♪ come to take me home ♪ ♪ they've come to take me home ♪ [ cheers and applause ] this is nightline. >> tonight, wendy williams. >> how are you doing? >> what she told us after years of silence. how are you doing? >> how am i doing? i'm still in prison, so to speak. >> can you describe where you are right now? the once groundbreaking talk show host, famous for keeping it real here. >> wendy. >> now her push to gain independence from a guardianship

order and leave a health care facility where she lives. speaking to the breakfast club. >> i am not cognitively impaired. you know what i'm saying? no, but i feel like i am in prison. you understand what i'm saying? >> will she succeed? plus sugar cane, the history making, oscar nominated film documenting a decades long secret. >> for decades, there were reports of neglect and children dying or disappearing from this facility. >> two girls drowned. priests were moved around. >> why are they dying? >> the filmmakers uncovering what happened to generations of indigenous children. >> far too few people know. you know, a story about a cultural genocide that happened right here. >> how did it happen? >> and the personal connection they discovered while making the film. and a whale of a tale. the kayaker who somehow survived being swallowed by a giant of being swallowed by a giant of the deep. relief hotline, tell us where it hurts. toe fungus? no, that won't cure it. you need fungicure.

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that's something i want to believe. [skateboard sounds] was going to be. >> good evening. thank you for joining us. she was once a self-proclaimed queen of all media. no celebrity was off limits. but wendy williams has been out of the public eye for years, confined to a health care facility under a court ordered guardianship. now she wants her life back. it was the interview that no one expected or saw coming. >> wendy williams on the line. good morning. wendy. morning. >> shocking the airwaves. >> hi, everybody. hi, everybody.

>> from the star who'd been out of the public eye for years. wendy williams, the onetime self-proclaimed queen of all media, known for her signature catchphrase. >> how you doing? how you doing, how you doing? >> wendy resurfacing, calling longtime friend charlamagne tha god's radio show, pleading for her freedom. >> i am not cognitively impaired. you know what i'm saying? no, but i feel like i am in prison. you understand what i'm saying? >> and breaking her silence on the breakfast club two years after her dementia diagnosis, speaking out about her life now inside a health care facility, living under a court appointed guardianship. this is byron pitts. has been a while since we've spoken. a few weeks after that stunning first interview with charlamagne. i spoke briefly with wendy on the phone. how are you doing? >> how am i doing? i'm still in prison, so to speak. >> can you describe where you are right now? >> yes. well, as i said, because it's a fact. this is the memory

unit. that's what this floor is called, the memory unit. and it is true that these people who live here don't remember anything. some of them are in their 60s. some of them are in their 80s. some are. look, i don't belong here at all. this is ridiculous. >> are you able in this facility to move about to leave when you want to, to leave your room when you want to? >> well, i leave my room to order lunch. everything is on this floor. and by the way, i. i have everything right here in the bedroom. because, you know, these people that live here, you know, they're nice people. but that's not my cup of tea at all, like. and it's really expensive where i am $18,000 a month out

of my money. >> wendy telling me she doesn't have control over her day to day life. >> it seems like she's been pretty open, that it's a locked unit, so certainly that could be consistent with a memory care unit for more severe cases of dementia. >> you can call my phone whenever. >> the last time the public heard anything from wendy was a year ago. and lifetime's. where is wendy williams by. >> my real name is wendy hunter. >> hunter. >> you. >> i think a lot of people saw the documentary. that certainly was unflattering, but it looked a lot like addiction. for anyone that knows folks that are addicted to alcohol and drugs. >> wendy's allegations sparking online fury and concern from her fans. >> wendy. wendy wendy. >> williams but wendy's official diagnosis, similar to the one that forced bruce willis to step away from hollywood for good. >> as the disease progresses,

people tend to have both language and behavior symptoms, and then ultimately in the later stages, they will develop memory problems as well. >> do you think you have dementia? >> no. that's what i've been accused of. believe it or not, frontotemporal dementia. how dare you? and i'm not saying you because i've been accused of having that. and how do you prove it? by keeping me locked here so that you can't, i can't see. look, i can't go out there. you have to have keys to open the door, to hit the elevator, to go downstairs. keys. i'm telling you, this is like. this is like being in prison. >> those who know wendy personally, they say she sounds like the old wendy. >> i was actually her legal eagle on her radio show years and years and years ago. and she sounded like the wendy that i know. >> if wendy sounded like she had

