The former daytime television queen who once commanded a media empire worth $40 million now finds herself confined to a 360-square-foot studio apartment, her finances completely controlled by a court-appointed guardian.
Expensive ‘Dump’
Wendy Williams, the sharp-tongued host who built her career dissecting celebrity gossip, has become the subject of her own unfolding drama — one that raises serious questions about guardianship, financial control, and the steep cost of losing autonomy.
Williams resides at Coterie, a high-end assisted living facility in New York’s Hudson Yards, where monthly rent for her memory care unit reaches $25,800. The revelation came as a shock to Williams herself when she read about it in a recent New York Magazine profile, the New York Post reports. According to the newspaper’s purported sources close to the situation, she had believed her rent was $18,000. The discovery has left her furious and deeply concerned about her financial situation, particularly since she currently has no income and receives only $200 to $300 monthly as an allowance from her guardian, according to The Cut.
“She believes Sabrina is draining her money. She doesn’t even know how much she’s worth,” a source told Page Six, referring to Williams’ court-appointed guardian, Sabrina Morrissey.
The television personality’s frustrations extend beyond rent. Her estate also covers guardianship lawyer fees, Morrissey’s compensation, and legal retainer costs of $10,000 monthly.
In a candid phone interview with The Cut from her locked memory care floor, Williams didn’t mince words about her living conditions.
“Did you see the people? The elderly people? Why do I want to look at that? This is a f—-d-up situation. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve asked that I be moved from this floor,” she said.
The facility itself presents a study in contrasts. While Coterie’s lobby features fresh lilies, marble floors, and a tiered crystal waterfall chandelier, Williams describes it to friends as a “luxury dump.”
Her friend Max Tucci, owner of upscale Italian eatery Tucci in New York, confirmed her characterization to The Cut.
“This is, like, where billionaires send their grandmothers. But, you know, she doesn’t need it. Wendy doesn’t lie,” he shared.
Williams has been fighting her guardianship since its establishment in 2022, following Wells Fargo’s decision to freeze her accounts after her financial adviser claimed she was of “unsound mind.” The television host contests the dementia diagnosis that prompted these actions.
Adding fuel to her concerns are allegations posted on her Instagram account in April claiming $60,000 was withdrawn from her American Express accounts without her knowledge to pay psychiatrist Dr. Rami Kaminski — the same doctor who would later question her mental capacity. The posts detail six transactions of $10,000 each between November 2021 and January 2022, with the final payment processed just six days before Kaminski wrote a 32-word letter declaring Williams unable to make reasoned decisions.
Earlier this year, in January, Williams made a heartbreaking call to “The Breakfast Club” radio show, revealing a stark financial reality.
“I am not cognitively impaired, but I feel like I am in prison,” she said through tears. “I have $15. I have $15. What does that do? My money is in prison.”
She described her days as a blur of television, radio, and staring out the window while life passes her by. Even buying makeup or a hairbrush requires approval, with someone else sending staff to Sephora on her behalf. Her niece, Alex Finnie, launched a GoFundMe in January seeking $50,000 to help Williams fight her guardianship and move closer to family in Florida. The campaign raised over $24,000 from about 1,000 donors to cover legal costs, court fees, expert witnesses, and possibly a visit to her 94-year-old father.
Around that time, Williams said she had only $15; now she reportedly receives a $200 to $300 monthly allowance of her reputed $5 million net worth — a modest sum for a woman who once flaunted a purse collection worth more than some people’s homes.
For someone who built a career on power and independence, her current situation is a heartbreaking loss of freedom, autonomy, and dignity.
