is they are moving to have a termination hearing to have the court review current records and what has gone on in the guardianship, including her own health and whether or not she still needs to be under a guardianship. Elizabeth McInturff, you just went into DEFCON 4, Warp Speed 10. Could you

rephrase that in regular people talk? Sure. So Ms. Williams clearly does not want to be under a guardianship anymore and does not feel that she needs to be under one medically or otherwise. She has asked her attorneys to file a petition with the court to terminate her guardianship. And that's what they're doing. So Ms. Williams and her attorneys are going to go before the court and put on their evidence and say, these are the reasons why this guardianship is no longer or not needed. And you should release me from it or maybe even modify it so that there's some least restrictive means that can be employed here.

And by least restrictive means we mean, so maybe she has access to some accounts or the phone, if she is really being kept from it. Guys, take a listen to our friend Harvey Levin at TMZ. Feels like you're screaming for help. Are you allowed to go out? No. In the last 30 days, I went out twice. This sounds more like a prison than independence. I want my rights back. I want my freedom back. TMZ presents Saving Wendy, now streaming on Tubi. That's from our friend Harvey Levin, Saving Wendy.

Are they keeping her safe or keeping her quiet? TV host Wendy Williams fights back against claims she's incapacitated in a conservatorship struggle as her guardian agrees to a new medical evaluation. What conservator would try to disallow Wendy from seeing her father on his 94th birthday? Listen. Wendy, your dad is turning 94 in February and he's up there in age.

And I know you want to go to Miami to see him and celebrate his birthday because you don't know how many more there are going to be. Right, exactly. That must be important for you. It's extremely important. It's extremely important to see my dad for his birthday, you know, and that is a family thing. It's not just a me thing, you know. I would wish that along with celebrating my dad's 94th birthday, that we as a family, we come together in peace and harmony.

That's what I wish for my dad. That is breaking my heart. She clearly is lucid. That, again, is from our friend Harvey Levin at TMZ, saving Wendy on Tubi. Okay, Dr. John Delatore, should I believe that conservator or my lion eyes? Because she was extremely lucid. Yeah,? Because she was extremely lucid.

Yeah, no, she seemed extremely lucid. That's why it's important to have one of these independent evaluators take a look at all of these other underlying issues. There's a whole lot of nuance that goes into conducting these guardianship evaluations that sometimes someone can be appropriate, but other times they're not appropriate, which means that maybe they don't need a full guardian. Dr. Delatore, I don't like it when people start talking about women behaving inappropriately. Okay. I don't think that's the right word. She may be as inappropriate as she wants to, but the issue is, is she mentally ill? Can she not control her business, her finances? And according to Tom Ruskin, who's a pro at this, are people around her facilitating her illness in order to get to her money? That's the question. Can she fend that off? Um, and the irony, Wendy Williams

led the charge to quote free Britney. Listen, I'm part of the army now. Free Britney. Leave Britney alone. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm there. I'm there. I'm there. How dare you? I don't like the mother. I don't like the father. Jamie Lynn, where were you to help your sister out? I don't like you. I don't like any of them. Nope. None of them. Fire everybody and escape now, Brittany. She ain't afraid to tell it. That's from the official Wendy Williams show. The irony that she was trying to help free Brittany, which she did. And now no one is freeing Wendy. And she goes on. Listen, how dare you, Mr. Spears? You had me fooled. And you too,

Mrs. Spears, death to all of them. That from the official Wendy Williams show. and she was not afraid to call out family members and more that she believed were keeping Britney Spears in a horrible conservatorship. Whether you like what Britney's doing now or not, that is her decision to make. And she called out other people too. Listen. Lucy, stop it. Denial is a river in Egypt. Your husband is gay. Okay, she said that. That's from the Wendy Williams experience. Now listen to her calling it out

on the Wendy Williams show. Ricardo Tucci, you know, Kanye's special friend. He's a very good friend of Kanye's. I didn't say a word, cause Kanye was probably in the corner talking about, yes, yes, yes, hunty. Oh, girl, yes. Mm-hmm. That's from the official Wendy Williams show.

She would be having a field day right now with Kanye and Bianca Censori. Don't you know it? And more. Because fortunately, one of the TVs in our kitchen has closed captioning, so I'll be able to understand what she says. She, she, she, you know, Beyonce can't talk. You all, Beyonce sounds like she's got a fifth grade education. She can't talk. Wendy Williams at it again.

That's from the official Wendy Williams show. Those are just examples of her being fearless and saying whatever she thought and calling people on the rug, calling them out when she sensed something was off. But you know what? Nobody seems to be doing that for Wendy. As far as you stand with drug use, is there drug use going on at this present time? Who are you talking to? To you, Whitney. You're not talking to me. Don't talk to me about that. I was a full blown cocaine addict. I'm not mine. Move on. Well, seems like Wendy had it right. She was speaking with Whitney Houston and confronting her about her cocaine, alleged cocaine issue, and fully admits her own battle with drugs, even admitting on many times, including on NPR, that battle was with crack cocaine, which she defeated. That was Wendy Williams speaking to Whitney Houston on WBLSFM.

This woman at the top of the pinnacle. Listen. After a successful trial run of The Wendy Williams Show, the talk show is broadcast internationally and garners 2.4 million daily viewers. Williams trades off with Ellen DeGeneres as the number one female daytime television host for years. The daily show runs for 12 years straight, while Williams starts her own reality TV production company with her manager and husband, Kevin Hunter. To Tom Ruskin joining us, a renowned private investigator, president of CMP, Protective and Investigative Group, former NYPD detective. Tom, how do we get to the bottom of this? Going in front of the same judge that put her in the conservatorship to start with. We're going to need more than that to free Wendy, if that is, in fact, what is appropriate.

And I believe that it is. How do you prove either she is mentally competent or that she was being victimized by people for her money? We'd have to conduct a very detailed, complex investigation. But what you're showing, the Harvey Levin tape of him interviewing her with a camera on the window, she seemed very coherent there. And let me tell you something, as a police officer, as a former police officer, I saw very high stress situations like what you described happened at Britney Spears' house.

Helicopters overhead, cops at the ready. The person who's either acting out that day is high stress. You have to bring it down. As a police officer, you bring those situations down. So for Wendy Williams to be acting out at certain times is not someone who is disturbed, we call an EDP, emotionally disturbed person. It's just someone who's acting out rationally at an irrational time. To Sydney Sumner joining us from CrimeOnline.com, how long has Wendy been in a conservatorship? Nancy, we're coming up on three

years. She was put under this guardianship in March of 2022. Morrissey was confirmed as her guardian in May of 2022. So we're coming up on three years where Wendy has not been allowed to have any agency over her own life. Seeing, you know, just like Tom Ruskin, private investigator, said, that video of Harvey speaking to her, and she could only speak to him through a glass window. She looked desperate, but lucid. Free Wendy Williams. We remember now an American hero, police officer Jeremy Labonte, Roswell PD, Georgia, just 24, shot and killed in the line of duty. Survived by grieving

wife, now widow, Alyssa. American hero, police officer, Jeremy Labonte. Nancy Grace signing off. Goodbye, friend. This is an iHeart Podcast.