The legal team for former talk-show host Wendy Williams announced Tuesday that they expect her long-standing court-ordered guardianship to end before the close of 2025. According to her lawyer, Joe Tacopina, Williams “does not have frontotemporal dementia,” a key diagnosis that had originally justified the guardianship.
Tacopina told ABC’s “Nightline” that “guardianship attorneys … have assured Wendy by year’s end she’ll be out of guardianship.”
Medical Turnaround
Williams was placed under guardianship in 2022 after her bank raised concerns about possible financial exploitation, triggering court intervention.
In 2023 she was diagnosed with Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and aphasia — diagnoses that underpinned the guardianship.
But in late 2025 a neurologist reportedly found no evidence of frontotemporal dementia. That evaluation — and a series of updated neurological tests — now form the basis for the push to end the legal restrictions.
Legal Strategy & What’s Next
Tacopina’s announcement suggests the legal team is preparing papers to formally petition the court to terminate the guardianship.
He also indicated that if the court does not act, they are ready to demand a jury trial — arguing that, based on the new medical evidence, the protective measures are no longer warranted.
What Freedoms Could Return to Williams
If the guardianship is lifted, Williams would presumably regain control over her finances and personal decisions — regaining autonomy after more than three years under court-appointed oversight.
Her case will likely draw renewed attention, not only because of her former prominence but also because it raises larger questions about how dementia diagnoses and guardianships are used — and whether they can be reversed when circumstances change.
