Wendy Williams was seen dining out in New York City on Wednesday evening, just two days after being hospitalized following a welfare check by police. The former talk show host, 60, was accompanied by her niece, Alex Finnie, at Tucci in NoHo before returning to her assisted living facility, where she has been living for several months amid her ongoing conservatorship battle.
Williams' rare public outing followed a dramatic incident on Monday when the New York Police Department responded to a welfare check at Coterie, the assisted living facility where she resides. The visit was prompted by a note reportedly dropped from her window that read "Help," according to The New York Post. Officers transported Williams to a hospital for evaluation, where she later claimed she "passed with flying colors" after undergoing mental competency tests.
"I think it's great news, and it's public, and everybody knows factually that Wendy's not incapacitated," her caretaker, Ginalia Monterrosa, told Good Day New York after the hospital visit. Monterrosa added that medical professionals had determined Williams was not incapacitated, despite a 2023 dementia diagnosis and claims by her court-appointed guardian that she is "cognitively impaired."
Williams has been outspoken about her dissatisfaction with the guardianship arrangement, which was put in place in 2022. "The number one most important thing is getting out of guardianship," she said following her hospital visit. Her niece, Finnie, has also publicly called for her aunt to be given the "freedoms she deserves" and has described her living situation as a "luxury prison."
Williams' court-appointed guardian, Sabrina E. Morrissey, has maintained that the former television host is permanently incapacitated, submitting legal filings in 2024 that claim Williams has suffered cognitive impairment. The conservatorship was initially established after Wells Fargo raised concerns about potential financial exploitation, leading to the freezing of Williams' bank accounts.
In recent months, Williams has increasingly challenged these claims, insisting she is capable of managing her own affairs. During a January appearance on The Breakfast Club, she described feeling trapped and alleged that she was experiencing emotional abuse. "Listen, this system is broken," she said. "For the last three years, I have been caught up in the system."
Despite these assertions, the assisted living facility reportedly filed a police report against Finnie, alleging she violated regulations by taking Williams to dinner. TMZ reported Thursday that the facility viewed Finnie's actions as unlawful, though Williams has countered that "there are no restrictions on her movements and family visitors."
Williams' outing in New York marked one of her few public appearances since the release of the Lifetime documentary Where Is Wendy Williams?, which examined her struggles with health, legal, and financial challenges. The documentary, which aired in February, fueled renewed debate over Williams' guardianship and sparked backlash from her legal team, who accused A+E Networks of exploiting her.
