FORMER DR.
PHIL GUESTS ARE NOW SPEAKING OUT AGAINST THE SHOW,
ALLEGING THAT THE SHOW'S STAFF ENABLED THEIR DRUG ADDICTION OR
ALCOHOL ADDICTION IN AN EFFORT TO GAIN RATINGS FOR THE PROGRAM.
TODD HERZOG IS ONE EXAMPLE THAT WAS DETAILED IN STATNEWS.COM, IN
ADDITION TO THE BOSTON GLOBE THEY PUBLISHED A REPORT THAT WAS
ILLUMINATING, HOWEVER THE STAFF AT DR.
PHIL CLAIMED THAT NONE OF
IT IS TRUE, THEY ARE DENYING ALL OF IT, NONETHELESS I WANT TO
GIVE YOU THE DETAILS OF WHAT IS BEING ALLEGED.
TODD HERZOG WAS
ON DR.
PHIL'S SHOW BECAUSE OF AN ALCOHOL ADDICTION AND HE CLAIMS
THAT AFTER HE TRAVELED TO LOS ANGELES TO BE ON THE SHOW HE
WENT INTO THE GREEN ROOM AND FOUND A BOTTLE OF VODKA THERE,
HE ALSO CLAIMED HE WAS GIVEN DRUGS RIGHT BEFORE HE WENT ON
AIR.
TAKE A LOOK AT WHAT HE HAS TO SAY.
>>I SHOW UP TO THE STUDIOS AND I'M SOBER, I'M HURTING A LOT AND
I'M SHAKING, MY DAD WAS THERE AND I TALKED TO HIM IN HIS
DRESSING ROOM AND I WAS COMPLETELY SOBER.
THEN THEY
PULLED ME INTO MY DRESSING ROOM AND THERE WERE TWO LEADERS OF
VODKA AND SOME RED BULLS AND AND ORANGE JUICE AND STUFF LIKE
THAT.
BEING UNSUPERVISED BY MY PARENTS I DRANK THE ENTIRE
BOTTLE.
AND THEN AT SOME POINT SOMEBODY GAVE ME A XANAX, THEY
SAID THIS WILL CALM YOUR NERVES.
SO I HAD BEEN DRINKING AND TOOK
A XANAX, AND I HAD NEVER TAKING XANAX BEFORE MY LIFE, I KNOW
THAT CAN BE A DEADLY COMMENDATION.
>>TODD, DR.
PHIL.
>>NEXT THING YOU KNOW I'M BEING CARRIED ONTO THE STAGE.
>>HOW DRUNK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?
>>I HAD AN ENTIRE BOTTLE OF VODKA.
>>.263.
>>WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN TO YOU IF YOU KEEP TRICKING LIKE
YOUR DRINKING?
>>I'M GONNA DIE.
>>HERZOG SAID HE SHOWED UP TO THE STUDIOS SOBER, HIS FATHER
WAS WITH HIM AND HAS CORROBORATED THAT, AND HERZOG
SAYS THAT HE FOUND THE ALCOHOL IN THE DRESSING ROOM.
ALSO
ACCORDING TO THIS REPORT --
>>NOW, PEOPLE ARE USUALLY TRAVELING FROM OUT OF STATE IN
ORDER TO BE ON THE SHOW, AND FOR ABOUT TWO DAYS THEY DON'T HAVE
ACCESS TO WHATEVER DRUG THEY ARE ADDICTED TO, SO THEY WILL SUFFER
FROM EXTREME WITHDRAWALS, AND ACCORDING TO THIS ONE
ALLEGATION, WHILE ONE PERSON WAS SUFFERING WITHDRAWAL ONE OF THE
PRODUCERS OR STAFF MEMBERS DIRECTED HER TO GO FIND HEROIN
AT ONE SPECIFIC PLACE.
>>I DON'T LIKE THE EXPLOITATION ON THAT SHOW OVERALL.
PEOPLE
HAVE DIFFERENT VIEWS, SOME PEOPLE WILL TELL YOU THAT DR.
PHIL HAS HELPED THEM A LOT, FOR THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN ON THAT
SHOW.
THE AUDIENCE OBVIOUSLY LIKES IT, HE'S HIGHLY RATED,
HE'S THE HIGHEST-PAID TV PERSONALITY IN THE COUNTRY.
YOU
KNOW HOW MUCH HE MAKES?
$79 MILLION A YEAR.
WOW, RIGHT?
