Wendy Williams didn't know she'd 'have no rights' under legal guardianship, says her healthcare advocate

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Wendy Williams initially wanted to be placed in a guardianship with the courts, but didn't know all her rights would be taken away, her healthcare advocate Ginalisa Monterroso told People.

The 60-year-old has been living under legal guardianship since May 2022, which oversees both her finances and health. She currently lives in a luxury high-rise assisted-living facility in New York to address her cognitive issues and dementia diagnosis, per the outlet.

Wendy Williams initially wanted to be placed in a guardianship

In 2022, Williams' son, Kevin Hunter Jr, and her ex-husband, Kevin Hunter, faced public scrutiny when court filings showed that Wells Fargo froze her accounts after her financial adviser, Lori Schiller, alleged she was of "unsound mind", per People.

In a letter to the court in February 2022, Williams claimed Fargo had "denied her any access, whether online or otherwise, to her financial accounts, assets, and statements" for more than two weeks, People reported.

Notably, Hunter Jr was Williams' power of attorney and took a large sum of money from her account that ultimately raised flags at the bank.

Meanwhile, the bank petitioned a New York court to have Williams first placed under temporary financial guardianship that eventually turned into full guardianship under New York's law, per People.

Furthermore, the court documents mentioned that Fargo had "several million dollars" of Williams' funds in its possession.

The bank said in its filings to the court that it froze the funds because "Wells Fargo has strong reason to believe that Williams is the victim of undue influence and financial exploitation."

Recently, Monterroso claimed that Williams thought that since Wells Fargo flagged the account, and it went through the courts, they would protect her financially, according to People.

Monterroso told the outlet, "She wanted to make sure nobody's in her money and she would be fine. She kind of felt like, 'Hey, I have the court. They're going to sign me a money person. I'm going to be good.' In no way did she think that our whole life was going to be taken away from her."

Interestingly, under Williams' guardianship, she did not have the power to decide where to live, how to spend her money, or have a bank account, per the outlet.

Moreover, she can't vote, marry, or decide on the doctors she would like to use or what friends can visit her at the facility.

Monterroso said, "You have no rights. Somebody in prison has more rights than a person put under a guardianship."

Health care advocate says Wendy Williams 'didn't want her family to be involved'

Monterosso said that as far as Williams' family petitioning to be her guardian in the interim, the former TV host "really didn't want her family to be involved. She didn't want to kind of burden them with anything."

Monterosso added that Williams now feels that she has a voice.

She said, "Wendy feels as if she has a voice and change to get out, so she doesn't have to try to get an alternate plan. She's able to get counsel, everybody's looking at the case — and there's movement. People are listening to her now, so she's confident that she's going to continue to fight."

On January 16, 2025, Williams begged to get her out of her guardianship and return to a normal life, outside the wellness facility in New York City. 

She spoke out about her situation during a rare interview on 'The Breakfast Club'.

She said, "I am not cognitively impaired but I feel like I am in prison. I’m in this place with people who are in their nineties and their eighties and their seventies... These people, there's something wrong with these people here on this floor. I am clearly not."