no memory, she was ill. she was on some type of drugs. or if she seemed extra lethargic, i would say that because i keep it real. wendy sounds better than she ever has.endy could be one step impact that her court appointed personal attorney is set to file a petition to end the guardianship. >> wendy williams, attorney filing a petition to terminate the guardianship would tell me that her attorney believes they have the evidence to convince a judge that wendy williams is no longer incapacitated. >> when do you think you'll be home? you'll be out of this facility. what say you? >> when do i say you think i want to be in the dying place? these people. i am telling you there is. i am not like any single person here. >> so could wendy williams actually regain her independence? long before personal and medical struggles haunted her. >> how are you doing? oh. >> wendy williams was a

trailblazer, dominating the airwaves. >> whether you loved her or you hated her. wendy williams is iconic. sis had stories. >> and she shared those stories with millions on the wendy williams show. >> here. >> wendy. no celebrity was off limits during her talk show scorching hot topics. >> guess who's jealous of adele? >> oh. >> beyonce. >> i am done. >> with taylor swift. yup yup yup yup yup. >> her show exploding into a cultural phenomenon. >> wendy. wendy. >> her fan base spanning from grandmas and housewives to teenagers. wendy's star continued to rise until cracks in october 2017. >> wendy. >> it was a halloween episode. she was dressed like the statue of liberty and she just wasn't

herself. she started kind of spacing out and then she, like, looks off and collapses right there on air. >> oh, oh. >> it did pass out. but you know what? i'm a champ and i'm back. >> it became super clear she was not okay. >> then a messy divorce, bizarre behavior, and long absences from the set, in part due to complications from graves disease and hypothyroidism. in the summer of 2022, after a 14 year run, the wendy williams show was canceled. wendy's whereabouts are shrouded in mystery around this time. unbeknownst to the world, a judge declared wendy williams incapacitated and put her under guardianship. >> well, we know from wendy williams past is that wells fargo, her bank, noted that there were some irregular transactions. and that started the process of this guardianship. >> wendy's bank, wells fargo, claimed in court documents that wendy was an incapacitated

person and a victim of undue influence and financial exploitation. attorney sabrina morrissey was appointed as her guardian to manage wendy's health and finances. impact reached out to wells fargo, the bank, saying in a statement this matter was conducted under seal. any claims against wls fargo have been dismissed. >> it seems to me that the court has decided to put her under the most restrictive type of guardianship that new york law will allow. >> i think probably the biggest controversy surrounding wendy williams guardianship is that the person who is the executor of her estate essentially is not

even a family member. >> most of wendy's family now call florida home, including her younger brother, tommy williams. he says he wasn't part of the guardianship process. why did the courts intervene as opposed to a family intervening? >> well, i don't know. you know, at this at this particular point, by the time i was pulled in and i had an understanding, they already had a hold of wendy. you know. >> the courts in new york? >> well, i believe so. >> the guardian. >> the guardianship. >> has the guardian ever reached out. >> to you, or to the best of your knowledge, to your sister or to your father? >> i can't speak to anybody else. i'm speaking on my behalf. i truly don't understand it. like, i really. maybe there were parts that i missed. perhaps. maybe somewhere along the legal, you know, tap dance. but i can't seem to grab a hold of. why let the girl go? she's still wendy. she still has life. she still has ambition. you know what kind

of test can she take to, you know, to get through this and show that, you know, she has it and she's ready to go. >> now, in a major twist, wendy's guardian asking the court for wendy to be reevaluated. impact reached out to wendy's guardian, sabrina morrissey, but did not hear back. in a previous statement, an attorney for morrissey told abc news that because the case is under seal, morrissey could not defend herself from the multiple claims against her but denied all wrongdoing, adding that all the court appointed guardian's activities are regulated and supervised by the court. >> a reevaluation for wendy williams could change everything for her in terms of how much care she needs, how many restrictions are put upon her by the guardian, or whether or not a guardianship still needs to be enforced. >> the question of whether she really has dementia or not now may finally be answered. for much more, watch impact by nightline. what's happening with

wendy williams? streaming now on hulu. when we come back, the film that uncovered a long hidden secret. nominated for an oscar. nightline's ocean sing with the filmmaker. >> brought up in an institution like the catholic church, you like the catholic church, you have are you having any fun? ♪ ♪ what you getting out of living? ♪ ♪ who cares for what you've got ♪ ♪ if you're not having any fun? ♪ ♪ are you having any laughs? ♪ ♪ are you getting any loving? ♪ ♪ if other people do, why can't you? ♪ ♪ have a little fun ♪ ♪ and have ♪ ♪ have a little fun ♪ (♪) whenever heartburn strikes, get fast relief with tums. it's time to love food back. also try tums gummy bites!

