Following the debut of Judge Joe Brown, the show's namesake judge became a reality TV
star.
But there's been a bunch of real-life drama that has followed him around for years.
Clearly, Brown knows how to make headlines for all the wrong reasons.
Following 15 years on the air, CBS axed Judge Joe Brown in March 2013 due to a salary dispute.
The Hollywood Reporter noted that Brown had been earning $20 million a year, but CBS Television
Distribution was looking to chop the figure down to match falling viewership ratings.
Eventually they pulled the plug altogether, triggering a headline-making meltdown from
the reality TV star.
Cameras caught a seemingly intoxicated Brown boasting about drinking and slamming his old
show.
When two women approached him for a photo, the situation got even more uncomfortable
with the then-66-year-old telling them,
"I need you girls to be my daughters-in-law so you can take care of a man in his old age."
Then he decided to up the creepy factor by adding,
"An old man can be a bad motherf---er.
Oh hell yes.
Make an old man feel like a bad motherf---er."
He concluded with a piece of wisdom, proclaiming:
"Pretty women are insecure.
It's easier to deal with pretty women if you know what to do.
Now you see my 50-year-old wife?
I do not deal with ugly women."
Yikes.
Kinda seems like he shouldn't be dealing with any women with that attitude.
In March 2014, what was supposed to be a regular hearing with Judge Joe Brown representing
a woman in a child support case turned into a scene worthy of reality TV.
Brown had a major outburst inside Tennessee's Shelby County Juvenile Court, which resulted
in him being arrested and charged with five counts of contempt of court.
According to Juvenile Court Chief Magistrate Dan Michael, upon his arrival, Brown took
his sweet time meeting people and campaigning for votes before entering the courtroom.
Brown was running for Shelby County District Attorney at the time.
Following a 20-minute wait, he started complaining to Magistrate Judge Harold Horne about the
delay.
According to Michael, Brown started raising a ruckus that caused a commotion in the courtroom.
Despite repeated warnings that legal action would be taken against him if he didn't quiet
down during his in-court outburst, Brown reportedly escalated his verbal attack against Judge
Horne, questioning his authority and becoming increasingly disrespectful, claiming,
"I don't recall that your name's ever been submitted, sir.
This tribunal on a General Sessions Court's authority is insufficient to establish you.
Therefore, I challenge your authority to hear it."
Horne summoned the bailiffs, and the bizarre exchange saw Horne sentencing Brown to time
behind bars, with additional days being added as he continued making rude comments.
"Out of order?
Who the hell do you think you're talking to?
I've been around you know?"
The tally ended up bringing his sentence up to five days, at which point security officers
removed him from the courtroom.
Brown really should have known better.
Tennessee said buh-bye to Judge Joe Brown in June 2016, when the state's Supreme Court
barred him from practicing law in Tennessee and placed him on disability inactive status.
As it was explained, the verdict was sparked by his diabetes.
Production company Celebritunity stated that the decision was made because, quote:
"Judge Brown is suffering from what hopefully will prove to be a temporary disability as
a result of complications following from Type II Diabetes and the effects of prescribed
medication for the condition combined with hypertension and stress."
The status meant that Brown could not practice law up until the moment he could prove to
the Supreme Court that the disability was no longer present.
Interestingly, Brown reported the issue himself while he had filled out a petition stemming
from his March 2014 court outburst.
This, in turn, meant the petition was suspended indefinitely until he was able to revert back
to active status.
A year after the Tennessee courtroom incident initially took place, local judges refused
to hear Brown's case, and, once it got in front of the Tennessee Court of Appeals, the
initial charges were upheld, sending Brown behind bars for five nights.
As court papers from the appeal explained,
"An attorney was summarily punished for direct criminal contempt.
The attorney appeals, alleging numerous procedural errors and claiming that his actions did not
rise to the level of contemptuous behavior."
The verdict: Brown was out of luck and heading behind bars after all.
This may come as a shock to you at this point but apparently Judge Joe Brown fancies himself
to be quite the remarkable human being.
When he turned himself in to complete his short jail sentence at Shelby County Corrections
Center in late August 2015, he was met by a group of supporters holding signs.
The Emmy Award nominee seemed to let all of the love get to his head, telling WMC Action
News 5,
"I've always been about supporting the people in this county.
That's what they're here to do is support me.
Support me, you support yourself."
His statements became even more outlandish when he was asked how it felt to go from one
side of the law to the other.
"You might have asked [Nelson] Mandela, Martin Luther King, Reverend Lowery, Stokely Carmichael,
you might ask those people that just got arrested in Ferguson what it's all about...Sometimes,
you have to do what you have to do and stand up for justice."
Just a reminder: Mandela spent 27 years in prison, while Brown spent five days locked
up.
The five-day sentence Judge Joe Brown served may have taken place in protective custody
because of the TV star's high profile, but apparently it wasn't up to Brown's standards.
Following his release from jail in early September 2015, Brown told Entertainment Tonight that
"Being inside a jail is like being in the slave warehouse...The problem with being in
a jail is not whether you have TV sets, radios or air conditioning, it's the fact that you're
confined against your liberty."
So after spending five whole days in lockup, Brown's conclusion about jail was that it
took away your freedom, which seems pretty obvious even without serving time.
