Wendy Williams Taken To Hospital From Assisted Living Facility By NYPD After Posting Notes For Help

On Monday, Wendy Williams was taken to a New York City hospital by the New York Police Department following a welfare check. Authorities told People that they escorted Williams out of her assisted living facility and placed her in an ambulance, which transported her to the hospital “for evaluation.”

Prior to the incident, the 60-year-old reportedly dropped a note outside her window, according to The New York Post. The note allegedly read, “Help! Wendy!!” After dropping the note, Williams was seen waving her arms at a New York Post reporter while talking on the phone. She was later seen walking out of the facility with several police officers who helped her into a waiting ambulance.

Williams is set to appear on The View this Friday, marking her first daytime TV appearance since leaving her popular talk show, The Wendy Williams Show, in 2021. Former co-executive producer of Williams’ show, Suzanne Bass, shared news of the upcoming appearance on Instagram, posting a video of herself speaking with Williams on the phone.

“Prepping a very special friend for her appearance @theviewabc to air this Friday. #freewendy,” Bass captioned the post.

It’s unclear whether Williams was scheduled to appear on the ABC talk show in person, virtually, or over the phone.

Since 2022, Williams has been under a court-appointed guardianship that prevents her from managing her finances and medical care. In 2024, a press release announced that Williams had been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia and aphasia in 2023. The release noted that she had chosen her medical team and still had “her trademark sense of humor and is receiving the care she requires to make sure she is protected and that her needs are addressed.”

In addition to the press release, Williams’ court-appointed guardian, Sabrina Morrissey, has claimed that Williams is “cognitively impaired, permanently disabled and legally incapacitated,” People reported.

After years of silence, Williams has spoken out against the guardianship in recent months.

“I am not cognitively impaired, but I feel like I am in prison,” Williams said while appearing on The Breakfast Club via phone call in January. “I’m in this place with people who are in their 90s and their 80s and their 70s. … These people, there’s something wrong with these people here on this floor. I am clearly not.”

She explained that the facility, which she described as a “prison,” restricts visits, locks its elevators, and does not allow her to come and go as she pleases. The 60-year-old also alleged that she is unsure what medication the facility is giving her.

Shortly after her The Breakfast Club interview, Morrissey requested that Williams undergo a “new medical evaluation,” People reported.

Tubi released a documentary about Williams, titled TMZ Presents: Saving Wendy Williams, in February. In it, Williams said she couldn’t remember the last time she had seen a medical professional regarding her 2023 diagnoses.

“[It has been] a long while,” Williams said, adding that she “couldn’t” even estimate a time frame.

The former talk show host also claimed, “I was in Connecticut for a year and I didn’t go see anybody. I’ve been in here for six or seven months, and I haven’t seen anybody.”

Williams shared more about her situation later that same month, telling NewsNation’s Banfield that her freedoms are minimal.

“Well, I don’t have the freedom to do virtually anything,” she said. “As far as where I am, I’m on the fifth floor. They call it ‘the memory unit,’ so it’s for people who don’t remember anything.”

She added, “I’ve met the people who live here, and I’ve been here for almost a year now, and this is very suffocating.”

While at the hospital, TMZ reports: “direct knowledge tell TMZ … Wendy scored 10 out of 10 on a psych exam, called a ‘capacity test.’ She was asked 10 questions to determine if she was alert and oriented, and she answered every one correctly. The results of the test are radically different from the assessment of the guardian, who has filed legal docs saying her condition is getting worse, not better. Wendy was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia, a diagnosis she disputes. She was not examined Monday to determine if she has been misdiagnosed.”