Wendy Williams Guardianship The Subject of 2 New York Investigations | TMZ Live - video Dailymotion

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New York authorities have launched two separate investigations into the circumstances surrounding Wendy Williams' guardianship ... TMZ has learned.

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00:00We have a lot to talk about today.

00:03We're gonna get into the ridiculousness

00:07of what just happened with the Menendez brothers today.

00:09But before we do, there is a ton of activity

00:13in the Wendy Williams case.

00:15We are talking about the NYPD paying Wendy a visit

00:20to do a welfare check to see why she's stuck

00:23on the fifth floor of a residential facility,

00:27the memory unit where she can't get out.

00:30Adult Protective Services is making phone calls

00:33to find out about Wendy's cognitive functions.

00:37And check this video out.

00:39Wendy did leave the memory unit just a few minutes ago.

00:44And you see the NYPD there as well,

00:47which went to figure out why she's in there,

00:50why she's in this guardianship.

00:52They're looking at that.

00:53But Wendy is on her way to the hospital

00:56to get an evaluation of her cognitive functions

01:01to see if she's well enough that the conservatorship,

01:04the guardianship, makes sense.

01:06And when some people hear

01:08Wendy's being taken to the hospital,

01:09they might think that that's some sort of emergency.

01:11This is actually good for Wendy.

01:13This means that this could help her case

01:16in terms of getting out.

01:17And I know you've been in contact, right?

01:19Oh, I talk to her all the time.

01:20Yeah.

01:21And as a matter of fact,

01:23I got a call from the NYPD this morning.

01:25What'd they say to you?

01:26Well, they were in her room

01:28and Wendy had mentioned the documentary

01:32that we did, Saving Wendy on Tubi,

01:36and also that I had been talking to her.

01:38And they started asking me,

01:40what's her cognitive function like?

01:42What do you know about it?

01:44And I know this sounds totally shameless,

01:47but I did tell them to watch the documentary.

01:49Well, because it's relevant.

01:51I mean, the documentary is relevant

01:52because she goes through this whole thing.

01:54I wasn't doing it.

01:55I was not doing it for clicks.

01:57I wasn't doing it for clicks.

02:00It's a shameless plug, but it's a good one, Harvey.

02:02This is for a good cause.

02:03And this is a huge development

02:05because now that the New York agencies are involved,

02:07the NYPD, the Adult Protective Services,

02:09it could really bend in her favor.

02:11Now, the evaluation is everything, right?

02:13If this goes well for Wendy,

02:15I think the wheels are really set in motion

02:17for her to get out of this guardianship.

02:18If it goes poorly though, this could backfire.

02:21What's Wendy's headspace right now?

02:23She's a combination of hopeful

02:27because all of this stuff is happening.

02:29Plus, Joe Tacopina is somebody she's in touch with,

02:32huge, huge criminal defense lawyer,

02:35but just a great trial lawyer

02:37who I think is gonna ultimately end up taking her case.

02:40Yeah, and he did Donald Trump.

02:42He did A$AP Rocky.

02:44So, look, I mean, she's hopeful in that respect.

02:48She's also really scared.

02:50I mean, it is really interesting.

02:51She's so fearful of retaliation by the guardianship.

02:58Now, whether that's based in fact or not,

02:59she's afraid things are gonna get even more restrictive

03:03because they're getting aggressive now

03:05trying to get her out of this thing.

03:07And I will say, even, look,

03:09they have diagnosed Wendy before this

03:13with something called frontotemporal dementia.

03:16That is a condition that Bruce Willis has.

03:19It does not get better, ever.

03:22Look at the Lifetime documentary,

03:23and this was shot more than a year ago,

03:25a year and a half ago,

03:26where you see Wendy sprawled out, drunk.

03:30See vodka bottles all around.

03:32And you look at her then

03:34where she couldn't put a sentence together.

03:36And look at her now.

03:37Look at the documentary and watch her.

03:39And I have spent hours on the phone with her,

03:42as have Charlamagne, Rosanna Scotto from Good Day New York,

03:47her niece, Alex, her caregiver, Gina.

03:50Everybody has the same opinion.

03:52She's back to who she was.

03:54It doesn't make sense this is frontotemporal dementia

03:58because she's gotten better.

03:59Yeah, well, but could the Guardian say

04:01part of the reason she's gotten better

04:02is because we've kept her clean and sober,

04:04and so maybe this is working?

04:06But it's not about clean and sober.

04:08See, you're right that if it's alcohol-induced dementia,

04:12that gets better.

04:13And when it gets better,

04:15you don't have a guardianship.

04:16You get a sober coach.

