Wendy Williams ‘Still Retains Trademark Humor’ Despite Brain Illness Diagnosis


Wendy Williams was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia and aphasia.

The 59-year-old television personality was diagnosed with the neurological disease after exhibiting signs such as memory loss and erratic behavior, according to a press release issued by her team Thursday morning.

“Receiving a diagnosis has enabled Wendy to receive the medical care she requires,” the statement went on to say.

Frontotemporal dementia is the loss of nerve cells in the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain. It can affect behavior, psychology, language, and motor functions.

According to the press release, the former Wendy Williams Show presenter is still able to do many things for herself and has even maintained her “trademark sense of humor.”

Williams has previously suffered from a variety of diseases, including Graves’ disease and lymphedema. She has also struggled with alcoholism, as highlighted in the recent Lifetime special Where is Wendy Williams?

Williams is currently in an unnamed treatment facility, and her family claims to have no contact with her.

“The people who love her cannot see her,” her sister and mother told People Magazine in a cover story that ran the day before her illness was announced.

“It’s shocking and heartbreaking to see her in this state,” they went on to say.