Wendy Williams Leaves 'Luxury Prison' After Major Court Decision
Wendy Williams is one step closer to obtaining her freedom after a judge ruled in her favor at a pivotal court hearing.
The 60-year-old former talk show host was previously under restrictive guardianship but has now been moved to a more open environment.
On Monday, in a hearing at the New York State Supreme Court, Judge Lisa Sokoloff said Williams could move from a secured memory care unit to a more independent area of her current senior facility.
Following the hearing, Williams has since confirmed the news. When asked if the emergency petitions had gone her way, she said, "They did, thank you!"
Williams' attorney, Sadatu Salami, filed an emergency petition earlier last week to allow her to move out of her previous housing, which the former television host called a "luxury prison. "
A source connected with the case told The US Sun that her new place would be like a private condo.
"She will have much more freedom to come and go as she pleases, she'll be able to have visitors, and she'll be free to leave when she wants."
Fight For Guardianship Drags On
With Williams conditionally in a better living arrangement, however, her battle towards taking back complete control of her life appears to be long fought. Court hearings over the broader fight to end her guardianship also took place Monday.
"Ultimately, Wendy wants completely out of the arrangement," a source revealed. "There are some tests she'll have to face moving forward to determine just how much freedom she will be given—whether that means she's entirely free from the guardianship or granted less oversight with another legal arrangement."
Williams recently underwent a cognitive test at Mount Sinai, and while it indicated she was "coherent, cognitive, and alert," it didn't show she was incapacitated, Judge Sokoloff said.
She will also receive additional neurological testing to examine her judgment and cognitive processes, as well as her condition of frontotemporal dementia.
The first half of Monday's hearing was attended by Williams' niece, Alex Finnie, who has been part of the legal fight.
Williams has publicly expressed her displeasure with the guardianship, especially regarding financial limitations. Her recent trip to visit her father in Florida, during which her credit card was declined, reignited questions about the extent to which her guardian, Sabrina Morrissey, keeps her money.
"The guardian provided her with a credit card that didn't have any funds on it during her trip to Miami," another source of The Sun claimed. "During her visit to see her father for his birthday, the credit card given to her by Sabrina was declined, and someone else had to pay for her purchases."
Williams' lawyers are now trying to reduce the legal fees for her guardianship case while also negotiating the terms of a possible trial to decide her conservatorship.
