Wendy Williams used a rare public appearance in New York City to deliver another unmistakable message about the court-ordered guardianship that has controlled major parts of her life since 2022.
The former daytime host was photographed walking through Manhattan on Aug. 19 with shopping bags and a male companion when a photographer asked what she wanted fans to know about what she was going through. "I want out!" Williams replied, according to Page Six.
The outing was Williams' first widely reported public sighting in approximately six months, following her appearance at her father Thomas Williams' funeral near Miami in February. Photos from the New York outing showed the 62-year-old walking outside before entering a building.
Her three-word response came amid an ongoing legal fight over an arrangement she has repeatedly said she wants terminated. Williams has disputed claims about her capacity while her medical history and competing evaluations have become central to the debate over whether the guardianship should continue.
Williams gave a much fuller explanation of her position during a March 2025 appearance on The View, joining the hosts by phone alongside advocate Ginalisa Monterroso. She rejected the characterization that she was incapacitated and said she wanted control over her affairs returned to her.
During the interview, Williams specifically said she did not want attorney Sabrina E. Morrissey to remain her guardian and ultimately did not believe she needed a guardian at all. She described her goal as returning her money and her life to "status quo."
That appearance was part of a broader period in which Williams increasingly spoke publicly about the restrictions surrounding her life. In March 2025, she also told Page Six, "I deserve freedom, darling," as her representatives pursued additional medical evaluation and legal options.
Williams' care team announced in February 2024 that she had been diagnosed the previous year with primary progressive aphasia and frontotemporal dementia. In August 2025, PEOPLE reported that a comprehensive medical evaluation involving neurological and neuropsychological testing had reaffirmed those diagnoses.
A different account emerged three months later. TMZ reported, citing sources with direct knowledge, that another neurologist who examined Williams concluded she did not have frontotemporal dementia and provided those findings to her legal team. The underlying medical records themselves have not been made public in full.
One major court dispute involving Williams did reach a resolution this summer, but it was not the guardianship case itself. In July, Morrissey settled her lawsuit against A&E Television Networks and other companies connected to the 2024 Lifetime documentary Where Is Wendy Williams?. TMZ reported that court filings showed the parties had resolved the issues in that litigation and moved to end the case.
Morrissey had originally sued in an attempt to stop the documentary's release and later sought damages, arguing that Williams was dealing with serious medical issues when it was filmed. The settlement closed that dispute with A&E, but it did not terminate Morrissey's role as Williams' court-appointed guardian.
Williams has been under court supervision since May 2022 after Wells Fargo raised concerns that she could be vulnerable to financial exploitation and sought court involvement over access to her accounts. Morrissey was subsequently appointed to oversee Williams' affairs.
The arrangement has since expanded into years of disputes involving Williams' health, finances, living conditions and ability to make decisions independently. Her ex-husband Kevin Hunter also attempted to challenge the system through a $250 million federal lawsuit in 2025, but that case was dismissed later that year.