Wendy Williams has retained high-profile legal professional Joe Tacopina as her private lawyer to combat to finish her court-ordered guardianship.
Tacopina is thought for representing notable figures, together with A$AP Rocky throughout his gun assault trial final February and Meek Mill in his epic probation battle.
In an interview with TMZ on April 3, the lawyer confirmed that he’s actively working to achieve entry into the authorized proceedings overseeing Williams’ guardianship.
Tacopina emphasised that his main purpose is to safe Williams’ launch from the New York facility the place she has been confined.
He described her present residing situations as inappropriate for her psychological state, stating that she is just not incapacitated and doesn’t belong in an establishment designed for people who’re unable to take care of themselves.
“She’s in a ward the place folks don’t know their names, the place folks don’t know between a purple mild and a inexperienced mild,” Tacopina stated. “I imply, she’s in a spot the place individuals are a hazard to themselves. She’s not. She will’t depart there on her personal to go get a cup of espresso.”
Joe Tacopina, most lately often known as ‘ASAP Joe’, joins Wendy Williams’ authorized staff as her private legal professional in her combat to be free of her guardianship
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Whereas Tacopina has been retained as Williams’ private legal professional, he has but to formally enter the guardianship case on account of authorized limitations.
“The choose has to approve any lawyer coming into the guardianship,” he defined, noting that that is an impediment he’s ready to problem.
Tacopina has already begun submitting motions to achieve entry to the case, with extra authorized choices and better courts obtainable ought to his entry be denied.
“There’s a course of in play,” he stated. “If the choose, for some motive, doesn’t enable us into the guardianship matter as Wendy’s counsel of alternative, which just about sounds ridiculous, however they may try to argue that she doesn’t have the wherewithal or the skills to choose her personal counsel, which is clearly foolish. But when they did, we’d take an interlocutory attraction, or we may go so far as doing one thing known as an Article 78, which is definitely suing the choose in a Supreme Court docket in New York State.”
Tacopina confused the scenario’s urgency, asserting that Williams is being unjustly held in a facility the place she doesn’t belong.
He refuted claims that she suffers from Frontotemporal dementia, attributing previous considerations about her well being to struggles with alcoholism, which he says she has since overcome.
He additionally highlighted that Wendy Williams has carried out properly on medical evaluations, additional supporting his argument that she doesn’t want a guardian.
This authorized battle comes amid a rising social media motion advocating for Williams’ freedom.
Followers have launched a #FreeWendy marketing campaign, which has gained traction throughout social media platforms, calling for the termination of her guardianship.
The marketing campaign has mobilized protests in each New York and Los Angeles, with supporters demanding an finish to what they describe as her unjust confinement.
Protests occurred on April 1 exterior Coterie Hudson Yards in New York and at Williams’ Hollywood Stroll of Fame star in Los Angeles. Organizers declare that Williams plans to point out help for the motion from inside her assisted residing facility.
The push for Williams’ independence has additionally been echoed by her household, who’ve overtly criticized the guardianship. They’ve launched a GoFundMe marketing campaign to boost $50,000 to cowl authorized bills and help her combat for autonomy.
Wendy Williams, who has been beneath guardianship since 2022, has constantly maintained that she is mentally sound and must be allowed to handle her personal affairs.
Tacopina’s involvement marks a major shift in her authorized technique as she intensifies her combat to regain management over her life.
“The underside line is, she must get out of there, and sooner slightly than later,” Joe Tacopina said. “Day by day she spends there’s a travesty of justice.”
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