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share more about this oscar nominated documentary, a powerful portrait of an investigation into abuse and missing children at a mission school for indigenous children in canada. julian brave noisecat and emily kassie. thank you so much for joining us, and welcome to nightline. >> thanks for having us. >> thanks for. >> having us. guys, this is the first academy award nominated film by an indigenous person from north america. what does this nomination mean to you guys? >> i mean, it's the first academy award nominated film by both an indigenous north american director and a jewish canadian director. and we're incredibly proud of this collaboration. and we think that it actually can enlighten people about a foundational cultural genocide that happened right here in north america. >> this is the. origin story of north america. it's the story of how six generations of children were. forcibly separated from their families. >> and assimilated. >> into white culture and faced unimaginable abuse, and yet most of us know nothing about it. so we can't think of a more important time for this story to be told. this film was also executive produced by lily gladstone, who was nominated for

her role in killers of the flower moon. for people who haven't seen the documentary, just what's it all about? well, sugar cane follows a search at an indian residential school. in fact, the very one that julian's family attended and where his father's life began. it follows survivors as they try to make sense of what happened and excavate secrets both below and above the ground in their own lives. julian, when emily came to you with, what did you think? did you. did you know that she was talking about that school, or did you have to do some digging yourself? >> well, so when she reached out to me, she told me that she wanted to collaborate with me on a documentary, generally about indian residential schools. i had to really think about it. and when i got back to her finally to say, you know, hey, about that documentary, i'm open to collaborating with you. that's when she told me that she had identified the school to focus the documentary on the school that my family had been sent to and where, you know, she didn't know this. of course, my father had been born, so there was a real crazy, i think, spiritual connection and story

underlying this. >> it almost feels like fate and a certain way. and the access that you guys got throughout this documentary, also because of your family, is just incredible. let's just take a look at another clip. >> i didn't leave you, son. >> yeah. >> you did. >> what was i supposed to do? and i was lost in a drunk. just going like a madman. and at the time that i told your mom. i don't know what the hell is wrong. i'm. i'm crying my eyes out every day. every day. and i don't know why. >> julian, this clip was just chilling to watch. what was it like being in front of the camera and sharing those moments with your family for this documentary? >> you know, the history of film has not been kind to indigenous peoples in the history of documentary. hasn't been kind either. this is about a people who survived and who maintain a beautiful way of life despite, you know, a century plus of history trying to take it away

from us. >> and guys, this is a story that keeps unfolding. just last month, the cbc reported 114 unmarked graves, possibly at a mission school in ontario. how did you know when to stop filming and get this film actually out in the world? well, we wanted to tell a story not just. >> about the journalistic truth of what happened at these schools, which, you know, our film uncovers for the first time. pattern of infanticide at saint joseph's mission. babies who were born at the school, some fathered by priests, either adopted out into white families, forcibly aborted, and in some cases placed in the school's incinerator to be burned with the trash. and that was a revelatory discovery for us. and so that work needs to continue. and we've seen a real grassroots movement around this film, and we believe that at least survivors are owed the truth. and it starts now. and it starts with this film. >> julian, is there justice in any of this for your community? >> hard to find these days, right? you know, our story is

ultimately about how there's still so much we need to learn about this foundational story for north america. our documentary breaks new ground about the history of one school in canada, which i think begs the question, what might be true for the 138 other schools across canada? >> emily, is there any changes that you hope that this film can elicit? >> well, you know, we've seen a dialog begin to happen within indigenous communities, which is incredible. but we hope that the government and the church open up their records. and, you know, the church hasn't paid their part in any of this. and at least you think maybe there should be some efforts to restore what was taken, like the language and the culture and support for these communities. >> emily and julian, this film was tragic. it was eye opening. it was beautifully done. congratulations on the oscar nomination. and thank you both so much for joining us. >> thank you. >> really appreciate it. >> our thanks to oshin. sugar cane is now streaming on hulu and disney+. up next, you have

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for this evening. catch our full episodes on hulu. we'll see you right back here. same time tomorrow. thanks for the company, america. good night. >> people do not know how to date. >> that's why they come to us. >> as a matchmaker. we're here to help you get your wings on. >> let's get some people married. why are you single? maybe the kind of guys that i go for. you go for hot guys. yeah, it's a pitfall. >> what would you say are like, the top things you're looking for? >> you don't like hairy men, so all muslims are out. what are you talking about? >> this process doesn't have to suck. he's cute. >> make it happen. boo! >> wendy williams facing her new reality. life under guardianship. now. the all new interview with wendy. >> wendy. how are you feeling? >> i'm still in prison, so to speak. >> and the diagnosis of dementia. >> wendy, my next question, if i may. do you think you have dementia? >> no, it's what i've been accused of. believe it or