Turns out Brown was likely being melodramatic, as Sheriff's spokesman Chip Washington painted
a vastly different picture of the conditions Brown had endured behind bars.
Brown maintains that his prison sentence was a farce and that there was no reason for him
to be locked up, with the disgraced judge saying,
"Forty years I've never seen such a circus as they've got down there."
However, he credited his short stint in the slammer with inspiring him, telling Entertainment
Tonight,
"It firmed up in me, when all this stuff was going on, that I've got to come out of retirement
and I've got to do a show again."
"You need people like me."
According to ET, Brown penned a proposal for a show called True Verdict as soon as he got
out, laying out what the foundation of it would be.
"[The Justice System is] no longer concerned so much with controlling crime as it is dealing
with those people who are surplus labor...This country hasn't paid enough attention to making
sure everybody has a job...They get the first felony so you can't vote anymore in life and
you no longer can get a job, so there's a lot of money to be made by locking people
up."
Brown went on explaining the show, adding,
"We aren't doing anything about correcting this problem, and I think it's time that we
develop a national and local leadership that's committed to doing something about it, which
will be, amongst other things, one of the points and topics that will be looked at [on
the new show]."
Sounds noble, but unfortunately, True Verdict would never see the light of day.
When singer SZA told British Vogue she believes that women could be valued members of society
without having to depend on men for their survival, she likely never expected to hear
from one Judge Joe Brown.
But apparently her comments on female empowerment really rubbed him the wrong way.
"Why are you crying?"
So much so that he actually took a break from his busy schedule to Twitter to slam the songstress.
Brown went on the offensive, firing off,
"This's a selfish and foolish brat: while a few females like her aren't able to cope
with MEN, the human race, children and well adjusted REAL WOMEN do need MEN just like
REAL MEN need WOMEN."
He was met with both support and criticism, but defended his original comment when someone
tried to point out that SZA wasn't saying that men are unnecessary, but that we should
not live in a society where one gender is more dominant than the other.
The person added,
"She was empowering women.
You took it out of context."
Brown slammed back, with various statistics ranging from percentages of people born out
of wedlock to graduation rates for males as of 2011.
He added:
"That is the face of 'the problem' and it's not healthy."
As usual, it's not clear if anyone won the Twitter debate but Brown definitely drew a
line about where he stood on the matter.
"The line must be drawn here!
This far and no further!"
Judge Joe Brown may be a thing of the past, but its star still holds the small screen
close to his heart.
Several years after his successful show was cancelled, Brown announced his return to television
in 2019.
But rather than focusing on courtroom drama, his series Hot Topics with Judge Joe would
see the star pushing his opinion on various trending hot topics in more of a talk show
format.
Speaking about his new gig to Programming Insider, Brown boasted,
"This is an intriguing format for me because this time I get to talk with a qualified panel
of other individuals about various topics, everything from breaking news to issues in
pop culture, lifestyle, sex and health...In today's tumultuous political climate, I think
the timing is just right."
Now as for whether or not the Judge actually listens to his panelists is another question.
"You're so inundated with the problem the problem the problem!"
"Listen."
The first episode of Hot Topics was set to debut in February 2019, but, instead, Pacific
Lake Entertainment made a last-minute decision to move it to September.
They explained that it would allow them more time for the show's promotional campaign.
In February 2017, Judge Joe Brown finalized his second divorce and split from his longtime
spouse, Deborah Herron.
The pair was apparently embroiled in a long divorce battle.
What was the hold up?
From the looks of it, the former couple came in with all guns blazing, seemingly nitpicking
over every single item in their possession.
Due to the alleged lack of a prenuptial agreement,
"Prenuptial agreement…"
"PRENUPTIAL AGREEMENT!"
The couple had to decide who would get what and it seems like things got seriously petty
in court.
According to the final settlement, Brown was reportedly awarded a Tennessee home, four
luxury cars, as well as a leather reclining chair.
Meanwhile, his ex-wife allegedly walked away with all of their exercise equipment, as well
as a sweet $2,219 each month in spousal support.
A house and four cars versus exercise equipment?
We'll let history decide which of the former spouses came out on top there.
White Station High School in Memphis, Tenn. made headlines in September 2019 by foregoing
the traditional titles of Homecoming King and Queen.
Instead, the school created a new, gender-neutral title, Homecoming Royalty.
Student Brandon Allen, who identifies as gay, was the lucky winner and walked up on stage
to accept the prize wearing a gold sequin dress.
It was a beautiful moment of acceptance and fellow students sure seemed to appreciate
the inclusive change.
Judge Joe Brown, however, did not share in that sentiment.
So much so that he felt the need to voice his disapproval on Twitter, because, presumably,
he assumed that everyone was waiting to hear his opinion on the matter.
"I am embarrassed that I have spoken to assemblies there...I salve my conscience by remembering
that few if any of the current students were there when I last spoke to them."
Brown's comments were met with both support and criticism, with one person writing,
"I'm certain they are now embarrassed that they had you speak to assemblies there.
Shame on you for using your public forum to shame a teenager."
There's nothing wrong with having an opinion, but maybe you don't need to weigh in on every
topic, Judge.
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