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Monday, July 29, 2024

The Wendy Williams Documentary Raises Critical Questions About Guardianship and Incapacity


by Linda Bell

For many reasons, Lifetime’s Wendy Williams documentary was hard for me to watch. 

I will begin this story in the 90s and 2000s. That's when I heard Wendy dishing out hot topics on New York radio stations Hot 97 and later on 107.5 WBLS. Love her or hate her, she always had the streets talking. I’m not one for celebrity gossip, but Wendy had a way of making listeners feel like they were her longtime friends. 

When The Wendy Williams Show debuted in 2008, I was not surprised. It was like seeing a local celebrity of sorts moving onto greater heights. The controversial media personality that reigned in New York’s Tri-State area was now unleashed on the world. Daytime television would never be the same. 

How I Met Wendy Williams

In 2010, I had the pleasure of interviewing Wendy to discuss her successful talk show, her radio career and being the second Black woman inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame. We met at the NASDAQ Marketsite, where she celebrated the second year of her show by ringing the opening bell.  

We memorialized the meeting with the picture above. Wendy joked that we should stand because of “the hilarity of it all.” For context, I am 5 ft 2 and a little over 100 lbs on a good day.🙂 Wendy giggled at how she towered above me in her six-inch heels. (This was before she stopped wearing heels due to lymphedema, a blockage in the lymphatic system that causes swelling in the feet.)

Outspoken, witty, and personable are three words I would choose to describe Wendy. As a writer, I am seldom at a loss for words, yet I only have one word to describe the Where is Wendy Williams? documentary. Disturbing. It never should have seen the light of day.

Wendy’s Struggles Documented 

Lifetime’s four-part documentary gave us a bird’s eye view into Wendy's challenges with alcohol, health issues, and declining cognitive functions.  

I was shocked to hear that four years ago, Wendy had to be rushed to the hospital after she was found unresponsive at her home. Her nephew said she had to receive three lifesaving blood transfusions. Despite this near brush with death, Wendy professes her love for vodka early in the documentary. She later curses her manager when he confronts her about finding an empty vodka bottle in her room. 

It was tough to see how Graves Disease, hyperthyroidism, and lymphedema have affected Wendy’s appearance. In one scene, Wendy says she can only feel 2% of her feet, which are swollen and discolored. “This is lymphedema...Do you see what this looks like?” she said tearfully. 

The documentary is riddled with even more unfortunate scenes, including one where Wendy’s publicist asks her if she wants to attend the Oscars. Wendy, who is synonymous with all-things-celebrity, uttered two simple words that spoke volumes. She paused and asked, “What’s Oscar’s?” with a strained and confused look on her face. 

How is Wendy doin’? Clearly, she is not well. 

Wendy’s Diagnosis Revealed 

Days before the premiere of the documentary, we learned that Wendy suffers from primary progressive aphasia and frontotemporal dementia (FTD)

Aphasia is a condition affecting language and communication abilities, while FTD is a progressive disorder impacting behavior and cognitive functions. Wendy’s son revealed in the documentary that her dementia is caused by excessive alcohol use. 

Wendy has always been open and honest about her struggles with drugs and alcohol. Several unfortunate events in recent years have likely added to her challenges. 

In 2019, her 20-year marriage ended in divorce after her husband fathered a child with his mistress. The same year, the outspoken talk show host tearfully revealed on her show that she was living in a sober house. In 2020, the COVID pandemic brought the world to a standstill, coupled with the death of her mother, Shirley Williams. Two years later, the Wendy Williams Show was canceled after 14 years on the air. Because of health issues, Wendy would not host the final year of her show.

The purpose of the Lifetime documentary was to chronicle Wendy’s return to the airwaves as a podcast host. What we got was anything but. 

Producers say if they had known about Wendy’s diagnosis, they would not have taped the documentary. How could the producers not see that something was wrong and stop filming?

Wendy has been under court-appointed guardianship since 2022 after Wells Fargo said she was a victim of financial exploitation. While her legal guardian tried to block the documentary from airing, the move was denied in court. Where was the guardian while the documentary was being filmed?  

I was also surprised to see that Wendy and her family are listed as executive producers of the documentary. Why did her family sign off on this unfortunate project?

As I searched for answers to my questions, even more questions arose. I soon found myself falling deep into the rabbit hole that is the guardianship system. What I found out was not pretty. 

