(NewsNation) — Former talk show host Wendy Williams has secured high-profile attorney Joe Tacopina to represent her in her ongoing guardianship battle, a significant development in her nearly three-year legal struggle.
Tacopina, known for representing clients including Alex Rodriguez, Michael Jackson and President Donald Trump, confirmed his involvement with Williams’ case.
“I am representing her. I am her lawyer right now,” Tacopina told NewsNation’s “Banfield” when questioned directly about the rumors.
Wendy Williams’ guardianship
Since May 2022, Williams has been living under a legal guardianship, according to PEOPLE. This guardianship oversees her finances as well as her health. The former host was diagnosed with primary progressive aphasia and frontotemporal dementia.
Williams’ health care advocate, Ginalisa Monterroso, told PEOPLE that Williams had wanted to be placed in a guardianship with the courts. However, she didn’t know her rights would be taken, including having no access to her cell phone or the internet.
Under her guardianship, Williams can no longer:
- Decide where to live
- Decide how to spend her own money
- Have her own bank account
PEOPLE reported that Williams also can’t vote or marry as well as decide what doctors she wants to use or what friends can visit her. To do anything, she must get permission from her guardian, Sabrina Morrissey.
Where is Wendy Williams now?
Williams remains in what she reportedly describes as a “luxury prison” — a tightly controlled assisted-living facility in New York. Since 2022, she has been under the direction of her court-appointed conservator Morrissey.
Williams said her conservatorship feels “suffocating” and compared it to prison. She also suspects that her guardian might be misusing her money. She also claimed that her toiletries are locked away and she has to ask to use them.
“I need out of this,” Williams said. “I have no idea why I’m here. It’s $18,000 a month, which is extremely expensive. And what do I have? I have a bedroom and a bathroom and a window.”
Williams’ family told PEOPLE in 2024 that she can reach out to them, but they cannot call her. The only person who has full access to Williams is Morrissey.
Monterosso claims that Williams “didn’t want her family to be involved. She didn’t want to… burden then with anything,” according to PEOPLE.
Williams continues to say she is not “cognitively impaired” and has been “trapped” in an emotionally abusive conservatorship.
Fans supporting Wendy Williams in ‘Free Wendy’ protests
The announcement comes as fans have mobilized in support of Williams, staging “Free Wendy” protests outside her facility in New York City this week. Demonstrators gathered below Williams’ window, chanting slogans reminiscent of the “Free Britney” movement that helped end Britney Spears’ conservatorship.
Williams was seen acknowledging supporters from her window during the demonstrations.
Neither the terms of Williams’ guardianship nor the identity of her guardian have been publicly disclosed.