(NewsNation) — Wendy Williams and her ex-husband, Kevin Hunter, filed a lawsuit to end her guardianship Tuesday.
The $250 million lawsuit was filed in New York by Williams and Hunter, the 52-year-old who was married to the talk show host until 2020. The lawsuit claims the guardianship “has become a weapon, not a shield.”
The suit is against Sabrina Morrissey, who was appointed as Williams’ legal guardian by a judge in New York. It is also against Wells Fargo, financial adviser Lori Schiller and former manager Bernie Young.
Williams’ married name is used in the lawsuit, which states, “Ms. Hunter [is] being abused, neglected, and defrauded under the care of court-appointed guardians… The guardianship… serves no therapeutic purpose, no protective function. It is punishment—pure and simple.”
It is argued Williams is “being confined against her will at one of Coterie’s assisted living facilities with restricted access to her own phone and meaningful contact with her friends and family.”
Wendy Williams goes into voluntary guardianship
In 2022, Williams voluntarily entered a guardianship after her accounts at Wells Fargo were frozen. The bank also sent a letter to the court, recommending that Williams be placed under guardianship.
Hunter claims that Williams can make her own decisions, but her guardians are ignoring advice from doctors and keeping her in “fraudulent bondage.” Williams has been diagnosed with Graves’ disease, progressive aphasia and frontal temporal dementia.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – FEBRUARY 21: Wendy Williams attends a private dinner at Fresco By Scotto on February 21, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Johnny Nunez/WireImage) 
FILE – In this Nov. 7, 2014 file photo, host Wendy Williams appears at the 2014 Soul Train Awards in Las Vegas. Lifetime’s “Where is Wendy Williams?” documentary will air this weekend as scheduled after a New York court rejected an attempt to block the broadcast. The order signed Friday, Feb. 23, 2024 by a New York appellate judge says blocking the documentary from airing as planned on Saturday and Sunday would be an “impermissible prior restraint on speech that violates the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.” (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File) 
Wendy Williams waves from her window at protesters in New York City. (PIX11 News) 
This image released by Lifetime shows Wendy Williams, subject of the Lifetime documentary “Where is Wendy Williams?” (Calvin Gayle/Lifetime via AP) 
FILE – In this Nov. 7, 2014, file photo, TV talk show host Wendy Williams arrives during the 2014 Soul Train Awards in Las Vegas. (Photo by Omar Vega/Invision/AP, File) 
FILE – TV talk show host Wendy Williams attends a ceremony honoring her with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Thursday, Oct. 17, 2019, in Los Angeles. Williams has been diagnosed with a rare form of dementia called frontotemporal dementia, or FTD, according to a statement released Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024, on behalf of her caretakers. It affects parts of the brain controlling behavior and language. (Photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP, File) 
FILE – Wendy Williams attends the world premiere of Apple TV+’s “The Morning Show,” Oct. 28, 2019, in New York. The former talk show host has been diagnosed with the same form of dementia that actor Bruce Willis has, according to a statement released Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024, on behalf of her caretakers. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File) 
WATCH WHAT HAPPENS LIVE WITH ANDY COHEN @ HOME — Episode 17152 — Pictured in this screen grab: Wendy Williams — (Photo by: Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images) 
Television personality Wendy Williams speaks at an event marking the 10-year anniversary of “The Wendy Williams Show” in Atlanta on August 16, 2018. (Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images)
The lawsuit says that Williams has been “subjected to overmedication and undue restrictions on her person” and is still in “care despite Ms. Hunter [Williams] passing a competency evaluation in or around March 2025 and being described by healthcare professionals as alert and oriented during welfare checks.”
After her divorce from Hunter, Williams was allegedly “left to navigate complex financial and medical matters without Mr. Hunter’s experienced oversight.”
Wendy Williams ‘coerced’ into guardianship: Lawsuit
In the lawsuit, it is claimed that Williams was “coerced” into the guardianship because of “immense financial duress and emotional strain.” Schiller and Young have been accused of exploiting the talk show host’s “trust and financial resources” and spending her money without her consent or knowledge.
Williams did tell NewsNation’s Ashleigh Banfield in February that she suspected her money was being misused by her guardian.
The state and other defendants are accused in the suit of not following legal processes and procedures, and Wells Fargo is accused of not vetting the payments that Morrissey was making: “Wells Fargo permitted Sabrina Morrissey to liquidate assets and transfer funds, in violation of internal bank policies and fiduciary obligations.”
Despite this, the lawsuit says that “Morrissey has failed to make timely payments on Ms. Hunter’s outstanding obligations, and many of Ms. Hunter’s financial obligations have gone unattended.”
Wendy Williams living at luxury senior living facility
According to the suit, no one who is looking after Williams has applied to get rid of the guardianship. Williams is living at Coterie, which is a luxury senior living facility in New York City. The facility provides memory care, but the lawsuit says that she is “involuntarily confined, despite evidence of capacity.”
In February, Williams told NewsNation, “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.”
“If I want lotion, they bring me lotion. If I want to take off my nail polish… if I want to brush my teeth and wash my face, they have to bring it to me,” Williams claimed.
The lawsuit shows allegations of free speech, access to the courts, unlawful isolation, breach of fiduciary duty, professional malpractice, negligence, defamation and violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. It wants a jury trial and is seeking large compensation.
Williams has allegedly lost around “$20 million per year in earnings, her $80 million estate, her $4 million condominium, personal goods in excess of $10 million, and severe reputational harm.” The full lawsuit document is over 100 pages.