A new report claims talk show host Wendy Williams is in dispute with Wells Fargo over access to one of her accounts. A popular gossip site says Williams’ former financial adviser has communicated with the financial institution and suggested that the media maven is “of unsound mind” to govern the large amounts of money in the bank’s custody.
According to the Jasmine Brand, on Friday, Feb. 4, Williams asked for a New York court to give her access to her account at the bank that she has been locked out of for approximately two weeks.
Williams’ attorney have filed a petition asking a judge to force the bank to restore to recognize her as the legal and capable owner of the account, TJB says.
The document acknowledges that in April of 2018, she entered into an Asset Advisor Agreement with Wells Fargo under the belief that the bank would provide brokerage cash services and execute securities trades on her behalf. However, off the report of a former financial adviser named Lori Schiller, the bank was told that Williams was “of unsound mind” and was unable to manage her accounts herself.
Williams alleges that Schiller was fired and despite that, the bank is still communicating with her about Williams’ business matters, TJB claims.
The court filing says, “As additional support for its decision to keep Petitioner’s accounts frozen, Respondent references its authority under the Agreements to ‘pause or reject instructions for a proposed transaction,’ pending judicial or administrative remedies, should they suspect financial exploitation, dementia, or undue influence.”
“An even if the provision did apply,” the petition continued. “Respondent is going beyond the scope of the authority granted by the provisions because Respondent is completely denying Petitioner the ability to access or even view, whether online or otherwise, her financial assets and statements, which Petitioner has requested for the purpose of ascertaining the current standing of her accounts and which is not a ‘transaction’ as contemplated under the Agreements.”
Over the last few months, Williams’ health has experienced progressive decline. Her team has kept her illness private, but a result of her illness is her production company has hired temporary host replacements for “The Wendy Williams Show,” a talk program that has just wrapped up its 13th season.
At the end of 2021, Williams’ brother dispelled the notion that she was suffering from dementia. In an interview with The Sun, Thomas “Tommy” Williams Jr. said, “We haven’t had any alerts like that and I haven’t seen anything like that or have had conversations with her that would lead me to believe that.”
The petition further states that “Wells Fargo’s actions and the actions of its agents have impeded and unlawfully prevented [Williams] access to her property.”
By blocking her from her money, the filing alleged the bank has caused “imminent and irreparable financial damage” to the former radio shock jock.
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