Wendy Williams is scheduled to appear at designer LaQuan Smith’s New York Fashion Week show Tuesday night after attending a Dennis Basso preview, Page Six reported Monday.
Williams, the former daytime talk show host who has been under a guardianship since 2022, has made several public appearances during NYFW. Page Six said she was at Bach Mai’s show on Sunday with CFDA CEO Steve Kolb and attended Basso’s presentation on Monday, and that LaQuan Smith invited her to his show and she accepted. A source told Page Six that Smith plans to dress Williams and "give her a look."
At the Dennis Basso presentation, Page Six reported, Williams arrived with restauranteur friend Max Tucci and her niece, news anchor Alex Finnie, accompanied by Finnie’s fiancé, Eric Houston. The outlet described Williams as wearing a yellow short suit and said she spent time talking with designer Basso and former regular Baruch Shemtov. An attendee quoted by Page Six said Basso escorted her around and that younger onlookers were taking pictures.
Friends and insiders quoted by Page Six said attending NYFW has been part of Williams’s effort to reengage with public life. One source told the outlet that Williams has expressed a desire to return to simple social pleasures — "to go get bagels and lox" — and to be "back in society." The report also noted that Williams has been practicing sewing while at the assisted living facility where she is currently housed, according to a person familiar with her routine.
Despite the public outings, Page Six reported that Williams has no interest in returning to television as a talk show host, according to people close to her. Her power attorney, Joe Tacopina, told Page Six that Williams remains focused on efforts to end her guardianship and to expose what she has described as an "abusive system."
LaQuan Smith’s invitation and Williams’s planned front-row appearance were first reported by Page Six; representatives for Williams, Smith and the designers did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The appearances mark a series of high-visibility outings for Williams during this season’s shows and underscore the role fashion week has played in her recent public reemergence.
The coming days will show how prominently Williams features in NYFW events this week. Her public schedule, as reported, focuses on fashion appearances rather than television work while she continues legal and personal efforts outside the media spotlight.