The chain of events that culminated this week with the deployment of a financial guardian over Wendy Williams’ finances started with a simple request from the TV personality to check her bank statement, according to her lawyer, La’Shawn Thomas. Williams, who suspected misconduct on the part of her financial adviser, wanted to switch banks and needed her latest statements to do so.
When Wells Fargo refused, it claimed in a motion for guardianship that Williams was an “incapacitated person.” The bank claimed she is “the victim of unnecessary influence and economic exploitation.”
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A New York judge on Thursday appointed a guardian over Williams’ finances until July, Thomas said. A temporary guardian had been in place since March, when the judge agreed with Wells Fargo that one was needed while the case was pending.
“Wendy does not agree that a financial guardian be appointed,” Thomas said Hollywood Reporter. “If it is the court’s intention to have one appointed over her affairs in the long run, she will certainly not accept it.”
In a statement to the New York Supreme Court, Williams stated that Wells Fargo wrongfully denied her access to her money, leading to her defaulting or risking defaulting multiple bills. She accused a Wells Fargo financial adviser of lying that she is mentally unstable as a basis for locking her out of her accounts.
Despite the decision to terminate the advisor “as a result of her inappropriate behavior toward my accounts, Wells Fargo continues to deny me access to my financial assets and statements,” the statement reads.
The case, which has been sealed, took a turn in March when Bernie Young, Williams’ former manager fired by the TV personality, moved to be placed as a guardian of the court.
In a video posted on Instagram, Williams claimed that Young wrongfully used her money, about $ 10,000, to hire a law firm to pursue custody of her.
Bernie Young Entertainment did not respond to a request for comment.
Thomas, who said her client is feeling “really, really good” after receiving treatment for Graves’ disease and thyroid problems, suspects that “there is something someone has done to [Williams’] money “and that the bank” is trying to hide something. “
The bank declined to comment when contacted THR.
Wells Fargo agreed in 2020 to pay a $ 3 billion fine to settle a civil lawsuit and criminal prosecution for fraudulently opening millions of savings and checking accounts without customers’ consent to meet sales quotas.
Addressing ongoing rumors about her mental and physical health Good morning America, Williams said in March that she is “absolutely” of a healthy mind and will be ready to return for a set in three months. She claimed that people who want to take advantage of her are responsible for concerns about her competence.
“When people want control [your] accounts, they say anything, including something so crazy about me, ”she said.
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