The Failed Guardianship System 

Guardianship is a legal arrangement when the court appoints someone to make decisions for an incapacitated individual like the disabled or elderly. An estimated 1.3 million adults are under guardianship in the United States, encompassing about $50 billion in assets.

If there is any redeeming value in the Wendy Williams documentary, it’s that it shows the system designed to protect vulnerable Americans is broken. 

Lack of Transparency 

Guardianship cases are often shrouded in secrecy. Not only is there a lack of available data, but states are governed by different laws. In New York, adult guardianships are filed under Article 81 of the Mental Hygiene Law.

Léonie Rosenstiel, author of Protecting Mama: Surviving the Legal Guardianship Swamp, has spent two decades researching problems in the system. Rosenstiel’s mother was placed under court-appointed guardianship after she became incapacitated. 

“One of the things that's really painful for families, is they're very often not given any explanation for what happened,” she says. “It just happens. They’re in the dark and they can't find out why because all the documents are sealed and secret.”

Rubber Stamping Petitions

In most states, anyone can petition the court to appoint a guardian for a person alleged to be incapacitated. That includes government agencies, families, and health care providers.

Diane Dimond, an investigative journalist and author of We’re Here to Help: When Guardianship Goes Wrong, has conducted an eight-year investigation into guardianships. She says one of the flaws in the system is how petitions are sometimes approved without proper consideration.

“For a guardianship to start, someone has to initiate it, go to a lawyer and the lawyer draws up a petition for guardianship. And in that petition, they explain to the court why the targeted person needs protection,” says Dimond. “Judges keenly just rubber stamp those. Okay, good, fine, guardianship. Next case, please.”

Flawed Appointment Process

Additionally, Dimond cites failings with how guardians are appointed. 

Dimond, who has communicated with Wendy’s sister, Wanda Finnie, says that Wanda was asked if she wanted to act as Wendy’s guardian. Wanda said yes and was willing to take the required day-long class in New York. Ultimately, Wanda was not chosen. The court has the discretion to appoint a non-family member, such as a professional guardian or agency for incapacitated individuals.

“That’s what judges across the country are doing, they’re not picking the family member because then the money stays in the family,” says Dimond. “They want to spread it around amongst their cronies.”

Potential Abuse of Power 

A 2023 hearing from the Senate Aging Committee highlighted how exploitation, abuse, neglect, and financial impropriety are unfortunate realities in some guardianship cases. While some well-intentioned, honest guardians exist, their power can open the door to malfeasance.

“The guardian is not just in charge of the money, the guardian is in charge of all medical decisions,” says Dimond. “The guardian can order medications to be given to the person. The guardian can take the person out of their abode and put them in a facility…They can keep the family away. They can take the ward and put them in another state. If a female ward is pregnant, they can order an abortion. These people have complete judicial authority.”

Wendy’s family has complained that they don't have a say in her treatment or know where she is. 

“Guardianship is a system designed to protect the most vulnerable, at-risk people,” says Dimond. “How does it help protect them if you keep them from people who love them? Why is that allowed?

Never-Ending Oversight  

If it's no longer required, courts may terminate the guardianship while the person is still alive, as the Britney Spears conservatorship case demonstrates. However, guardianships typically end when the person dies. Unfortunately, that means Wendy’s rights and the rights of other incapacitated individuals are potentially lost forever. 

“Wendy Williams is now a ward of the court,” says Dimond. “She loses all of her civil rights. She can't vote. She can't spend her own money. She can decide where to live. She can't decide who gets to see her. She can't travel. She can't do anything. And all of her money is put into the name of the guardian. All of her assets or property, her money, her investment, everything.”

The Guardianship Bill of Rights Act was legislation introduced in 2023 to reform the repressive system. The law aims to create a national council advocating for less restrictive alternatives for individuals in or being considered for guardianship. Bills in Florida and Michigan have also been introduced to improve protections for vulnerable adults. 

Fighting Court-Ordered Guardianships 

So where exactly is Wendy Williams a year after filming the documentary? 

She is currently at an undisclosed medical facility receiving care. Dimond was told by Wanda that Wendy is flourishing and showing signs of improvement. Unfortunately, Wendy’s family still doesn’t know where she is. While Wendy can contact them, they can’t contact her. How can this be in her best interests? 

