When it comes to fake television judges, Judith Sheindlin is considered by most to be the cream of
the crop. Despite the immense popularity that she has been able to achieve thanks to her hit show
Judge Judy, it appears that the celebrity judge is somewhat of a controversial figure in real life.
Besides numerous allegations of there being a toxic work environment behind the scene of her
popular programs, Judy has also been sued by her talent agency due to her insane salary demands.
Join Facts Verse as we take a look at Judge Judy secrets that they’ll never show you on TV.
Since 1996, television audiences have known Judith Sheindlin as the celebrity judge behind
the hit program Judge Judy. The program became a massive success soon after its debut, but has
sadly come to an end just recently. Thankfully, the final episode of Judge Judy wasn’t the end of
Judy herself. The celebrity judge has been given a new show, titled Judy Justice, which features much
of the same creative team from Judy’s previous show. This fact comes for better and for worse,
however, as many of these figures have been the subject of allegations from former employees.
There have been numerous allegations made that working on Judge Judy wasn’t a positive
experience for various members of its production staff. It has been alleged that the show had a
toxic work environment replete with racism, sexism, and a generally unmanageable amount
of pressure put upon the team. These accusations have been directed at many high-profile members
of Judy’s staff, including several producers working on her new show.
While none of the allegations have been directed at Judy herself,
they’ve included the insinuation that the celebrity judge might need to exercise her
power more in deciding what kind of behaviors are allowed to be exhibited behind the scenes of her
shows. For her part, the celebrity judge has claimed that she was completely unaware of any
of the alleged behaviors. However, she hasn’t taken any actions against the allegedly toxic
individuals continuing to work on her show now that she has been made aware of them.
Allegations of there being a toxic workplace behind the scenes of Judge Judy have been
around for years, but they are coming to a head now that Judy has moved onto a new show,
is making more money than ever, and is choosing to carry on much of her allegedly problematic
production staff. People are now looking back on the judge’s sketchy history with renewed interest,
and many are wondering if they should tune into Judy’s new show. The targets of the allegations
that have been brought forward include executive producers Randy Douthit and Amy Freisleben,
as well as supervising producer Victoria Jenest. All three parties have denied the
allegations put forward against them and appear to be continuing to work on Judy’s new show.
Randy Douthit was a director and executive producer on Judge Judy that has been carried
over to Judy Justice to continue performing these roles on the new show. The producer has
been accused on various occasions of inappropriate behaviors, including sexual harassment and racism.
It has been alleged that Randy made numerous inappropriate comments to various women
working on the set of Judge Judy and was adamant that the production staff
be picky about how many black people were allowed on. Despite multiple allegations,
Randy has continuously denied that he exhibits these behaviors in the workplace.
The accusations that have been directed at Randy Douthit may be the most severe of the
allegations that have presented against various former members of Judge Judy’s production staff,
but they aren’t the only ones. Numerous employees from the show have alleged that producers Amy
Freisleben and Victoria Jenest encouraged a toxic work environment by drinking on set and forcing
people to ruthlessly compete for job security. In defense of the three producers and Judy herself,
a spokesperson for Judge Judy suggested that Randy, Amy, and Victoria’s long-standing
professional relationship with Judy showed that the work environment behind the scenes of the show
was properly functioning. In their reasoning, if the show was able to function for so many years
under the guidance of these three figures than they must have been doing something right!
These three producers are people that Judy has been working with for many years,
and it makes sense that she’d want to carry her winning production team over to her new show,
despite the rumors of an allegedly problematic work environment on her previous one. It remains
to be seen how the celebrity judge handles the increasing scrutiny that is being directed at
her and her professional compatriots, but the three producers appear to be
continuing to serve the same function on Judy Justice as they did on Judge Judy.
These allegations of a toxic work environment are far from the only surprising secrets that have
been revealed from behind the scenes of Judge Judy, with other secrets including the lawsuit
that came about from the celebrity judge’s hefty salary demands. If you’re enjoying this video so
far, be sure to hit the like button to show your support! Also, subscribe to the channel
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Although none of the aforementioned allegations were directed at Judith Sheindlin specifically,
the celebrity judge was still annoyed by them because they insinuated that she wasn’t exercising
enough control behind the scenes of her show. In response, Judy has called the allegations
ludicrous. If the celebrity judge doesn’t exercise a lot of control behind the scenes of her
programs, it seems that she’s being overpaid! By the time Judge Judy ended its run just recently,
Judy was making nearly $50 million dollars a year! This exuberant salary came as a result
of the celebrity judge making increasingly large demands over the course of her time on the series,
and the staggering figure has made her the highest-paid woman currently on television.
Judy was actually making so much money from Judge Judy that her salary inspired a lawsuit
from her talent agency. Apparently, her talent agency had struck a deal with the CBS network
that a certain amount of money that went into the show had to be given to them.
When the network increased Judy’s salary as a result of her exuberant demands,
they failed to increase the amount of money being allocated to the star’s talent agency.
They were able to get away with this thanks to a loophole. When the talent agency sued,
Judy herself countersued. The lawsuit ended up turning out in the favor of Judge Judy’s
producers, and it was decreed that no one involved in the show had done anything wrong.
Judy is currently 79 years old, and has been at it since she was
in her 50s. The celebrity judge was in her mid-50s when Judge Judy made its 1996 debut,
with the show quickly becoming a massive success. Prior to becoming a celebrity judge,
Judy had been an actual judge working within the family court system of New York City. During her
time as a functioning judge, Judy developed a reputation for her exuberant personality,
and for her lack of patience. Both of these aspects would
later be exaggerated to a comical degree when she started her hit television series.
Although the cases featured on her shows have always been real, Judy was no longer
a real judge by the time she showed up on television. This means that the decisions
made by her on the programs have never represented actual judgments of the law. Instead, Judy’s shows
are merely facsimiles of actual courtrooms. When Judy decrees that a defendant has to pay up some
sum of money, it’s actually the producers of the show paying money to the plaintiff.
While Judy hasn’t been a real judge for some time, all of the cases featured on her shows
have been actual cases brought to small claims court. The producers of her shows scour all
current cases in small claims court looking for ones that would make interesting television and
then proceed to contact those involved to ask them if they’d be willing to drop the case in exchange
for the opportunity to appear on television and make a little bit of money. Of course,
the fact that no one involved in the case will ever end up having to pay any of his or her own
money out of pocket regardless of determining innocence sweetens the deal for candidates.
People are oftentimes surprised to learn that Judy no longer has any affiliation with actual
law enforcement. The same fake formula established on Judge Judy has continued
in full-force on the celebrity judge’s new show, which is being produced by Amazon.
Another aspect of Judy’s television shows that many people might not have ever realized was being
faked is their New York City location. Although clever editing may have led many in the television
audience to believe that Judy’s shows are filmed in the former judge’s native New York City,
the shows are actually filmed on a soundstage in California, like most other television series.
Judy reportedly spends around 52 weeks a year filming episodes. In order to film, the celebrity
judge flies to California from her home on her own private jet. Despite the fact that Judy Justice
continues to fake a New York City setting, Judy hasn’t called the city her home in quite a while.
During the winter months, Judy lives in Florida, while she lives in Connecticut during the summer.
Despite the fact that Judith Sheindlin remains the most popular celebrity judge on all of television,
most of the above information likely came as a surprise to even the biggest fans of the decidedly
controversial figure. Now it’s time to hear from you: did you know that Judge Judy stopped being
a real judge as soon as she got on television, but that all of the cases featured on her shows
have been real? As always, like this video to show your support, subscribe, and hit the notification
bell if you’d like to be among the first to know when more Facts Verse videos are on their
way!