‘Dr. Phil’s 10 Most Controversial Friends, Ranked
In a reality television style stuffed with controversial subjects, few sequence are as notorious as Dr. Phil. Created by Oprah Winfrey and the titular host, Phil McGraw, this sequence premiered greater than a decade in the past and promised viewers a scintillating case of dangerous psychological well being every episode. It provided audiences among the most sensationalized instances that television had ever seen, with the physician ‘counseling’ these individuals with recommendation that even audiences on the time noticed as questionable.
It is simple to view a lot of this present as dangerous looking back, however there was a degree when the overall American viewers noticed Dr. Phil as a real supply of psychological well being knowledge that folks might tune into and study (whereas gasping on the dramatic examples of individuals’s lives falling aside, in fact). The sequence launched increasingly contentious characters because the years went on within the hopes of keeping its viewers tuned in — let’s depend them down now and at last study who, in a franchise constructed by stunning friends, is probably the most controversial of all of them.
10
Levi Johnston – Sarah Palin’s (Virtually) Son-in-Legislation
Most Dr. Phil friends are controversial due to the uniquely tousled conditions that they bring about, however within the case of Levi Johnston, this episode is remembered as messy for an entire different reason: American politics. Johnston was the two-time virtually fiancée of Bristol Palin, daughter of 2008 Vice-President hopeful Sarah Palin, who’d introduced that the pair have been anticipating a child and could be getting married very quickly.
That marriage by no means got here to fruition — even after a second engagement announcement — and Johnston appeared on Dr. Phil to re-affirm to the viewers (who actually hadn’t been questioning him) that he was a great father, and he hoped to re-kindle his relationship with Bristol. Tame when in comparison with the opposite subjects on this present, however as a consequence of its proximity to American politics, that is remembered as one of many wildest instances ever allowed on the present.
9
Treasure – The Woman Who Hated Her Personal Race
The Dr. Phil sequence lives on largely by means of the jokes that fashionable viewers have made out of his extra scandalous interviews, with few receiving extra on-line consideration than the woman who hated her personal race: Treasure. Solely 16 years previous on the time of filming, this teenager claimed to hate the Black group and spent her total section spewing racist stereotypes – regardless of being Black herself.
Humor-inclined viewers see this as a ridiculous episode to make memes from, but many others have referred to as out the host for not solely failing to the touch on the true themes of self-hatred that Treasure was coping with, however turning this minor right into a spectacle for the viewers. Whereas individuals noticed her presence as ridiculous, they nonetheless felt that she was a weak child getting used for views — a dangerous development that would continue in an even more exploitative way.
8
Marianne Encourgaes Her Daughter to Do What!?
Household points have been a continuing theme on Dr. Phil, although few examples have been as disquieting as the connection Marianne had together with her daughter, Miranda. This case had a tragic backstory; after studying that her ex-husband had visited a strip membership earlier than leaving her, Marianne turned fixated on the idea of strippers and have become satisfied that males solely care about ladies in the event that they current themselves as sexual objects.
It is a sentiment that she pushed onto her daughter — together with pressuring the teenager to get breast enlargement surgical procedure. Miranda introduced her mother onto the present within the hopes of unraveling her trauma with males, with Dr. Phil primarily simply calling her ‘loopy’ whereas admonishing her actions (while never getting to the root of them). It was one of the vital cringe-inducing household instances that the present had ever seen, and it highlighted that the great physician was extra centered on criticizing a few of his sufferers slightly than really serving to them.
7
Pastor Thom Is not Who He Says He Is
The thought of ‘Sister Wives’ is a typical one in actuality tv — there’s an entire present devoted to the idea — which Dr. Phil capitalized on it when talking with Pastor Thom and his two wives, Belinda and Reba. Viewers discovered early into the section that Reba was a lot youthful than her two spouses when she revealed that she was 19 years previous and pregnant with Thom’s baby.
This was stunning sufficient for even McGraw himself to name out what a potentially dangerous situation she could be in, with the person concerning themes of grooming and baby abuse that on-line viewers claimed this complete scenario was crammed of. It is nonetheless one of the vital uncomfortable segments the present has ever seen and stands out to audiences as one of many riskiest relationships that the franchise has welcomed on.
6
Nicholas Brendon Storms Off Set
Seeing an individual fall into dependancy is at all times hearbreaking, but it was even worse for 90s youngsters once they noticed Nicholas Brendon, star of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, on Dr. Phil. A childhood of abuse and the horrors of Hollywood set the once-successful actor on a downward spiral of many stays in rehab and several other arrests. Brendon agreed to talk on the present to debate his habits, however each the person and viewers felt uncomfortable with how the physician started aggressively calling out him and his family members whereas making a degree to deliver up Brendon’s very latest arrests.