“The mechanism would be to hire a lawyer, hire an expensive lawyer to fight it,” says Dimond. “It’s really hard for these families and any families across the country I've spoken to, to find a lawyer that will take on other lawyers.” 

Dimond notes that as an inheritor of Wendy’s estate, her son could hire a lawyer. However, going that route can be a costly and lengthy endeavor. 

“The guardian now has the right to hire their own lawyer to protect them,” says Dimond. “Wendy Williams pays for that. Wendy Williams will pay for every aspect. Wendy Williams’ estate will pay to fight her own son. As he fights, I don't know where he would get money to hire a lawyer to fight this. He's also diminishing his inheritance. The attorneys and the guardian on Mom's side are draining the money that he would otherwise inherit. There are cases where I've seen millions of dollars spent in fights and then the person dies and there's no money left. It’s all gone.”

Preparing for Incapacity 

As I wrote this article, the personal finance journalist in me was determined to glean financial learnings from Wendy’s situation. 

Rosenstiel notes that while Wendy is only 59 years old, it’s important to discuss incapacity with loved ones well before they become incapacitated. Families can explore implementing advance directives like living wills and healthcare proxies, or powers of attorney and trusts. Signing a power of attorney or other legal document after someone’s cognitive functions have declined can raise red flags, as reportedly happened with Wendy’s son. 

“There are people like Bruce Willis or other people who are getting dementia younger and younger and younger. So you need to have this in place,” says Rosenstiel. “It's not a question of when I get to be 70 I have to sit down and do this. You don't know. You could be in an accident anytime. People are incapacitated, either for a period of time or forevermore. You never know when something is going to happen. You need to have a mechanism in place. And you need to have people use trust.”

When I think about Wendy’s situation, I can’t help but think about my mother and her declining mental capacity near the end of her life. I often wonder what would have happened to her if I wasn’t there. 

I managed my mother’s medical care and finances as her power of attorney, health care proxy, and Social Security representative payee. I made sure those systems were in place well before her mental and physical health declined. 

By taking those critical steps, I was able to tend to all of my mother’s needs. I made sure she remained in her home where she was comfortable. I visited her as many times as I wanted to. I was able to hug her, hold her hand, and see her smile every time I saw her. 

Make sure you can do the same for your loved ones.

Full Article & Source:
The Wendy Williams Documentary Raises Critical Questions About Guardianship and Incapacity

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Wendy Williams


Thursday, March 12, 2009

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Saturday, January 03, 2009

Israeli Defense Force Hits the Blogosphere

If you're interested in getting some information about what's going on in Israel and Gaza--you know, beyond the Israel-bashing, "terrorists are victims" crap you get from the "mainstream" media--the Israeli Defense Force has now entered the Web 2.0 age.

The have a blog called IDF Spokesperson where you can catch some of the latest updates about the war against terrorism in the Middle East--specifically as it affects Israel.

The IDF also has a YouTube channel where you can view footage of some of the IDF precision strikes against terrorist strongholds. Unlike the terrorists who intentionally target innocent civilians, the IDF does everything it can to minimize noncombatant casualties.

An interesting post at the IDF blog yesterday points out the number of rockets and mortars fired against Israel since 2005.

In 2007 alone, there were more than 2,500!

Forget for a moment our peaceful relations with Canada and Mexico. Imagine 2,500 rocket and mortar attacks along the U.S. border in the last year.

Imagine rocket and mortar attacks along Washington State, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. Imagine the property damage, the fear, the injuries, and the lives lost to these attacks. Since the borders of these states are immensely larger than Israel's borders, imagine these 2,500 attacks spread along the border Vermont.

Or if it's easier to imagine, think of Cuba lobbing 2,500 mortars and rockets at Florida over the past year.

Would we stand idly by and twiddle our thumbs as many demand Israel do? Would we expect our leaders to negotiate with these attackers as many demand Israel do? Would we think of these attackers as "victims" and blame the targets of these attacks as many do Israel?

Or would we do as we did after 911--as any decent and self-respecting nation would do--and retaliate with decisive force to remove the threat and disinvite future attacks?

For too long the West has sought to restrain Israel from defending herself. We are Israel's chief ally; it's time we started acting like it. It's time we got out of their way and let them bring the majority of Middle East terrorism to an end--by boldly demonstrating that it will not be tolerated, and will be met with crippling retaliation.

