Entertainment
Wendy Williams’ Aphasia and Dementia Diagnosis: What We Know Now
Wendy Williams was diagnosed with aphasia and frontotemporal dementia in 2024. A neurologist has since disputed the dementia finding, and her guardianship fight continues. Continue Reading Wendy Williams’ Aphasia and Dementia Diagnosis: What We Know Now
Wendy Williams’ care team announced in February 2024 that the former talk show host had been diagnosed with primary progressive aphasia and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). More than two years later, that diagnosis is disputed, and Williams is still fighting the court-ordered guardianship that controls her finances and care.
The 2024 announcement
Williams’ medical care team said in a February 2024 news release that she had been diagnosed the previous year, NPR reported. She was 59. The team said it was sharing the news to “correct inaccurate and hurtful rumors about her health.” The announcement came days before Lifetime aired the documentary Where Is Wendy Williams?
What aphasia and FTD are
Primary progressive aphasia gradually erodes the ability to speak, understand, read, or write. FTD is a group of disorders caused by damage to the brain’s frontal and temporal lobes, affecting behavior, personality, and language. It is distinct from Alzheimer’s disease and often strikes younger people. Actor Bruce Willis’s family disclosed his FTD diagnosis in 2023.
A diagnosis now in question
In 2025, a neurologist found that Williams did not have dementia, theGrio reported, overruling the earlier diagnosis. On a 2025 appearance on The View, Williams said, “It’s time for my money and my life to get back to status quo.”
The guardianship fight
Williams has been under a court-ordered guardianship since 2022, after Wells Fargo raised concerns about her ability to manage her affairs. Attorney Sabrina Morrissey serves as her guardian, according to theGrio.
Her lawyer, Joe Tacopina, said in December 2025 that she would be out of guardianship by year’s end. As of August 2026, no end date had been confirmed. Her ex-husband, Kevin Hunter, filed a $250 million lawsuit in 2025 seeking to remove Morrissey; a judge dismissed it in October 2025.
During a rare New York City appearance in August 2026, Williams told a photographer, “I want out!”
Why it matters
Williams hosted The Wendy Williams Show from 2008 until it ended in 2022. Her case has become a reference point in the national debate over guardianships, alongside Britney Spears’, and over who decides when an adult can manage her own life.
Related: Bruce Willis and aphasia: understanding the impact
More from URBT News: Unravelled Aphasia on Stage – A Journalist’s Unexpected Journey of Empathy
Sources: NPR · theGrio, Dec. 9, 2025 · theGrio, Aug. 22, 2026
