Wendy Williams' latest remarks are renewing speculation that she wants out of her conservatorship.
The former daytime talk show host, 66, was spotted walking in New York City when a member of the paparazzi asked her what she wished her fans knew about what she's been going through, according to video footage published by Page Six.
"I want out!" the former broadcaster replied in the Aug. 21 video, before a male companion who was helping her carry shopping bags guided her into a building, per the outlet.
USA TODAY has reached out to Williams' representative for comment.
The TV personality has been under a conservatorship since May 2022 after her bank institution, Wells Fargo, filed a petition arguing that Williams was an "incapacitated person" and
a "victim of undue influence and financial exploitation."
The former "Wendy Williams Show" host was diagnosed with primary progressive aphasia and frontotemporal dementia in 2023. In a February 2024 statement to USA TODAY, Williams' representatives said she is "able to do many things for herself" and was involved in selecting her care team.
Wendy Williams' ex-husband's battle over her conservatorship
In June 2025, her ex-husband Kevin Hunter filed a lawsuit in federal court in New York over her "improper, legally deficient, and overreaching guardianship."
The complaint alleged "unlawful restraint upon Ms. Hunter’s civil liberties and that are a substantial departure from accepted professional judgment, practices and standards" by the defendants, who include guardian Sabrina E. Morrisey and Wells Fargo.
The complaint also shared that Williams passed "a competency evaluation in or around March 2025" and was "described by healthcare professionals as alert and oriented during welfare checks."
In a Dec. 9, 2025, segment on ABC News' "Nightline," Williams' attorney Joe Tacopina revealed that a New York City neurologist who specializes in Alzheimer's disease, Dr. Samuel E. Gandy, disagreed with her 2023 brain disorder diagnosis after an evaluation. He said that she does not have frontotemporal dementia and that her faculties were impacted by alcohol addiction.
"There's something called alcohol-induced dementia. That may have been something Wendy was suffering from back in [2023], 24. She was an alcoholic, no question about it," Tacopina said. "Wendy was drunk almost 24 hours a day. She looked like she needed help. She did need help. She needed alcohol rehabilitation."
He clarified that Williams "does not drink alcohol" anymore.
Morrisey's attorney responded to the statement on "Nightline," saying that "Ms. Morrissey emphatically denies any wrongdoing, mismanagement, or self-dealing with regard to Ms. Williams' guardianship."
"All of the court-appointed guardian's activities are regulated and supervised by the court," the statement said.
In 2024 legal filings, Morrisey's lawyers said Williams was "cognitively impaired and permanently incapacitated" months after her diagnosis was revealed to the public.
Contributing: KiMi Robinson, USA TODAY
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Wendy Williams pleads for freedom in rare public sighting
