Former CNN host Don Lemon spoke with Wendy Williams on his eponymous YouTube show and then gave his assessment of her current mental state.
Wendy Williams speaking out after prolonged silence
Williams supporters heard from the former talk show queen for the first time in more than a year when she was a guest on “The Breakfast Club” syndicated radio show on Jan. 16. Williams protested the alleged tortuous treatment by her guardian as part of the government-mandated conservatorship, and she likened her living arrangements to “a prison.”
The former daytime talk show queen, widely considered a legend in the radio and TV spheres, consented to another interview, this time with Lemon. He does not believe Williams sounded like a person who has been diagnosed with dementia and even said she sounded “lucid.”
Lemon openly wondered if the suddenly outspoken Williams is fighting for her independence and the freedom to be with her family again.
Is this a ‘free Wendy’ movement?
“Is this the beginning of the ‘Free Wendy’ movement?” Lemon asked rhetorically.
The host of the “Don Lemon Show” continued. “This is my assessment. Does Wendy sound like the Wendy Williams back in the day when I was on her program? No, she doesn’t,” he said. “Does Wendy Williams sound like the Wendy Williams that visited me at my house and then would call me randomly? No. Does Wendy Williams sound lucid to me? Yes. Does Wendy Williams sound like she has dementia? No. Does she sound like she has aphasia or any of that stuff or that she’s incapacitated? No.”
Lemon, 58, hastened to add that he is “not a medical professional” or a “mental health expert.” But he said he was able to “carry on a conversation” with Williams.
“She can recall details from times that we spent together. She did it in the Charlamagne interview,” he said, adding that he is also “not as sharp” as he was “back in the day” either.
Don Lemon said Wendy Williams sounds ‘lucid’
“But do I think that she sounds incapacitated? No. I mean, can she be in control of her own funds and all of that? I think there are ways that you can work with her to make sure that she is being financially smart and savvy and … a way to handle this to make sure that she is taken care of financially for the rest of her life.”
Lemon is not sure that Williams “needs to be in a facility.”
Continuing, Lemon said “I don’t know what her issues are,” he admitted. “I don’t know about addiction issues, reportedly, allegedly. I don’t know about those things. I don’t know about that now … in this moment. I’m not there. I only spoke to her this morning, but she sounds lucid,” he reiterated.
Don Lemon said Wendy Williams should be with her family
Lemon is flummoxed as to why Williams “isn’t with her family,” before adding that her guardian, Sabrina Morrisey, “has not spoken.”
He asked the question, “Is the guardian protecting her from something that we don’t know? I don’t know. Nobody knows,” he added.
Ultimately, Lemon said that he believes Williams’ loved ones should be in her life.
“If you are isolated and you’re not around people that you love or care about you, who have a personal affection or affinity for you, then it messes with your head,” he said. “And I think everyone deserves to be with the people they love, so I think that they should be able to work that out or at least to be near somehow.”
