Wendy Williams’ family is staying supportive of the TV icon as she turned 60 on Thursday despite being “denied contact” with her, according to a new report.
A source told People that those closest to Williams are “rooting” for her as she grapples with her frontotemporal dementia and aphasia diagnoses and remains under a court-ordered guardianship.
“Wendy Williams’ family is unable to speak on her current condition and location due to ongoing litigation and the fact that they have largely been denied contact,” the insider shared.
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“But they are all rooting and praying for Wendy and want to express their well-wishes as she celebrates her 60th birthday.”
The source added, “She was, is and always will be an icon.”
Williams’ guardian, Sabrina Morrissey, didn’t immediately return Pvnew’s request for comment.
The famed shock jock’s sister, Wanda Williams, revealed in February that the family had been kept in the dark about Wendy’s ailments ever since she was placed under the guardianship in April 2022.
“It just appeared that all was cut off at that point,” Wanda told People at the time.
Earlier this year, however, the former talk show host’s team announced in a statement that she had been diagnosed with the same neurodegenerative diseases as Bruce Willis.
Lifetime released its shocking documentary “Where Is Wendy Williams?” in February in which Wendy’s son, Kevin Hunter Jr., revealed her dementia had been alcohol-induced following her years-long battle with addiction.
“[Doctors] basically said that because she was drinking so much, it was starting to affect her headspace and her brain,” he said in the two-part show.
The docuseries showed the former radio host consistently imbibing despite her well-known substance abuse issues, but her former rep Shawn Zanotti dismissed concern, saying Wendy “knows her limits.”
Morrissey later claimed in a legal filing that the documentary “shamelessly exploits” the media personality.
The legal guardian accused Lifetime’s parent company, A+E Networks, of “humiliating” Wendy by filming her “in an obviously disabled state,” which “cruelly implies” that her “disoriented demeanor is due to substance abuse and intoxication.”
“This blatant exploitation of a vulnerable woman with a serious medical condition who is beloved by millions within and outside of the African American community is disgusting, and it cannot be allowed,” read the filing, which previously had been sealed.
“We look forward to the unsealing of our papers as well, as they tell a very different story,” a spokesperson for A+E Networks told Pvnew at the time.
