Wendy Williams saw a minor breakthrough with her ongoing battle with Wells Fargo when a New York court removed the bank from its operational role and appointed a financial advisor as guardian over the talk show host accounts, a move that still displeased the daytime media personality, according to Deadline.
“Please be advised that Wendy is not in agreement with the appointment of a financial guardian by the court,” said Williams’ lawyer LaShawn Thomas about a New York Supreme Court judge placing an unidentified guardian over his client’s financial assets until July.
“Wendy has been very clear that she does not want a financial guardian to tell her what she can and cannot do with her money,” continued the Miami-based attorney.
The 57-year-old accused Wells Fargo of denying “[her] any access, whether online or otherwise, to her financial accounts, assets, and statements.” Based on her filed court documents, she alleges that the multinational financial service company limited her access to her accounts based on the recommendation of Williams’ former financial advisor, Lori Schiller, who said Williams “was of unsound mind,” according to People.
“Wells Fargo’s priority is the financial well-being of Ms. Williams and the preservation of her privacy,” said the bank in a press statement in March. “As we have expressed to the Court, Wells Fargo is open to working with Ms. Williams’ counsel to release funds directly to her creditors for bills historically and regularly paid from her accounts.”
The queen of daytime talk suffers from Graves disease and other health issues and had to take a leave of absence from her popular syndicated program, The Wendy Williams Show.
The year-long dispute between Williams and Fargo concerning her accounts, and she posted a video in March alleging that her ex-manager Bernie Young took $100,000 out of her funds to arrange guardianship over her, according to Deadline.
“Wendy feels that she is capable of hiring her own financial advisors who work for and report to her and not to the court,” declared Thomas. “We believe that this story has been put forth in an attempt to lessen the public outcry and regulatory scrutiny mounting around Wells Fargo due to their actions.”
In late February, Lionsgate’s Debmar-Mercury, the producer-distributor of The Wendy Williams Show, ended the broadcast and directed its attention to the launch of former The View co-host Sherri Shepherd’s new Sherri show.