Former television personality Wendy Williams was transported from her New York assisted living facility by ambulance on Monday following a wellness check by police. The wellness check was prompted by a handwritten note thrown from the window of her fifth-floor room, which read, “Help! Wendy!!” The incident occurred around 11:15 a.m., according to law enforcement sources.
Williams, 60, has been diagnosed with dementia and has been residing in the facility’s memory ward. She has been battling to end her court-ordered guardianship. After the note was thrown, Williams was seen at her window, waving her arms and speaking on the phone. Shortly after, she was escorted from the facility by police and assisted into an ambulance.
This incident comes on the heels of news that Williams was set to make a return to television for the first time since her health issues began. She was scheduled to appear on ABC’s “The View” on Friday, marking her first daytime appearance since taking a leave of absence from her own show, “The Wendy Williams Show,” four years ago.
The news of her upcoming appearance was shared by Suzanne Bass, the former co-executive producer of Williams’ show, in an Instagram post on Sunday. The post included a video of Bass speaking to Williams on the phone, with the caption, “Prepping a very special friend for her appearance @theviewabc to air this Friday. #freewendy.”
It remains unclear whether Williams’ appearance on “The View” was to be in person or over the phone. Williams, who has been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia and aphasia, has been in a public fight to end her guardianship since 2022.
Her guardian, Sabrina Morrissey, has previously stated that Williams has become cognitively impaired, permanently disabled, and incapacitated due to her battle with dementia. However, Williams has maintained that she is mentally sound. In a recent phone interview with TMZ, she claimed that she is being held in a “prison” and is not allowed to leave of her own free will.
Despite these challenges, Williams seemed to make some progress in her guardianship battle last month. Morrissey informed a judge that she would be open to having Williams undergo a new medical evaluation in light of Williams’ claims that she does not have dementia.