Wendy Williams Seen in Public For the First Time Since Dementia Diagnosis, Legal Woes

There’s been a Wendy Williams sighting! For the first time since Lifetime aired the controversial four-part docuseries Where Is Wendy Williams?, the former queen of hot topics was photographed alongside her only child, her son Kevin Hunter Jr. Williams and Hunter Jr. visited a holistic wellness store in New Jersey on Aug. 19. They were seen in a photo posted to the Instagram account of  African Bio Mineral Cell Food, with Williams wearing a long wig, a navy blouse, and white boots. It’s the first sighting in six months. 

Earlier this year, ahead of the docuseries airing, her healthcare team shared with the public that she’d been diagnosed with primary progressive aphasia and frontotemporal dementia, which is a series of neurological syndromes that impact speech and cognitive functions. The confirmation came after months of speculation that her mental and physical health were on the decline.

In the docuseries, however, Hunter Jr. said that his mother’s doctor informed him that she was dealing with alcohol-induced dementia. Over the course of episodes, fans watched as Williams appeared disoriented and inebriated. In one scene, her then-publicist, Shawn Zanotti, asked Williams if she wanted to attend the Oscars. Williams replied asking what the famous award show is. In another scene, she called her brother Tommy her son’s name. 

In part four of the docuseries, Williams’ sister, Wanda, and niece, Alex, explained that under her court-ordered conservatorship, they were unable to contact Williams unless she reached out to them. They’d pleaded with the court to allow a family member to have control over her health, citing that when Williams lived in Florida for a year near family and followed a strict vegan diet with no access to drugs or alcohol, she made progress. She also suffers from Graves disease and lymphodema.

Williams’ public decline has been well-documented. After over a year hiatus from her talk show, her show was canceled and she was replaced by Sherri Shepherd. Sources say her marital trouble which ended in divorce, coupled with the impact of COVID-19 and losing her show sent her down a spiral.