Lawyer for Wendy Williams’ Guardian Slams Media Coverage, Judge’s Alleged Emails Revealed

With Wendy Williams’ guardianship under fire in the press, TMZ has a new statement from her guardian’s lawyer — and an irate email allegedly written by guardianship Judge Lisa Sokoloff.

An attorney for guardian Sabrina Morrissey sent a letter to TMZ branding much of the recent media coverage about Wendy’s guardianship as "untrue, inaccurate, incomplete, or misleading."

Williams, 60, was previously diagnosed with primary progressive aphasia and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and moved to an assisted living facility. She has insisted she is not cognitively impaired and has been fighting the court-ordered guardianship.

The letter from Morrissey’s lawyer points out that a judge created the guardianship, not Morrissey, and that Wendy’s previous attempt to terminate the guardianship was denied. The lawyer states that Wendy can try again, which TMZ says the former talk show host is in the process of doing.

As for Williams’ living conditions in a memory care unit, the lawyer says she’s getting "excellent medical care" and has access to a "spa, a workout room, excellent food, a dining room, and outside terraces." 

Wendy, however, has stated in the past that she can’t leave the fifth floor without permission.

The lawyer adds that she can call her family and see them whenever she wants, adding that she just traveled to Florida twice.

In interviews, Wendy has told a different story. Williams has claimed she can’t receive calls from others and is typically not allowed to have visitors. TMZ was told that a judge denied her recent request to visit her dad in Florida for his birthday, but the decision was reversed after the release of the TMZ doc “Saving Wendy.”

While the letter acknowledges Wendy’s FTD diagnosis, it does not mention that she has denied the diagnosis and was recently taken to a hospital and given a “capacity test,” which she passed.  Now, the test results will be sent to the guardianship judge and could determine if the TV personality was misdiagnosed.

Meanwhile, there has been some question about how much money the guardian has received. Morrissey’s lawyer stated she has "received one payment of less than $30,000 for services rendered. Since 2022, the guardian has worked without pay. Only the Court will determine how much and when Ms. Morrissey is paid for her services rendered."

The lawyer goes on to insist, "False statements about Ms. Williams, her condition, and the Guardianship harm Ms. Williams and her interests, and undermine protection created by the Court for her health and welfare."

In addition, TMZ has emails from Judge Sokoloff to Wendy’s lawyer that reference moving the star to a more restricted facility. The judge allegedly wrote, "I have always contended that [Wendy] will be given the independence she can handle. I question how well she has handled the independence she has been given."

In another email, which appears to reference Wendy speaking out to the media, Sokoloff adds, "Tell your client that if she wants a jury she should refrain from trying to poison the jury pool."

Sources tell the site that Williams is worried she will lose even more freedoms. "This is pure retaliation for Wendy speaking up for herself to get out of an abusive guardianship,” the insiders said.

TMZ previously reported that the NYPD and Adult Protective Services are also looking into Wendy’s living situation.

Wendy was slated to appear on “The View” on Friday, but it is unclear now if that will happen. "Extra" spoke with Whoopi Goldberg at the opening up Planet Hollywood in NYC. She told us of Wendy being on the show, "I don’t know, but now I really want to call somebody and say, 'When is it happening? Is it happening?'"

Whoopi added that she has known Williams "forever," and said of reading about her in the news, "I try not to because until I see somebody, until I know, I don’t like to read, I don’t like to hear what people think is going on."

Last month, during an interview with TMZ’s Harvey Levin, Williams could be seen through a fifth-floor window as she spoke with Harvey over the phone from her room. She called her life “isolated.”

He asked her, “Are you allowed to go out?” and Wendy told him, “No. I am not allowed to go out,” adding, “I can call you, but you can’t call me.” She added her friends were not allowed to visit.

Williams told him, “In the last 30 days, I went out twice, for my teeth.” 

Harvey told her, “I gotta say, even people who are in prison for murder get an hour a day outside, and you've only been outside in fresh air twice in the last 30 days?”

She said, “Yes, yes, yes, yes.”

Wendy, who does not have access to the internet, later insisted, “This system has failed from top to bottom regarding this guardianship and everybody involved with that. The system’s failed. I want my freedom back — how about that!”

“Extra’s” Billy Bush spoke with Harvey about Wendy, and he shared, “My take is Wendy Williams is back to who she was.”

As for why she hasn’t been able to take control of the situation, Levin said, “She isn't because everything is stacked against her right now. She's dealing with a judge, a guardian, that have basically said, ‘You can't have visitors, nobody can call you, you can't have any internet.’ She is isolated, and at a point you surrender to that. Although she isn't now; she wants out of this thing.”

He also addressed her finances, saying, “I got to tell you, yes, she should have somebody handling her finances, and she agrees with that, so that nobody can take money from her… but that doesn't mean you lock somebody up.”

For more, watch "TMZ Presents: Saving Wendy" on Tubi.