It was the other of what an individual is supposed to do to somebody struggling, with Brendon storming off set and expressing how the therapy of each him and his assist system was a lot harsher than he’d been informed it might be. It was a distressing time for everybody watching, and it’s nonetheless remembered as one of the vital heartbreaking scenes within the present’s lengthy historical past.
5
Tanya Ramirez Is a Predator…Who Sued Her Sufferer
There comes a degree in each actuality present the place the creators should ask who they’re okay with giving a platform — a query that Dr. Phil by no means appeared to bother itself with. That is evident with the case of Tanya Ramirez, a 29-year-old Texas trainer who got here on the present to debate her lawsuit in opposition to a 17-year-old scholar who, after the pair slept collectively, knowledgeable the remainder of the varsity about their ‘affair.’
Even with the data that the age of consent is 17 in Texas, viewers have been shocked at how Phil did not appear intent on labeling her as a predator and as an alternative turned the section right into a verbal sparring match between Ramirez and the coed’s mom. It was uncomfortable to look at the physician play a largely unbiased third get together who, whereas he did name out Ramirez at instances, by no means appeared that keen about how mistaken her actions have been.
4
Burke Ramsey — Who Okayed This!?
One of the vital well-known instances of true crime is JonBenét Ramsey, the story of a six-year-old whose suspicious 1996 homicide nonetheless confounds detectives and civilian sleuths to today. Accusations have been thrown at her household for many years with many contemplating them to be the culprits, rumors that JonBenét’s brother Burke got here on the Dr. Phil present to dispel — to endlessly creepy outcomes.
Whereas the dialog largely consisted of repeated explanations that the household had been providing for years, most individuals discovered it unnerving due to Burke himself. The person’s fixed smile and unusual approach of phrasing the small print surrounding his sister’s loss of life left audiences unsettled, with many feeling that it served as more evidence against his innocence and making them query why Dr. Phil wasn’t asking about key particulars surrounding the case. This was extra of a disquieting TV particular than the real interview promised, making many individuals query its total objective to today.
3
The Mistreatment of Shelley Duvall
Whereas celeb instances like Nicholas Brendon’s have been sadly not uncommon on Dr. Phil, few had as unsettling of an affect as Shelley Duvall’s. This 2016 interview got here throughout a tough time in The Shining actress’ life; well being problems and trade stress had put Duvall right into a fragile state. Regardless of this, the interview was stuffed with McGraw twisting across the lady’s phrases and needling her to debate her wildest theories — from aliens to secretly-alive celebrities — whereas failing to essentially respect the deeply troubled individual in entrance of him.
It is not solely this interview that has marked this episode as one of the series’ most controversial, however the fallout from it, one which noticed quite a few celebrities and even Duvall’s personal mom name out this system for deceptive audiences and harassing her each on and offscreen for the sake of scores. It was a deeply skewed look into the lifetime of this starlet, and it nonetheless leaves viewers uncomfortable to today.
2
This Is Too A lot for Rachel Hutson
Controversial moments aren’t at all times probably the most damaging, as is proven by means of the surprisingly heartfelt interview Dr. Phil hosted with teenage prisoner, Rachel Hutson. The younger lady had made headlines for killing her mom Thanksgiving morning and sending an image of the physique to her father, hoping to organize the person for extra loss earlier than she took her personal life after years of deep psychological well being issues.
The physician handles his interview with Rachel surprisingly nicely; it takes place in jail and McGraw offers her the prospect to make clear her remorse over her mom’s loss of life. It’s a heartwrenching lesson about mental health from somebody who dedicated one of many greatest errors you ever might, with viewers arguing within the years since whether or not the perception she provided was value placing the highlight on such a clearly fractured individual. Whether or not or not this was the suitable transfer is a query that persists to today, although this questioning would not cease the sequence from bringing one other confirmed assassin to viewers’ screens.
1
Zachary Davis Is a Literal Assassin
Why does Dr. Phil have such a fixation on killer teenagers!? It was a query going by means of each viewer’s thoughts when the present introduced that the physician’s latest ‘affected person’ could be Zachary Davis, a teen convicted to life in jail for killing his mom with a sledgehammer. However whereas Hutson’s was a tearjerking second that explored what might drive somebody to such a horrid act, Davis’ interview went down in historical past as certainly one of the most unsettling moments in reality television.
The younger man’s croaky voice and clean stare unnerved viewers then and now, with Phil shirking his standard deal with sensationalizing his friends to warn viewers that no person feint of coronary heart ought to watch this insidious dialog. He did this whereas making a blanket assertion that some individuals are simply ‘born evil,’ undercutting the entire message of psychological well being that this present was constructed on and creating what is totally the present’s most controversial, terrifying second.
Dr. Phil is accessible to stream on Roku within the US.
