TV hosts might put a lot of sweat and tears into their shows, but rumor has it they sometimes
forget to appreciate the hard working people behind the scenes.
Of course, fame could easily go to anyone's head, but these horrific stories prove that
some television hosts really cross the line.
Dr. Phil
Dr. Phillip McGraw has long been rumored to be a fraud and a tyrant.
His staff has gone on record to say that he not only terrorizes them but the guests as
well.
A source told Perez Hilton, "You can feel the fear on the set.
There seems to be a reason he hires a nearly all female staff…he seeks out the vulnerable
type of person that's reliant on their paycheck from him so they don't fight back."
But former segment director Leah Rothman recently filed a lawsuit against Dr. Phil and CBS claiming
"False imprisonment, whistleblower retaliation, wrongful termination and intentional infliction
of emotional distress."
According to The Daily Beast, Rothman was called into work on her day off and escorted
into a small room with 300 other employees and security.
They were then all locked inside while Dr. Phil threatened the crew into giving up the
rat who allegedly leaked information about an exclusive interview with Bobbi Kristina
Brown's boyfriend, Nick Gordon.
This wasn't the first lawsuit Dr. Phil had been confronted with, and it sounds like it
won't be the last.
Tyra Banks
We've all seen Tyra Banks act like a bit of a diva, but it seems the talk show host is
much worse off-camera.
After The Tyra Banks Show wrapped for good, past crew members on the show started speaking
out.
A source revealed to the New York Daily Mail, "There had been a high turnover of employees
for years…She and the higher-ups on the production staff could be extremely brutal."
Reports surfaced while The Tyra Banks Show was still airing that Banks held a holiday
party for her employees at a dive bar in New York City, without any food: fights broke
out, people got sick on the dance floor, and one woman was even sent to the hospital.
A source revealed Banks showed up to the party late, and "Told staffers, who relocated from
LA to New York for her, 'I want to thank you guys for working so hard.
I have a special guest, here's Santa!'"
The source then explained the staff rushed over to a man dressed as Santa expecting to
receive a holiday bonus.
They were instead gifted burgers from McDonald's.
Chelsea Handler
Best known for Chelsea Lately, Chelsea Handler can now be found all over Netflix.
But she didn't inform her co-stars she'd be leaving her late show — and comedian regular
Heather McDonald is no longer keeping quiet about it.
During an interview on Theo Von & Matthew Cole Weiss' podcast, Allegedly, McDonald spoke
about her time on the show saying, "I lived in fear, 100 percent lived in fear.
I enjoyed my time there, I was happy, but something could happen and my heart would
be beating and I'd be like 'is this it?'"
McDonald described how Handler treats the relationships in her life saying, "She makes
you feel so special until you're not."
Lisa Sundstedt, a former writer for Chelsea Lately, backed up McDonald's statements in
an exclusive with Radar Online.
Sundstedt called Handler her best friend when she first started working for the show.
But when Sundstedt left, things changed.
She said, "I left the show to go do another job and [Chelsea] got very busy and she got
famous...Her show...blew up and she just didn't respond to any of my emails anymore."
Wendy Williams
The Wendy Williams Show, is known for odd rules behind the scenes, as reported by the
New York Daily News.
For example, no one on her staff can be taller than Williams.
Prettier, yes.
Taller than William's 6 feet, no.
This rule also pertains to guests on the show.
An insider explained, "One woman who was on once was never invited back, because the woman
was actually taller than Wendy…Wendy needs to be the tallest lady on set at all times."
The insider also revealed Williams' crew is nearly entirely made up of men as the host
can get, quote, "weird" around other ladies.
Williams also seems to have a bit of a jealousy streak — the moment she finds out an expert
has done an appearance elsewhere, these guests are never invited back.
One of these experts told the New York Daily News about her experience, saying, "I had
been a regular guest on Wendy for over a year, but when I started doing other shows they
stopped inviting me back.
It is not like Wendy pays me or has some sort of exclusive contract with me.
And she isn't GMA or Today.
Now she is left with all the not-tall experts that the big shows don't want."
Paula Deen
Many were shocked when Paula Deen was accused of using racial slurs on set of her show,
Paula's Home Cooking.
But it soon became public the TV host had a long history with racism.
Aside from playing host on TV, Deen also owned a restaurant in Savannah and the reports coming
from some of her staff members are beyond shocking.
A former general manager of the restaurant filed an official lawsuit in 2012 with claims
that African American employees were only allowed to use the back entrance to the restaurant,
and were required to use the bathroom in the back as well, separate from white employees
and customers.
Additionally, African American employees weren't allowed to go to the front of the restaurant
for any reason, and were paid less than white employees.
Since Deen has admitted to using the racial slur, many of her employees have come forward
with their own experiences with the host, and they are all far from pleasant.
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