Throughout her career, Wendy Williams has become one of the most well-known voices in daytime television, eventually establishing herself as a household name. The personality got her start in radio in 1986, sharing bold opinions on just about everything; Williams’ transition to television in 2008 would only cement her star power. The icon’s self-titled show ran for 13 seasons with compromises to the star’s health only becoming noticeable within the last few, such as when Williams unexpectedly passed out on a live show ahead of her final episode in 2022.
Since then, Wendy Williams’ health has become of major interest to the public, especially in those now-rare moments when the 60-year-old has been able to speak for herself. Amid annual holiday festivities, footage of Williams in a wheelchair, lashing out at her caretakers for reportedly “mishandling her departure and leaving her expensive scooter unattended” has been circulating across The Shade Room and other blogs. Controversial as she may be, pop culture enthusiasts continue to express concern about the entertainer, who began speaking about her Graves Disease diagnosis years ago. Here’s everything we know about Williams’ ongoing battle.
Williams Spoke About Her Graves Disease Diagnosis in 2019
On an episode of The Wendy Williams Show that aired in 2019, the host spoke candidly about her battles with substance abuse dating back to her radio days (allegedly full of “drinking and drugging”) as well as her diagnosis of Graves disease. The swelling in her feet that she described as numbing has since been diagnosed as lymphedema, or “tissue swelling caused by an accumulation of protein-rich fluid that’s usually drained through the body’s lymphatic system,” as the Mayo Clinic notes.
After months of speculation, the media legend went on an indefinite hiatus early that year to recover from a shoulder injury and other ongoing issues. While she’s been in and out of the spotlight in the time since, concern regarding Williams’ health battle has only grown among her loved ones and supporters.
Entertainment Icon Is Now Battling Frontotemporal Dementia and Aphasia
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Williams has also, more recently spoken about her diagnosis of frontotemporal dementia and aphasia. Though she was diagnosed in 2023, news didn’t reach the public until early 2024. A four-part Lifetime documentary called Where Is Wendy Williams? was released around that time, addressing questions about her health and current situation. The lymphedema (said to have started at birth), is on full display in the docuseries. Williams can often be seen sitting in her home during interviews without shoes or socks, even describing how she feels less than six percent of her feet. Thankfully, with the help of a home machine, she’s able to deal with the swelling and discomfort.
Simultaneously, Williams is plagued by her frontotemporal dementia, ultimately causing her front and temporal lobes to deteriorate. There’s also aphasia, which the Mayo Clinic describes as a disorder that affects communication, typically the result of a stroke or head injury. This diagnosis and Williams’ behavior led her financial advisors to believe that she was of unsound mind, as NBC News reports. The results? A guardianship under which she still remains.
With the Help of Caretakers and Family, Where Is Wendy Williams Now?
In the past, Wendy Williams has been described as cognitively impaired and permanently incapacitated by her guardian. As a result, the mother of one was staying in a wellness center where her cognitive issues were being managed under professional guidance. In the aforementioned documentary, Williams was asked how she felt under these circumstances; her response was, “in a healing place emotionally.”
As per Today, the TV host’s guardian has shared that she’s pursuing legal action against Lifetime as she believes that Williams was taken advantage of during the filming of the documentary. The embattled figure reportedly earned $82,000 from the project and has since been focused on enjoying life with friends and family. In the viral clip shared on The Shade Room this week, Wendy and her son, Kevin Hunter Jr., were out celebrating his college graduation together. Despite still being under guardianship due to her mental capacity, her son has reported that Wendy Williams is sober and ready to come home.
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