Don Lemon Speaks Out About Wendy Williams And Her Conservatorship

Don Lemon is speaking out after his interview with Wendy Williams on Jan. 16.

The former CNN anchor spoke with Williams on "The Don Lemon Show" and revealed his take on the 60-year-old former talk show host's conservatorship.

The former "The Wendy Williams Show" host was diagnosed with progressive aphasia and frontotemporal dementia back in 2023 and placed under a conservatorship, and Don Lemon says she should be with her family.

Williams was interviewed by the former CNN journalist on The Don Lemon Show on Thursday following months of speculation about her conservatorship.

The former New York City radio host was placed under the court-appointed guardianship of attorney Sabrina E. Morrissey in 2023 after Wells Fargo froze her bank accounts. The court was alerted by Wells Fargo in 2022 after Williams' financial advisor at the bank declared her of “unsound mind" and the "victim of undue influence," per PEOPLE.

Her family shared their concerns last February in the Lifetime documentary, "Where Is Wendy Williams?" They revealed in the doc that they were isolated from Williams and upset they were denied being her caregivers. #FreeWendy soon began trending on social media following the documentary.

Williams told Lemon that she felt like she was in "prison" and was being controlled by Morrissey.

"Look, my life is screwed up," said Williams. "This Guardian mess — is, please! Look, I am isolated. I feel like I'm in prison. I feel like, you know, they're trying to control me, you know what I'm saying? And everything that I do."

Her niece, Alex Finnie, added that her aunt feared retaliation for speaking out.

Following the interview, Lemon wondered why Williams wasn't with her family.

"My thing is, why isn't she with her family? And the other thing is, the guardian has not spoken," said Lemon. "Is the guardian protecting her from something that we don't know? I don't know. Nobody knows."

Lemon conceded that while Williams is not the "same Wendy" he knows, she seems lucid.

“Does Wendy sound like the same Wendy when I was on her show? Honestly, no," said Lemon. "Does Wendy sound like the Wendy who visited me and stayed with me during COVID? No. But to me, does Wendy sound lucid? Yes. And that’s from a layman’s point of view."

"Can she be in control of her finances? I don’t know," he added. "But I think a process can be worked out that is fair to all parties, and someone needs to figure out how to do that because Wendy, whether she’s incapacitated or not, deserves to live her life with some degree of autonomy and happiness around her family."

Williams also told Lemon that she worried she would be punished by her guardian for speaking out.

"I don't know how much I can talk without being punished," she said. "You know what I'm saying?"

Williams also claimed that she feared she would be kept from seeing her father on his 94th birthday. "I won't be able to see my dad, and I won't be able to, you know, do anything," Williams continued. "And I'll be stuck in this prison I'm in for the rest of my life. You understand what I'm saying?

The former television host also shared her fears about seeing her father on his birthday during an interview with Charlamagne tha God on "The Breakfast Club" on Thursday.

"Listen, I don’t know if she’s going to let me see my dad for his birthday," she said of Morrissey. "He’s going to be 94... I’m exhausted thinking about what if I can't see my dad for his birthday. At 94, the day after that is not promised. It's not promised."

Finnie also appeared on "The Breakfast Club" and called Morrissey "sickening."

"She wants to be here for his birthday," said Finnie. "And the fact that they’re playing games, I’m sorry, that is just absolutely sickening."

Williams was able to attend her son's graduation in Miami, Florida, last year.

Kevin Hunter Jr. graduated from Florida International University last December, and Williams attended the ceremony while riding a motorized scooter. Her sister, Wanda Finnie, and Williams' 93-year-old father, Thomas Williams Sr., were also in attendance.

Digital creator Ronald Beasley shared a video on Instagram of Williams enjoying time with her family while in town for the ceremony. Hunter graduated with a degree in economics and is thinking about going to law school.