Wendy Williams admits she relapsed last summer after years of alcohol abuse and drug addiction issues.
The former talk show host made the confession in a pre-taped phone interview that aired during Friday’s episode of “The View.” The appearance came just days after she aced a psych evaluation test amid her guardianship battle.
Host Alyssa Farah Griffin asked Williams how her “relationship” with substances is these days, to which she replied, “Moving forward, the relationship is fine and it’s wonderful because I’ve had my devices, and I have to tell you something, I am easily going on with my life alcohol-free for the rest of my life.”
The “Wendy Williams Show” alum, who has been to rehab several times, then confessed, “But I must admit to you, that when I got from Connecticut to New York, it was my birthday, July 18, and yes, I celebrated, you know what I’m saying?”
She then added the caveat, however, “But no more, no more alcohol, thank you.”
Despite the admission, Williams — who was joined by Ginalisa Monterroso, the founder and president of Connect Care Advisory Group, which helps patients and caregivers navigate benefits — insisted that she did not feel she needed to be in a guardianship anymore and pushed back on “incapacitation” claims.
“How dare they say I have incapacitation. I do not!” she shot back, referencing legal guardian Sabrina E. Morrissey’s allegations.
She added of her guardian and the judge in her case, “I’ve been doing important things all of my life and these two people don’t look like me. They don’t talk like me. They don’t act like me. They will never be me. I need them to get off my neck!”
Williams shared that she was initially in favor of her guardianship as she believed it was meant to “protect” her and her finances. However, now she feels like she was misled.
“I didn’t mind it at that time at all because it’s about my money and keeping my money safe, but at this point in my life, I want to terminate [it],” she said.
The former daytime diva ended the interview by promising the “View” co-hosts that as soon as she could “put on nice clothing” and “see [them] in person” she will.
This was Williams’ first “View” appearance in years. She was last on the ABC show in 2019 to discuss her divorce from Kevin Hunter, her addiction issues and why she temporarily checked into a sober facility.
Friday’s interview was conducted over the telephone as Williams resides in an assisted living facility and is unable to leave the premises without permission from her legal guardian, Morrissey.
It’s unclear whether the ex-radio DJ asked her guardian if she could visit the ABC studios in person for the interview. Reps did not immediately return Page Six’s request for comment.
Williams, 60, was scheduled to appear on the daytime talk show — co-hosted by Whoopi Goldberg, Sara Haines, Joy Behar, Ana Navarro, Sunny Hostin and Griffin — since at least last week.
However, there was speculation about whether the former talk show host would make it on Friday given that she was whisked away in an ambulance after pleading for help from a glass window Monday morning.
Williams held up a handwritten sign for paparazzi that read, “Help! Wendy!!”
Police then arrived at the assisted living facility to perform a wellness check, according to The Post.
She was escorted out of the building by police officers and taken to a nearby hospital, where she was given a mental health evaluation.
In February 2024, Williams was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia and aphasia, and her guardian claimed a few months later that she had become “cognitively impaired and permanently incapacitated.”
However, the former “Wendy Williams Show” host pushed back on those claims in a bombshell phone interview with “The Breakfast Club” in January.
Williams broke down several times during that conversation and said she felt like a prisoner due to the legal restrictions of the guardianship. She said she also felt like a victim of “emotional abuse.”
Since the public outcry, Morrisey requested a new medical exam to determine the host’s most current mental health status. Williams signed an affidavit in February asking to terminate the guardianship.
A judge has not made a decision on that yet and the case is ongoing.
Williams was put in a legal guardianship in 2022 after Wells Fargo froze her accounts due to suspicious activity and said the former host was subject to “undue influence and financial exploitation.”
Read the full article here
