Wendy Williams Will Be Deposed in Lifetime Documentary Case amid Dementia (Exclusive)

A new ruling has been made in the ongoing battle over Lifetime’s documentary about Wendy Williams.

According to court documents obtained by PEOPLE, a judge issued an order on Sept. 15 to extend the stay of the legal proceedings against A&E Television Networks while Williams’ separate guardianship case is reviewed. A joint letter updating the court on the status of that case must be submitted by Nov. 5.

Additionally, the judge granted A&E’s request to depose the former talk show host, 61, which must take place by Nov. 4. This will be a “de bene esse” deposition, which occurs “in anticipation of future need” when a witness’ ability to testify later on might decline due to circumstances such as “age, health, fading memory,” for example.

The ruling cites Williams’ 2023 diagnosis of primary progressive aphasia and frontotemporal dementia, which has contributed to keeping the television personality under a guardianship despite her many denials that she is “cognitively impaired.”

Her current guardian is Sabrina Morrissey, who filed the lawsuit against A&E and is awaiting a decision from the judge in the guardianship case to determine whether she will remain in her role and if Williams still requires a guardian following a new medical evaluation.

Still, the judge states in the new ruling that Williams’ “condition does not insulate her from providing testimony in this case” because the Federal Rules of Evidence “does not contain any requirement of mental ability” for witnesses.

“It will be up to the jury in this case to decide what weight to give to [Williams’] deposition testimony,” per the docs.

The court also listed parameters for the deposition, including limiting it to three hours, allowing Williams to testify remotely and restricting people in the room to no more than two attorneys in this case and one of Williams’ attorneys in her guardianship case.

The deposition will further be conducted at a date and time that is convenient for Williams and that accommodates her medical condition, including sufficient breaks and spanning no more than three days.

A source exclusively tells PEOPLE that “the attorneys suing A&E said at a Sept. 5 hearing that the docuseries was so horrific that it could no longer be found on the air anywhere. Attorneys for A&E later admitted that they had taken the series down, claiming it was out of respect for the legal proceedings.”

In August, Williams’ guardianship was upheld after doctors determined an “opinion” of her neurological condition and status following completion of a new medical evaluation — which included a “significant number of tests (both medical and neuropsychological) and scans (including brain imaging),” according to docs obtained by PEOPLE.

An attorney for Morrissey requested an extension of the stay to Nov. 3 for a ruling on Williams’ guardianship. The attorney also alleged that “complications have arisen” because various parties, including “counsel for certain members of [Williams’] family, [Williams’] ex-husband, and others, have indicated their intention to challenge both the Guardianship itself as well as Ms. Morrissey’s status as Guardian.”

In February 2024, Williams’ medical care team revealed that she had been diagnosed with progressive aphasia and FTD. The same day, Morrissey filed the lawsuit against A&E seeking to halt the release of their documentary, Where Is Wendy Williams?. 

She argued that Williams did not have the mental capacity to agree to participate in the program, but the effort was denied by the court.

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Then, in November 2024, Morrissey claimed Williams was “cognitively impaired, permanently disabled and legally incapacitated,” according to court documents obtained by PEOPLE. Three months later, Williams denied she was “incapacitated” during a Feb. 5 appearance on The Breakfast Club, and Morrissey requested a “new medical evaluation.”