Wendy Williams’ son reveals mom’s dementia is ‘alcohol-induced’

TV

By Francesca Bacardi

Wendy Williams’ son revealed his mother’s frontotemporal dementia is due to her alcoholism.

Kevin Hunter Jr. explained in the two-part Lifetime documentary “Where Is Wendy Williams?” that alcohol negatively affected the former daytime talk show host’s “headspace and her brain.”

“I was able to really learn more about things going on with my mother internally,” the 23-year-old shared in Sunday’s episode.

“[Doctors] 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.”

Williams, 59, first learned of her brain damage in 2019 when she had entered a Florida rehab facility, but she didn’t receive the official dementia and aphasia diagnosis until 2023.

The former shock jock’s niece Alex Finnie said she learned of her aunt’s diagnosis in 2022 but had a suspicion she was unwell when she began forgetting memories and facts.

“But after seeing my aunt and really spending time with her in a state where she’s in right now, I quickly realized that things were just not normal,” she said in the doc.

“It’s heartbreaking.”

Finnie also said the COVID-19 pandemic, the death of Williams’ mother and her divorce from Kevin Hunter Sr. worsened her condition.

The docuseries showed Williams consistently imbibing despite her well-known substance abuse issues, but her former rep Shawn Zanotti dismissed concern, saying the media personality “knows her limits.”

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Williams’ former attorney, meanwhile, cast doubt on the star’s diagnoses and instead blamed the court-ordered guardianship ahead of the show’s premiere Saturday.

LaShawn Thomas posted an old video on Instagram of Williams appearing healthy while sitting in a bed and saying she enjoys working out at the gym.

“You can clearly see the difference between Wendy’s well-being during her time here in Florida with her son caring for her and her lack thereof in New York under this ‘guardianship,’” Thomas wrote in the caption.

“These Wendys are not the same. How did her health deteriorate so quickly, and why isn’t her only child allowed to be by her side. She wasn’t like that when he cared for [her].”

The Miami Entertainment Law Group attorney alleged she filmed Williams two weeks prior to her being ordered by the court to move back to New York to be placed under a guardianship, which went into effect in 2022.