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Houston Chronicle

Source: Houston Chronicle/Hearst Newspapers via Getty Images / Getty

After all the questions and revelations from the two-part Lifetime documentary Where Is Wendy Williams, one stands out. Her son Kevin Hunter, Jr. believes that his mother’s dementia diagnosis comes from her acknowledged struggles with alcohol abuse.

In the documentary, Williams’ only child revealed, “‘I was able to really learn more about things going on with my mother internally. They basically said that because she was drinking so much, it was starting to affect her headspace and her brain. So, I think they said it was alcohol-induced dementia.”

The former radio and talk show host who turns 60 in July, was diagnosed with primary progressive aphasia and frontotemporal dementia. It is the same condition that action star Bruce Willis was diagnosed with, impacting cognitive functioning, which was on display in the documentary. Williams appeared confused and disoriented at times, and had trouble processing things happening around her, in stark contrast to when she did live radio and successfully managed a brand.

Hunter, Jr. also said that he’s afraid that his mother will die as you see her using alcohol throughout the documentary that she executive produced.

Williams’ family has been barred from seeing the singer or figuring out ways to help her as Williams is now under a court-appointed guardianship. The guardian, identified by TMZ as Sabrina Morrissey filed to stop the documentary from airing but a judge allowed it to proceed saying the First Amendment protected it.

Williams was forced into the guardianship in 2022, when Wells Fargo bank froze her accounts after what they said was financial misuse. Williams’ financial advisor alerted the bank to the irregularities. Hunter, Jr. was accused of charging $100,000 to his mother’s American Express card but says he did nothing without his mother’s consent. The former talk show host’s family is concerned about Williams’ continued well-being. Hunter, Jr. believes she’d have a better chance to improve if her family were involved.

“I still see glimpses of my mom very often,” he said in the doc. “She still has a chance to live a good and healthy life, but she needs to want to live that. I think that she’s just weak and vulnerable and she needs to be around people who aren’t gonna take advantage of that.”

He added, “I feel like my mom should never be by herself or alone.”

Wendy’s sister Wanda echoes his concern, saying the family was first approached and then shut out of any role in Williams’ life once the guardian was appointed.

“When the whole process started, all members of this family were contacted about Wendy and what we needed for her,” Wanda Williams said. “My feeling as her sister was that Wendy needs to have somebody with her 24 hours a day for the next few months. I was told that it involved taking some kind of class, and I said, ‘Yeah I’ll do it.’ I said, ‘Whatever I gotta do, I’ll be focused on Wendy’s health.’ And then all of a sudden, the wall came down and there was nothing.”