Once a celebrity has spent years entertaining the masses, it can be easy for their fans to start to feel like they will always remain in the spotlight. Of course, logically speaking, every celebrity’s career will eventually end. However, there still is no doubt that it is jarring when fans are left wondering what happened to Gene Hackman after he suddenly disappears from the spotlight after deciding to retire.

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Just like Gene Hackman, after decades of entertaining and informing the masses, Barbara Walters decided to retire. Of course, Walters certainly deserved to retire after she put so much time and effort into her career so she could spend more time with her beloved daughter. Still, it is perfectly natural for people who watched her on TV for many years to miss Walters. With that in mind, it begs two questions, where is Walters today and what is she up to?

Where Does Barbara Walters Live?

During Barbara Walters’ legendary career, it often seemed like there were two things that she cared about most. First off, Walters wanted to make sure that her broadcast journalist peers and viewers alike saw her as a highly credible and professional person. Secondly, it seemed very clear that Walters wanted a major part of her legacy to be paving the way for female journalists and TV hosts to find similar success.

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Of course, on top of becoming one of the most respected journalists in the world and making space for women in television, Walters’ incredible career allowed her to become extremely rich. In fact, according to celebritynetworth.com, Walters has a truly impressive $170 million fortune. As a result of her impressive fortune, Walters was able to buy a lavish New York City apartment. According to a report, Walters spends most of her time in that NYC apartment.

Is Barbara Walters Still Living?

Thanks to Barbara Walters’ lengthy career, she was able to prove how smart and strong she was as a human being over and over again. Of course, nobody is perfect and Walters certainly made some mistakes but above all else, it has to be noted that Walters always worked hard to inform the masses. With all of that in mind, it should go without saying that when Walters retired, everyone wanted her to enjoy her twilight years.

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Sadly, based on all of the reports about the current state of Barbara Walters’ life, it is impossible to say that everything is going great for the TV legend. Instead, just like a lot of other people before and after her, Walters reportedly is suffering from dementia and the disease has changed her life in a big way.

In 2013 and 2014, Barbara Walters and Jenny McCarthy co-hosted The View together. Since they worked together five days a week during that time, Walters and McCarthy developed a relationship which is why Jenny kept tabs on Barbara after the latter retired. In 2020, McCarthy gave an update on Barbara’s life and health when she spoke to Us Weekly about the subject.

“I heard that she’s in a place of not doing great, and I just talked to Sherri Shepherd about it and we’re sending some cards over to her.” While it obviously was disheartening to learn that Barbara Walters wasn’t doing well at that time, McCarthy made sure to point out that she is a very strong human being. “That woman is a juggernaut that’ll just keep going no matter what.”

When Us Weekly published their report about Jenny McCarthy’s aforementioned comments, they got a quote from Barbara Walters’ representative about the story. In response, Walters’ representative painted a very different picture of the legend’s life. “I see her every two to three weeks and she’s doing just fine.”However, in 2019, Radar Online published a report about the state of Walter’s life that confirms what McCarthy later said.

According to Radar Online, Barbara Walters was no longer able to recognize some close friends by 2019 including Whoopi Goldberg. Worse yet, Radar Online reported that someone with knowledge of Walters’ life at that time revealed how limited her existence had become. “Walters spends most of the day looking out of her windows. It’s all very sad.” “Sadly, her dementia has been getting worse. Her caretakers give her the opportunity to make everyday decisions, but more often than not she’ll stare at them blankly.”

Given the fact that Barbara Walters’ representative has habitually denied that her life has been dramatically changed due to dementia, there is no way to confirm those reports. However, given that one of Walters’ former co-hosts confirmed that things were going downhill, it seems very likely that is the case. On top of that, if Walters’ mental state was still sharp, why has it been many years since she was last seen in public? Assuming that the 2019 and 2020 reports about Walters are accurate, things must have gone further downhill by now since dementia only gets worse over time.

Next: What Has Barbara Walters Been Up To Since Leaving ‘The View’?