Wendy Williams issues statement on dementia diagnosis, as court rules Lifetime can air doc about her
Despite efforts from Williams' unnamed guardian, Where Is Wendy Williams? will air this weekend
Aux News Dementia
Former talk show host Wendy Williams issued a public statement today (apparently facilitated by her care team), addressing the recent publicizing of her diagnosis with frontotemporal dementia. Williams’ statement, in which she thanked fans for support and asked for “personal space and peace to thrive,” arrives on the same day that a New York appeals court shot down efforts by her unnamed guardian to have a new Lifetime documentary about her life, Where Is Wendy Williams?, blocked from broadcast.
As we noted earlier this week, the situation surrounding Williams—who hosted The Wendy Williams Show from 2008 to 2021, before abruptly disappearing from the public spotlight—is an extremely complicated one. Her family members have expressed they they’ve been unable to initiate contact with her for some time, while the producers of the documentary expressed serious concerns about the conditions the 59-year-old star was living in while under the somewhat mysterious guardianship.
Nevertheless, the statement issued by Williams(?) today was pretty straightforward, addressing her diagnosis, her love for her fans, and not much else:
I want to say I have immense gratitude for the love and kind words I have received after sharing my diagnosis of Aphasia and Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD). Let me say, wow! Your response has been overwhelming. The messages shared with me have touched me, reminding me of the power of unity and the need for compassion. I hope that others with FTD may benefit from my story. I want to also thank the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration for their kind words of support and their extraordinary efforts to raise awareness of FTD I continue to need personal space and peace to thrive. Please just know that your positivity and encouragement are deeply appreciated.
Where Is Wendy Williams? is set to air on Lifetime on Saturday and Sunday nights this week.
7 Comments
Good luck “thriving” with dementia. What a horrible thing to watch happen to a loved one.
This seems like a needlessly cruel thing to say. Can’t she aim to thrive, to the extent she’s able, for as long as she can? That’s basically all any of us are promised.
There is no thriving with dementia. It’s death by unimaginable torture. People talk about Robin Williams having secretly been Pagliacci the sad clown, but he likely had a moment of clarity and took action to end his unnecessary suffering.
I’m sorry that Wendy Williams disappointed you by not releasing a statement that she was going to kill herself.
Thanks for putting words in my mouth!
I’d also like to issue a statement… There’s a new SPR3 music video!!!
I watched about 25 minutes of the first episode. My partner and I just stopped watching it. It seemed so unseemly knowing the real reasons of her issues; while the whole documentary, or at least what I did see, played it off like a big question mark.Being diagnosed with dementia and aphasia is horrible. And seeing what I did of Wendy on screen was really unsettling.