In the last few decades, outspoken and confrontational Wendy Williams has been a defining voice in popular culture, with clips and gifs of her talk show The Wendy Williams Show popping up on every social media site. However, that all changed when Williams was placed under guardianship. The queen of hot topics and her family have fought for her voice to be heard. Unlike Britney Spears, who made headlines with the #FreeBritney movement, Williams has not received the same attention as Spears. Racial bias, stigma around age, and being isolated have made it so that Williams does not have the same traction as Spears. There are a lot of similarities between Williams and Spears’ situation with conservators, but the differences are what has stood in the way of getting Williams the help she needs.
Williams recently called into popular morning radio show The Breakfast Club to discuss her conservatorship and explain how poorly she is treated. The person in charge of Williams’ life is a woman named Sabrina Morrissey, who has made several attempts to stop information about Williams’ situation from coming out, including attempting to sue to stop the Lifetime documentary Where is Wendy Williams? from airing. Morrissey and the others brought onto Williams’ team claimed she was diagnosed with aphasia and dementia, two problems that would make it difficult to sound coherent. However, when Williams called onto Charlamagne tha God’s radio show, she and her niece Alex Finnie insisted that Williams was not impaired. The radio show was not the first time that Williams’ had seemed cognitive and coherent since Morrissey and the team announced dementia and aphasia diagnosis.
Racial Bias Is Making It Hard For Wendy Williams’ Situation to Gain Traction
There is implicit racial bias involved with the attention Spears got versus Williams. Spears found mainstream success as a young blond white woman, so when she could ask for help, there was no shortage of people who believed her story. Despite Spears’ prior breakdowns and shocking behavior, people stood with her. With Williams, however, fewer people are speaking on her behalf, and because of her history as outspoken and controversial, she does not have as many people on her side. This is not the first time a black celebrity has gone unnoticed while stuck in an abusive conservatorship. NFL star Michael Oher was under a conservatorship for years by his adopted family, and no one noticed or cared. The movie The Blind Side starring Sandra Bullock was made about Oher’s life, which centered on the mother figure and painted the parents as saints when in fact, he alleges they were actually taking millions from him.
The court appoints the type of conservatorship that Williams is under, and the law has never been good at avoiding racial bias. The courts not only took away Williams’ autonomy but did not give her family power. Instead, the courts appointed a third party, Sabrina Morrissey. In Britney Spears’ case, her father, Jamie Spears, was given guardianship despite having ill intentions and mishandling her finances. The court trusted he had her well-being in mind. However, the courts mistrusted a black family who, as shown in the last few years, is very active and loving towards Williams. Instead, the court handed all power to a white woman and a stranger, who took her money while letting Wendy Williams go untreated and neglected.
Wendy Williams’ Age and Medical Issues Are a Factor
Another reason that Wendy Williams may not be getting coverage like Britney Spears is because of age and medical diagnosis. Spears was only 27 when she was placed under a conservatorship and was released at 40. On the other hand, Williams was placed under guardianship at 58. A stigma around age contributes to Williams not being trusted about her own mind. While people do lose independence as they age, Williams was forced into retirement very early. Williams’ age plays a factor in why her conservatorship is being overlooked more, but another reason stems from public medical issues. Williams made headlines when she fainted on air. Since then, her alleged medical problems prevented her from continuing the taping of The Wendy Williams Show. Since being placed in a facility, Morrissey and her team have claimed that Williams has aphasia and dementia, two problems that would make it hard to sound coherent and lucid. The alleged diagnosis of dementia caused Williams’ words to lose a lot of credibility. However, Williams’ actions are not consistent with someone who is incapacitated and cognitively impaired. These medical issues, coupled with Williams’ age, are part of why people believe that the conservatorship is for her good, therefore losing the attention Williams may have gained.
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Another Wendy Williams Docuseries May Be In the Works
The controversial ‘Where Is Wendy Williams?’ docuseries reportedly has additional parts coming.
The Conservatorship Has Control Over Most of Williams’ Communication
The racial bias and stigma about age are significant reasons why Wendy Williams is not gaining the same attention as Britney Spears, but another big reason is social media. Social media presence began Spears climb out from under her father’s grasp. On the other hand, Williams does not have a social media presence or the ability to communicate easily. Williams has been taken almost entirely out of the spotlight. She cannot reach out often for help due to the limits imposed by the conservatorship. Williams is not able to have visitors or go out to visit family herself very often, which has stopped her from seeing her ailing 95-year-old father. Williams can only call people on the phone; they cannot call her, so she resorted to calling into a radio show. The isolation, while similar to Spears, differs because of social media. Spears had ample social media presence, and fans quickly recognized that things were not right because of it. Similarly, many people have been discussing how William sounds coherent and lucid after the radio show. The fact that fans could pick up problems with how Williams is portrayed versus how she is is precisely why the conservatorship is keeping her from contacting others.
Even if Williams needs someone to care for her, that responsibility should go to the family members actively trying to take care of her and fighting to free her from the conservatorship. Britney Spears became front and center in the discussion about conservatorships, which sped up her release, but Williams has not received the same attention as the pop star. Racial bias and age play a significant role in how Williams is perceived. Morrissey has also been able to weaponize a dementia diagnosis to discredit Williams’ words successfully. The conservatorship has attempted to suppress Williams’ voice, so no one would hear the pain she is in, but Williams continues to find ways to speak up. There are many contributing factors to why Britney Spears gained a movement while Wendy Williams has had a more challenging time gaining media traction, like age, race, medical issues, and social media presence.
Where Is Wendy Williams can be streamed on Philo.
Cameras follow Wendy Williams’ attempt at a career comeback after her hit show’s sudden cancellation as she confronts health and personal issues.
