A potential scandal has been revealed following reports that the judge overseeing Wendy Williams‘ guardianship awarded guardianships to several people and/or law firms that donated to her campaign fund.
Between 2019 and 2022, Judge Lisa Sokoloff reportedly received $5,720 in campaign donations from guardianship lawyers, law firms or people involved with guardianship cases. The Manhattan judge awarded those same law firms and people with 62 guardianship appointments in 2022 alone, according to WABC7 News.
Williams was diagnosed with primary progressive aphasia and frontotemporal dementia last year and was being cared for by her son and family in Florida. Her financial accounts were frozen in 2022 after her former financial adviser at Wells Fargo noticed cognitive issues and filed a guardianship petition.
Sokoloff then appointed estate administration lawyer Sabrina Morrissey as Williams’ guardian and revoked her son’s power of attorney. The guardianship happened amidst “The Wendy Williams Show” being canceled and following her divorce from her husband Kevin Hunter, Sr. Williams divorced Hunter. Their marriage was dissolved in 2020 after it was revealed that Hunter had a child with his mistress.
The former coupe’s son, Kevin Hunter Jr., had been caring for his mother and claims he was threatened with arrest by Sokoloff if he didn’t return her to her home in Manhattan after traveling to Florida for treatment in 2021. The 23-year-old was also accused of spending more than $100,000 on her American Express card, a line of credit that he claims he’s used since he was in middle school.
He claimed that he never spent money without his mother’s consent and in “Where Is Wendy Williams,” it was revealed that he spent nearly $300,000 on rent, a birthday party, and an Uber Eats bill “that his mom approved.”
In the Lifetime documentary, the former talk show host is seen confused and often agitated. She explains that she missed her family as she was attended to by her manager and former jeweler, Will Selby, and her then-publicist, Shawn Zanotti. Producers noted that Williams had no food in her refrigerator during filming, which began in August of 2022. The cameras stopped recording the former talk show host after she was put into a facility by Morrisey in April of 2023.
Williams’ family claimed that Morrissey has not disclosed which facility the 59-year-old is being treated in. Her sister, Wanda Williams, claimed that Williams can contact them, but they can’t contact her and they have no idea where she is. Her beloved New York apartment was also emptied and put up for sale.
While a search did not turn up any donations made by Morrisey to the judge presiding over Williams’ guardianship, documents reveal she was awarded several guardianship appointments by Sokoloff in 2022.
Paul Mederos, a guardianship lawyer in New York, also donated to Sokoloff’s campaign in 2022 and was awarded seven guardianship appointments the same year. However, he claimed there was no conflict of interest because he’d known the judge for 29 years.
After the news was shared on Instagram, fans weighed in. Several compared Williams’ situation to the 2020 film, “I Care A Lot.” The movie is about a guardian who ruthlessly steals assets from people under her guardianship after she put them in nursing homes. One fan replied, “This sounds like that movie I care a lot on Netflix.”
Another fan wrote, “It’s giving- I care a lot and I don’t like this for my girl Wendy…..her family needs to obtain a lawyer and they need to do a thorough investigation on the guardian, and how many times she went to the bank and pulled money out of Wendy account. She needs to be with her entire family!!!”
One fan noted that Wells Fargo should be sued, “This is sad Wells Fargo needs to be sued… I believe Wendy was spoiling him and the habits were not overblown.”
“Let alll the shady stuff keep being exposed!!! #FreeWendy,” concluded another.
According to the documentary, the guardianship will be reviewed sometime this year, and the family hopes that they will be awarded guardianship of Williams.
