Overview
- During a rare public outing on Wednesday, Williams told a paparazzo “I want out” as she walked in New York City with a companion, renewing attention to her multi-year legal battle.
- Williams has been under a court-ordered guardianship since May 2022 after Wells Fargo alerted a New York judge that she might be an “incapacitated person” and needed a guardian.
- Her care team publicly reported 2023 diagnoses of frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and primary progressive aphasia, but later testing and at least one New York neurologist cited by her attorney have disputed the FTD finding.
- Attorney Joe Tacopina has filed court paperwork seeking fresh medical evaluations to challenge the diagnosis and push to terminate the guardianship while the court process remains unresolved.
- Reports say Williams is living in a specialized memory/assisted-living unit where leaving requires guardian approval, a fact that frames the dispute over her medical status, personal freedom, and control of her finances.