That is the only way to deal with evil, fanatical forces who are determined to annihilate you. Too many innocent civilians have died in the name of "civility" and "talks" and "negotiations." The job of ending terrorism is long overdue.


Focus on the Family Explains Why Glenn Beck Interview Was Pulled

Reprinted by permission of The Christian Post

By Eric Young
Christian Post Reporter
Thu, Jan. 01 2009 07:15 PM EST

Focus on the Family got to work this week in explaining in detail why it pulled from its website an interview with a Mormon author.

“We intended no insult,” expressed ministry spokesman Gary Schneeberger, in a statement. “[W]e merely miscalculated on how best to feature Glenn [Beck], whom we greatly appreciate.”

Last week, some time before Christmas celebrations, Focus on the Family took down the interview with Beck amid complaints from the evangelical community over the former CNN host’s Mormon ties.

The interview, produced by a freelance reporter in Colorado Springs and not Focus on the Family, focuses on Beck’s recently released book, The Christmas Sweater, which has been on the New York Times Best Sellers list for Hardcover Fiction for six consecutive weeks and currently ranks at No. 1.

In the interview, Beck talked about what Christmas means to him, how he came to write the book, and what message he hoped readers will take away from the book.

“Sometimes redemption has been made into a word that people don't understand,” he said. “They need to know it's true, it's real. It's not a word, it's a life-changing force. It's transformed my life, who I was to the very core of my being. If it wasn't for me accepting the gift that the Lord gave to me, I'd be dead today.”

Since the interview was published, a number of Christians throughout the blogosphere raised flags and sounded alarms, concerned that Focus on the Family was compromising central doctrinal truths to win the culture war.

“They use Mr. Beck's story as a way to show that hope can be found in God, which is true enough; the problem is that Mr. Beck's god is not the Triune God of the Bible nor is his Jesus the Jesus of the Bible,” commented Dustin S. Seger, pastor of Shepherd’s Fellowship of Greensboro, N.C., in the co-authored blog “Grace in the Triad.”

Beck, however, maintains that the book's message can be and has been embraced by people of different faiths and should not be “censored” because of his own personal religious views. The book tells the narrative of a boy named Eddie who embarks on a dark and painful journey on the road to manhood.

“The Christmas Sweater is a story about the idea of Christmas as a time for redemption and atonement,” Beck expressed in a released statement after the interview was pulled from Focus on the Family’s CitizenLink website.

“Whatever your beliefs about my religion, the concept of religious tolerance is too important to be sacrificed in response to pressure from special interest groups, especially when it means bowing to censorship,” he added.

According to Schneeberger, however, Focus on the Family could not intimate to its evangelical base that the differences in Mormon faith and the historic evangelical faith are inconsequential.

“We can, and do, gladly cooperate with friends outside of the evangelical heritage on common causes; but in no case do we intend to alter our clear distinction as unwaveringly grounded in evangelical theology,” he explained.

But Schneeberger made sure to also distance the ministry from another that had strongly rebuked it for the article’s posting.

“[W]e do not condone the tone of communications put out from UnderGround Apologetics,” he clarified, referring to the controversial apologetics ministry that spoke out against Focus on the Family last week. “And we can without reservation say that the group's news release had nothing to do with our decision to pull the article from publication."

In their statement three days before Christmas, UnderGround Apologetics called Mormonism a cult and chastised Focus on the Family for “opening the door to false religions.”

“[T]o promote a Mormon as a Christian is not helpful to the cause of Jesus Christ,” it added.

Despite such statements and the recent move by Focus on the Family, Beck, who not long ago left CNN Headline News for a multiyear deal with Fox News, said he is “humbled and grateful” that hundreds of thousands of people from different faiths have read his book and have “appreciated its uplifting message for themselves.”

“At a time when the world is so full of fear, despair, and divisions, it is my hope that all of those who believe in a loving and peaceful God would stand together on the universal message of hope and forgiveness,” he stated.

While many Christians today still view the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the official name of the Mormon church) as a cult, more have come to view it as another religion – some going as far as calling Mormonism a fourth Abrahamic religion.

Aside from rejecting the Trinity and their belief in many gods, Mormons believe their prophet, Joseph Smith, was “the only man that has ever been able to keep a whole church together since the days of Adam,” according to the Mormons’ History of the Church.

