Wendy Williams and the rest of her family are mourning a devastating loss. On Sunday, her niece Alex Finnie revealed on Instagram that her grandfather, and Wendy’s dad, Thomas D. Williams, has passed away at the age of 94. His death comes just days away from what would have been his 95th birthday. Her mother, Shirley, passed away in December 2020 at the age of 83.
Finnie shared a video montage filled with family photos set to Stevie Wonder’s “As.” “It is with an extremely heavy heart that I share — after 94 years of extraordinary love, strength, brilliance, and wisdom, my grandfather Thomas D. Williams has passed,” she wrote.
Finnie said she knows he’s in heaven with his wife, “watching over our family and continuing to guide us as he always has.” She went on to describe what the patriarch was like, describing him as “truly a man of great intellect — an author, educator, and keeper of historical facts.” “Papa poured into both family and community.”
It’s unclear the last time Williams was able to see her father, but it may have been a year ago, in February, on February 15. She had to get permission to leave her NYC assisted living facility to attend his 94th birthday party in Miami.
At the time, she said in an interview with Charlamagne tha God on The Breakfast Club that she was “exhausted” and worried that she was not going to be able to see him. “My dad is going to be 94 next month. I don’t know if I’m able to fly to Miami to say happy birthday to my dad,” the talk show host said, saying that the “person who is holding me hostage” is to blame.
Thankfully, a judge ruled that she was allowed to fly to Miami for two days to celebrate him.
What’s going on with Wendy’s conservatorship?
© The Grosby GroupWilliams has a fan base that has been fighting for her freedom, along with members of her family, like Finnie, who has been an advocate for her. There haven’t been any updates this year, but in December 2025, her attorney Joe Tacopina said he was confident she would be out of her conservatorship sooner rather than later after a top neurologist claimed she did not have frontotemporal dementia, the diagnosis that’s kept her legally confined since 2022.
Tacopina was a guest on “Nightline,” where he revealed a plan that should have her free by the end of the year. “There are guardianship attorneys … and we’re watching and waiting, and they’ve assured Wendy by year’s end she’ll be out of guardianship,” he explained.
Obviously, that did not happen, though, as it’s already February 2026.
There’s been so much confusion regarding Williams’ diagnoses, with mixed opinions on whether she really is okay. But Taopina assured Nightline’s Byron Pitts, “You and I can go take a walk downstairs right now … we’ll find 5 people in an hour who will belong more in a guardianship program than Wendy Williams.”
He claimed her dementia was induced by alcohol addiction. “There’s something called alcohol-induced dementia. That may have been something Wendy was suffering from back in [2023], 24. She was an alcoholic, no question about it,” Tacopina said. “Wendy was drunk almost 24 hours a day. She looked like she needed help. She did need help. She needed alcohol rehabilitation.”
According to TMZ, those close to Wendy say she’s shown “remarkable neurological resilience” since getting sober three years ago. Last year, it appeared like she was getting out more. She even attended the Laquan Smith runway fashion show in September. But there doesn’t seem to be any sightings in 2026.
© GettyFollowing the new medical tests, her legal team planned to file paperwork requesting that the guardianship be terminated. If the judge refused, Tacopina assured he was ready to demand a jury trial and ask jurors to do it.
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