Wendy Williams got emotional as she attended her son’s college graduation on Thursday in a rare outing as she battles early-onset dementia.
Wearing a sparkly dress and Chanel shoes, the former daytime TV host, 60, accessorized with a Louis Vuitton bag as she rode a red electric wheelchair in and out of the commencement event.
Williams was joined by her father, Thomas Williams Sr., 93, and her sister, Wanda Finnie, to witness Williams’ only child, Kevin Hunter Jr., 24, get his diploma from Florida International University (FIU) in Miami, Fla.
According to FIU’s commencement program, Kevin graduated from the university’s Steven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics.
He began his college journey at another Miami school, Barry University, before transferring to FIU. Kevin also took time off from school in 2021 and 2022 to help take care of his mother as she struggled with her health.
During the graduation ceremony, a beaming Williams cried and wiped away tears as Kevin walked across the stage and received his diploma.
The former “Wendy Williams Show” host was flanked by armed police officers as she exited the commencement and got in to a waiting vehicle. Kevin was seen shaking hands with one of the officers.
Wendy was seen most recently over the weekend in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. smiling in the back of an SUV as she picked up a to-go order from local haunt Sho’nuff Oysters.
The star was accompanied by her nephew Travis Finnie, according to blogger Antoine Edwards, who captured video of the oyster pickup.
A little over a month ago, Williams’ legal guardian Sabrina Morrissey declared that the TV personality “has become cognitively impaired and permanently incapacitated” as a result of her early-onset dementia.
The claim was recorded in a Nov. 12 court filing Morrissey submitted in her ongoing legal battle with A+E Networks, the cable network she alleges exploited Williams in the Lifetime docuseries “Where Is Wendy Williams?” (Lifetime is a subsidiary of A+E).
Wendy Williams and her son Kevin Hunter Jr. as she’s honored with a Star On The Hollywood Walk Of Fame on October 17, 2019 in Hollywood, California. WireImage
Wendy Williams and her son Kevin Hunter Jr. as she’s honored with a Star On The Hollywood Walk Of Fame on October 17, 2019 in Hollywood, California. WireImage
Morrissey unsuccessfully attempted to block the release of the doc, which aired in February and revealed intimate details of Williams’ struggles with addiction and her finances.
The former radio DJ was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia and aphasia in 2023 after the docuseries wrapped, though she reportedly showed symptoms indicative of the condition — which includes memory loss — from the beginning of production.
Williams has been under a court-ordered guardianship that oversees her health and finances since 2022 after her bank, Wells Fargo, alleged she was “incapacitated.”