The Wendy Williams Show will remain something of a misnomer for most of this year.
Producers have reportedly selected a “permanent guest host” while Wendy continues to recover from her health crisis.
Alarming reports about Wendy have raised serious questions about whether she can ever return.
Now, her bank is getting involved, as banking behemoth Wells Fargo asks for a hearing to determine if Wendy needs a legal guardianship.
Wells Fargo sent a letter to New York Supreme Court Judge Arlene Bluth this week.
In the formal document, the bank requested a hearing to determine whether Wendy Williams needs professional intervention.
Specifically, the hearing would cover whether Wendy is an “incapacitated person” who needs help managing her affairs.
“We are concerned about [Williams’] situation,” Wells Fargo attorney David H. Pikus expressed in the letter.
“It is our hope that the Guardianship Part [of the court] will imminently appoint a temporary guardian or evaluator,” Pikus wrote.
It would be this person’s solemn duty “to review the situation and ensure that [Williams’] affairs are being properly handled.”
Last Friday, Wendy Williams’ attorney, Celeste N. McCaw, filed an emergency petition.
In the petition, McCaw accused Wells Fargo of denying Williams access to her funds “for more than two weeks.”
McCaw reported that Wendy could not touch her “accounts, assets, and statements.”
This in term came after Wendy’s former financial adviser, Lori Schiller, made some alarming claims.
Schiller alleged that Williams is “of unsound mind” recently.
McCaw argued that Williams had fired Schiller over alleged “malfeasance” involving her accounts.
Williams allegedly fired Schiller due to “improper conduct in relation to their professional relationship,” which sure is a phrase.
Of course, even McCaw admitted that Wendy Williams “continues to rely on Schiller’s advisement.”
Okay, so Wendy accused Schiller of wrongdoing, fired her, Schiller said that Wendy wasn’t all there, but there’s still financial advising going on?
Wells Fargo argued that they have “strong reason to believe” that Wendy Williams is a “victim of undue influence.”
The banking giant also suspects that the polarizing talk show host is a victim of “financial exploitation.”
In the letter to the judge, Pikus asked that the case be kept “under seal” to “preserve the confidential nature” of the conversation.
Pikus reported that Schiller had “recently witnessed signs of exploitation, including [Williams’] own expressed apprehensions” about those closest to her.
According to Wells Fargo’s letter, “other independent third parties who know [Williams] well … share these concerns.”
McCaw fired back, insisting that Willaims “denies that she is the victim of undue influence and financial exploitation.”
McCaw is seeking a restraining order to bar Wells Fargo “from freezing [Williams’] accounts and interfering with her right to access her financial assets and statements.”
Wells Fargo spoke to Page Six to adamantly deny any wrongdoing, insisting that they are only advocating for one of their customers.
While the guardianship system is deeply flawed and rife with abuse, it is necessary in some cases and in some forms. Hopefully, the hearing will determine if that applies here.