04:18But you don't lock somebody in a room

04:20and tell them they can't have internet,

04:21they can't have visitors,

04:22they can't have people call them.

04:24You don't do that.

04:25You don't want people to be in a guardianship

04:27when they function fine.

04:30And if she's functioning fine because she's sober,

04:33would you put every...

04:35Sober person?

04:36Yeah, would you put every...

04:37Every alcoholic?

04:37That's right.

04:38No, you would never do that.

04:39So why do it with her?

04:41I mean, that's the argument.

04:42It's a great point, Harvey.

04:43And even if the diagnosis is the same,

04:45just having a condition isn't grounds for

04:49the extreme remedy of a guardianship.

04:51People live with frontotemporal dementia.

04:53So even if that stays the same,

04:54you still have to evaluate,

04:55can she take care of herself in some capacity?

04:58Can a sober coach help?

04:59There are other remedies short of locking her in a facility

05:02without a smartphone,

05:03without the ability to take incoming calls

05:05and treat it in this manner.

05:06So I really do think this deserves a close look

05:09and I think she'll get out.

05:10So they are going full bore here

05:13with the NYPD, with Adult Protective Services,

05:16possibly with a jury trial,

05:18which is the way this ultimately could end

05:19if Joe Tacopina takes the case

05:21and the judge still won't let her out of the guardianship.

05:24In New York, you can have a jury trial

05:26where the jury is gonna hear Wendy Williams on the stand,

05:29probably at some point, doing Hot Topics.

05:31Right, I was gonna say.

05:33But it's relevant.

05:34How you doing from this?

05:35But it's relevant because if she can do Hot Topics

05:38on the stand and she's cognitively with it,

05:42which we did in the documentary.

05:44Yeah, and there's no place where Wendy Williams

05:46is more popular than New York City.

05:48That's her base.

05:49So she has a jury of her peers,

05:50many of them presumably are her fans.

05:52I can tell you that based on what I know,

05:55Joe Tacopina has said to somebody,

05:57if he ended up taking this case,

05:59they would get a quicker verdict here than in ASEP.

06:02And that was an hour.

06:03And that was an hour.

06:05Tunis, Houston, Texas.

06:08I think it's awesome that Wendy has the withal

06:12to be able to contact APS, get her situation heard,

06:16and understand and get that case rolling.

06:18Having been a social worker and working with people

06:20in the same kind of stimulus situation,

06:22I think that it shows that she is competent.

06:24She's able to advocate for herself

06:27and also will aid in her being,

06:30well, the lawyer being able to advocate for her

06:32in that aspect as well.

06:34And it's to hopefully get this guardianship ended

06:37because she's clearly competent.

06:39She understands what's going on.

06:40She understands the severity of her situation.

06:42And hopefully the totality of the situation

06:44will not only just continue to get her

06:48to advocate for herself,

06:50but also to be able to take the next precautionary steps

06:53to just continue to help her with her health.

06:56I think this is an awesome thing.

06:58We miss Wendy in Hot Topics.

06:59We love her.

07:00We miss her.

07:01So we want her to come back.

07:02And I think that all this will be very good

07:04for her in the end.

07:05And I think everything will rule in her favor.

07:07Yeah, it feels like movement in all directions

07:09all of a sudden.

07:10And I know you talked about it self-promotionally,

07:12but you deserve some credit for this too.

07:14Because I think, no, but honestly,

07:15I'm not an employee here.

07:17Without what you guys are doing,

07:18I don't think this is as big of a thing.

07:20And congratulations for using your platform

07:23for something good here.

07:23I mean, again, this just,

07:26I mean, it feels like such an injustice

07:30to lock this woman up the way they did.

07:32And by the way, just one more thing.

07:36The Guardian did an interview last week where she said,

07:40well, I don't know where they're getting all this talk

07:42about Wendy not being able to go out.

07:46She went to Florida twice.

07:48We let her go to Florida twice.

07:49Well, that's true.

07:51But according to Wendy, when she went down to see her dad,

07:54the judge rejected it the first time.

07:56The only reason, well, the judge changed her mind

07:59after the documentary dropped and everybody saw her.

08:02But yeah, she's been to Florida

08:04for her dad's birthday for two days

08:06and her son's graduation.

08:07Aside from that, she's locked in this room.

08:10She has to get permission to even go downstairs to the gym,

08:14much less outside.

08:15She gets no fresh air.

08:18So the idea of saying,

08:19oh, well, I don't know where everybody's getting it.

08:20We're getting it from Wendy.

08:22We're getting it because she doesn't get out.

08:25Based on the evidence.

08:26It's crazy.

Wendy Williams Guardianship The Subject of 2 New York Investigations | TMZ Live

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