Wendy Williams’ Niece Tells ‘The View’ That Family Has “Limited Contact” With Former Talk Show Host: “It Has Been A Big Problem”

The family of Wendy Williams has had “limited contact” with the former talk show host since she was placed in a financial and secretive guardianship last year, niece Alex Finnie said on The View today.

“It’s been limited,” Finnie said during an appearance to promote the upcoming Lifetime two-part documentary Where is Wendy Williams? “I finally got some sort of a response not too long ago, but it has been a big problem for the family in terms of just Can we get an update on how she’s doing?”

Watch a clip from the segment below.

Williams has been living at an assisted care facility since last year. Her bank accounts were frozen by bank Wells Fargo in 2022; she was subsequently placed under a temporary financial guardianship after a financial adviser successfully petitioned a New York court.

Williams’ niece said today that the guardianship was granted despite little consultation with the family. Court records have been sealed, and family members do not know where she is or are able to directly contact her. Williams is allowed to contact her family, but the phone number shows up as “blocked” to prevent them from reaching out directly to her, Finnie said.

Finnie said she recently received a call from Williams and that the two spoke fo four hours and 37 minutes. “I hadn’t heard from her in months…and I felt that if (we) got off the phone I didn’t know when I’d hear from her again.”

Asked how Williams sounded, Finnie said, “She sounds really good. I haven’t seen her, but we were able to have a full conversation. She’s excited about her future, she talks about the possibility of getting back to work, but like I always remind her first and foremost is your health. If you’re healthy and you’re happy you can do whatever you want to do in terms of your career, but like I always say to her, if you just want to sit in a lawn chair and just bask in the sun for the rest of your days you can do that, because you’ve earned that.”

Earlier today, Williams’ family released a statement saying that Williams had been diagnosed with primary progressive aphasia and frontotemporal dementia. The announcement was read on-air by View moderator Whoopi Goldberg following Finnie’s interview segment.

Asked why Williams chose to go public with her health issues in the documentary, Finnie said, “She was adamant that she wanted to control the narrative of her story. She has never shied away from saying it like she means it. Her ultimate decision was that Everyone’s telling my story, and no matter how painful it is I want to tell it.”

Finnie also denied that the family was exploiting Williams by participating in the Lifetime film. “Sitting here today I haven’t been paid a dime,” Finnie said. “It’s a labor of love and fighting for your family. To the rest of the world she’s Wendy Williams, to me she’s my aunt, she’s my godmother, she’s my family. …It’s family at the end of the day.”