Formally listed under “cults and sects” by the Southern Baptist Convention, Mormonism was later categorized among “newly developed religions” on the North American Mission Board apologetics page.

Copyright 2008 The Christian Post. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.


Rick Warren is no Billy Graham

BY STAR PARKER
FOUNDER & PRESIDENT
COALITION ON URBAN RENEWAL & EDUCATION

Last August I wrote a column critical of Rick Warren's decision to host a presidential candidate forum at his Saddleback Church.

My reasoning then was that America's crisis is moral ambiguity. I argued that Pastor Warren would only contribute to this ambiguity by hosting candidates with opposing views on issues such as abortion and homosexuality and presenting himself as a neutral moderator.

Only Barack Obama would gain, I felt, being showcased as an acceptable candidate by one of the nation's best known evangelical pastors. If John McCain had wanted to clarify his social conservative credentials, he didn't need to go to Rick Warren's church with Barack Obama to do it.

Evangelicals and other Christians listened as Rick Warren called Obama and McCain "friends" and "patriots" and watched as Warren winced no more than would have Larry King when Sen. Obama said it was above his "pay grade" to consider if and when an unborn child has human rights.

Evangelicals had already been hearing from Warren, and left-leaning pastors like Jim Wallis, that they should broaden their primary concerns beyond sex and abortion.

In retrospect, I cannot prove that I was right. But I think the evidence powerfully supports my claim.

Barack Obama picked up five percentage points of the evangelical vote over what John Kerry received in 2004. Those five percentage points amounted to about a third of Obama's winning vote margin over John McCain.

Sure, the Saddleback Forum alone does not explain this shift. But the legitimacy Obama gained that night certainly didn't hurt.

The largest shift was among 18-29 year old evangelicals. Obama got 32 percent of their vote -- double what John Kerry had gotten.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal after the forum, Warren was oblivious to the vulnerability of this group. The Journal reported, "... as for the notion that younger evangelicals are ready for rebellion against their parents' ideals, Mr. Warren cites polls showing that the younger evangelical generation is even more concerned about abortion than the older one." True. But this was only one part of the picture.

In 2007 the Pew Research Center reported that Republican identification among 18-29 year old white evangelicals had dropped from 55 percent in 2005 to 40 percent.

A survey done by Greenburg Quinlan Rosner Research showed that 26 percent of 18-29 year old evangelicals, compared to 9 percent of those over 30, support same-sex marriage.

Now President-elect Obama has invited Rick Warren to give the invocation at his inaugural. The NY Times calls this an "olive branch to conservative Christian evangelicals" and many now call Warren this era's Billy Graham.

An olive branch? Rick Warren helped get Obama elected and our President-Elect understands that there is still evangelical gold to be mined in the pastor from Saddleback Church.

The Rev. Jeremiah Wright can explain how Barack Obama uses pastors. Obama sat in his church for 20 years and used his words for the title of his best-selling book, then discarded him when he became a political liability.

Regarding the Billy Graham comparison, it challenges even the most creative imagination to picture the Rev. Graham's ever hosting a forum for political candidates.

In an interview, Barack Obama recalled a previous invitation to Saddleback Church. "...I was invited to Rick Warren's church to speak, despite his awareness that I held views that were entirely contrary to his when it came to gay and lesbian rights, when it came to issues like abortion." I doubt that Billy Graham would see this in the spirit of his own calling to bring the gospel to all who would listen.

Nor would I see the Rev. Graham signing onto the Evangelical Climate Initiative, as has Rick Warren. This gives Christian cover to the left to raise our energy costs to address still-unsubstantiated environmental claims.

But on global warming, Rick Warren and Barack Obama are on the same page. Perhaps these will be the first post-inaugural chips that our new president will call in.

Star Parker is president of the Coalition on Urban Renewal & Education and author of the new book White Ghetto: How Middle Class America Reflects Inner City Decay.

Prior to her involvement in social activism, Star Parker was a single welfare mother in Los Angeles, California. After receiving Christ, Star returned to college, received a BS degree in marketing and launched an urban Christian magazine. The 1992 Los Angeles riots destroyed her business, yet served as a springboard for her focus on faith and market-based alternatives to empower the lives of the poor.


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