Dr. Phil Fires His Staff After Abuse Allegations
The Dr. Phil program has downsized by laying off 25 workers, which is a coincidence considering the man and his program have been accused of abuse by workers.
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Dr. Phil has announced that the production for his new series has let go of 25 workers. According to a spokesperson for Phil, “Going into season 21, we streamlined production to ensure longevity. As is typical of this process there were some roles we discovered that we could reduce yet still deliver our dynamic, forward-thinking program.” The Dr. Phil program is now one of the longest-running daytime talk shows. However, these layoffs come at a time when the man has been accused of severe abuse allegations. These allegations were brought on by at least a dozen current and former workers who claim they have dealt with “verbal abuse, fear, intimidation, and racism.”
These workers have also accused Dr. Phil of further exploiting guests that have come on his program, especially because they are already in a vulnerable state. Also, at least seven employees have also stated that the Dr. Phil program had made them perpetuate racial stereotypes onscreen. These are some huge allegations. There is no telling if the employees that had been let go are the ones who divulged this information to Buzzfeed, but that would certainly be one way to get rid of those who might cause the talk show to catch some huge negative publicity. Patrick Morris, the lawyer of Phil McGraw, has stated that this story is nothing more than “clickbait.”
Dr. Phil will be entering its 21st season when the talk show premieres on September 12. This new season began taping on August 8. The topic for the premiere has not yet been divulged. The talk show has also been renewed all the way through to May of 2023, which will cover the length of this new season. Should any more allegations begin to pop up, this might be the end of the talk show. The Buzzfeed News story might be the only instance of this workplace treatment, but the article does ask for more people to speak out if they have gone through the same alleged treatment. So far, it does not seem that more people have come forward.
Dr. Phil rose to prominence after being featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show. Oprah had apparently helped the man create his own brand and talk show back in the early 2000s, leaving his program to explode in popularity. Since then, Oprah has gone on to retire from the business, leaving Dr. Phil to create his own empire. However, these allegations could sink that empire quickly if they are found to be true. The world is far different now than it was 10 years ago, so allegations like this could and should be taken seriously. We would assume an investigation might be put into place quite soon.
For now, the Dr. Phil program will start its next season on September 12th. Although the talk show has been renewed for a full new season, we will have to see if anything comes of these allegations against the production. These allegations had been made back in February, and so far, nothing has happened just yet. Should an investigation be ongoing or proposed, things could get quite tricky for the talk show host. We will have to wait and see if anything is to come of these workers stating their issues to Buzzfeed News.
