Wendy Williams Enjoys Dinner With Don Lemon After Hiring Celebrity Attorney Joe Tacopina

Wendy Williams‘ guardianship battle is still underway, but recently, she got to enjoy a much-needed outing alongside family and friends. The beloved former talk show host hit up an Italian restaurant in Greenwich Village yesterday (April 10), joined by her niece Alex Finnie. Don Lemon and his husband Tim Malone also came along, and everybody appeared to be in good spirits.

The same thing couldn’t be said for the day prior, when Williams’ request to leave the assisted living facility she’s staying at was denied. TMZ reports that she had plans to go to dinner with Finnie and Joe Tacopina, her new lawyer. He’s previously represented the likes of Meek Mill, Michael Jackson, Donald Trump, and more. Most recently, he gained media attention for helping ASAP Rocky secure a not guilty verdict in his assault case. His goal is to put an end to Williams’ guardianship, which she continues to insist she doesn’t need.

Reportedly, the guardianship itself also reached out to Tacopina to represent it before he chose to represent the personality. It’s wrapped up in a lawsuit against A&E over the controversial docuseries Where Is Wendy Williams?, which Williams says she doesn’t want to pursue. During a conversation with TMZ earlier this month, Tacopina broke down his involvement in her case.

“The end goal is to get her out of that draconian institution she’s in,” he explained. “She doesn’t belong in [it], because she’s not incapacitated in any way, shape, or form. […] She’s in a place where people are dangers to themselves. She’s not. […] So the goal, end game, is to make sure she gets out of there. How it’s done honestly doesn’t matter to me. Now, I spoke to Wendy at length yesterday. She wants me to represent her. I am representing her. Her family has asked me to represent her. I’m her personal attorney. Now, it doesn’t mean I’m in the guardianship case yet. And I’m not because the judge has to approve any lawyer coming into the guardianship.”