Wendy Williams has been living under guardianship since May 2022. At that time, the courts appointed Sabrina Morrissey, a non-family member, as the TV host’s guardian. In recent months, though, Williams and her relatives have been advocating for her release from the restrictive arrangement. Their efforts have sparked the #FreeWendy movement. Now, The Shade Room has an exclusive look at the letter that led to the guardianship.
RELATED: Wendy Williams Claps Back After Living Facility Files Police Report Against Her Niece Over “Kidnapping” Claims
Here’s What Wendy Williams’ Guardianship Letter Says
Sources close to Wendy Williams shared a letter that allegedly played a key role in locking the host into her current situation. On January 20, 2022, Wendy’s psychiatrist, Rami Kaminski, wrote a letter to her financial advisor, Lori Schiller, which was then submitted to her bank, Wells Fargo. That same month, the bank froze her funds and began pushing for a temporary financial guardianship. By May 2022, the court sided with the bank and approved the arrangement, escalating it to full guardianship.
Meanwhile, the alleged letter from January is exactly two sentences long, and neither of them addresses the TV host by her full name.
Stay Connected
Subscribe to updates from The Shade Room
“Ms. Williams has been my patient for over a year now. Over the last six months, she has been unable to make reasoned decisions, and her insight and judgment are severely impaired,” the letter states.
Swipe below to see a copy of the letter mentioned.
Source Claims Guardianship Was A “Premeditated” Group Effort
A source close to the situation tells The Shade Room that this letter was instrumental in getting the guardianship approved. Additionally, the source claims that the document reflects a “premeditated” effort to undermine Wendy Williams’ independence.
“These two sentences from a doctor shouldn’t be enough to take away someone’s rights. This document should never have been shared with a financial advisor or a bank,” the source added.
Furthermore, the source believes the guardian, Sabrina Morrissey, was pre-selected and not part of a list of court-appointed guardians. TSR was also told that Wendy’s attempts to fire her then-financial advisor, Lori, and then-manager, Bernie Young, led to manipulation with the threat of guardianship. Ultimately, the source thinks Lori and Bernie schemed the guardianship plan together and noted Young’s arrest for fraudulent use of Wendy’s coins!
For context, in March 2022, Wendy blasted Bernie Young for allegedly using her credit cards to pay attorney fees. She hired him in 2019 after dropping her ex-husband, Kevin Hunter, from the manager role.
“I know for a fact that Bernie Young used my American Express card to hire an attorney to file a petition against me,” Williams said at the time. “That was done with my American Express card. Bernie Young, you’re no good.”
Yahoo Entertainment confirmed that a review of documents showed two credit card charges in Janaury 2022. This reportedly happened before Wells Fargo froze her accounts. The first charge was reportedly for $10,000 and went to a New York law firm specializing in health care law. The second payment reportedly went to the psychiatrist who wrote the letter to Wendy’s financial advisor.
Advocate Says Wendy Initially Asked For Guardianship
In March, PEOPLE published a report citing Wendy Williams’ healthcare advocate, who explained that Wendy initially requested the guardianship. Ginalisa Monterroso told the outlet that the TV host wanted the arrangement but wasn’t aware of all its limitations. She simply wanted her finances protected from misuse by her ex-husband, son, or any other parties. Now, she has no access to a cell phone or the Internet. She also can’t decide where to live or how to use her funds. Williams can’t vote, marry, select her doctors, receive any visitors she wants, or travel out of state. All of that, and more, requires the approval of Sabrina Morrissey or a judge.
“She wanted to make sure nobody’s in her money, and she would be fine,” Monterroso said. “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.”
Monterroso added, “You have no rights. Somebody in prison has more rights than a person put under a guardianship.” Though no date has been set, Wendy has floated the idea of taking the matter to trial. She’s hoping a jury can determine whether the guardianship should continue. Williams has reportedly hired famous celeb lawyer Joe Tacopina for the gig.
In Janaury, Wendy Williams called into ‘The Breakfast Club’ to chat about the guardianship and her living arrangements. She denied being permanently incapacitated, a comment her guardian made in November. Additionally, Wendy said the facility she lives in feels like a “prison.” Her room consists of her bed, a chair, a bathroom, one window, and a TV she asked her guardian to buy.