SO
THERE'S A LOT OF MONEY ON THE LINE HERE.
I DON'T LIKE THE
CARNIVAL ATMOSPHERE.
HE WILL UPBRAID HIS GUESTS IN THE
AUDIENCE WILL CHEER, IT FEELS LIKE WE ARE BACK AT THE
COLISEUM.
LIKE, OH, YOU CARRY THE GUY OUT AND WE ALL DO A
LITTLE BIT OF SCHADENFREUDE, WE ALL JUDGE A LITTLE BIT, AND
YEAH, SOMEBODY IS YELLING AT HIM, TELLING HIM TOUGH LOVE AND
TO STRAIGHTEN UP.
I KNOW IT'S A MIXED BAG, I'M SURE HE'S HELPED
SOME PEOPLE.
HE SAYS I'M GOING TO STAY IN YOUR LIFE FOREVER.
REALLY?
ALL THOSE GUESTS, ALL THOSE YEARS, DR.
PHIL IS GOOD
FRIENDS WITH THEM AND HAS STAYED IN THEIR LIVES FOREVER?
I WOULD
BE SURPRISED.
MARTIN GREENBERG, A PSYCHOLOGIST WHO IS THE SHOW'S
DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, SAYS THAT THIS STORY ABOUT HERZOG IS
UNEQUIVOCALLY UNTRUE.
IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT LOGICALLY, HOW
DID HE GET THAT DRUNK RIGHT BEFORE THE SHOW?
>>YEAH.
AND ALSO, THERE WERE SOME CONTRADICTIONS IN THAT
STATEMENT, IN THAT AT FIRST THE WASHINGTON POST -- I'M SORRY,
THE BOSTON GLOBE AND STAT NEWS WERE TOLD THAT EVERY GUEST IS
WITH A PROFESSIONAL BEING MONITORED THE ENTIRE TIME, SO IF
THAT WERE THE CASE THEN THAT PERSON WOULD FIND THE ALCOHOL
AND STOP HERZOG FROM DRINKING IT, AND LATER ON RECANTED THAT
STATEMENT.
I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE TRUTH IS, WE AREN'T
INVESTIGATORS, BUT AT THIS POINT SEVERAL PEOPLE HAVE COME FORWARD
AND SAID NO, THERE'S BEEN SOME ENABLING GOING ON, AND THE
SUSPICION IS THAT THAT ENABLING TAKES PLACE BECAUSE IT CREATES
THE DRAMA YOU SEE ON THE SHOW.
>>THEY DON'T GET GOOD RATINGS BECAUSE THEY ARE HELPING PEOPLE.
THERE ARE A LOT OF ORGANIZATIONS THAT HELP PEOPLE THAT DON'T HAVE
TV SHOWS AND WOULDN'T GET RATINGS.
THEY GET RATINGS
BECAUSE PEOPLE GET TO FEEL LIKE WE GET TO SHAME THAT PERSON, AND
IT JUST BOTHERS ME TO MY CORE.
BUT A LOT OF TV SHOWS DO.
I
CAN'T STAND THE BIGGEST LOSER.
THEY MAKE THEM TAKE THEIR SHIRTS
OFF AND JUDGE AND JUDGE UNDER THE GUISE OF HELPING THEM, AND
I'M SURE SOME PEOPLE THEY HELP, BUT IT'S NOT FOR ME, IT
MAKES ME SICK TO MY STOMACH.
>>IT'S THE REASON A LOT OF REALITY SHOWS DO AS WELL AS THEY
DO.
I THINK IT'S MORE A COMMENTARY ON SOCIETY AND WHAT
PEOPLE WANT TO SEE THAN ANYTHING ELSE.
PEOPLE LIKE TO SEE TRAIN
WRECKS, PEOPLE LIKE TO SEE OTHERS IN A TRAGIC SITUATION FOR
SOME REASON.
IT WAS TRUE OF A LOT OF TALKSHOWS THAT I
EXPERIENCED GROWING UP.
>>WE KNOW WHY.
BECAUSE IT MAKES THEM FEEL A LITTLE BETTER ABOUT
THEMSELVES.
>>WE ARE ALL BULLIES IN SOME WAY, IT'S KIND OF SAD.
>>IT'S TRUE, AND ALLOWS US TO LAUGH AT OTHER PEOPLE.
AND THAT
MAKES ME CRINGE.
SO IN SOME WAYS IT'S EMOTIONAL PORN, AND TO ME
THAT'S DEEPLY PROBLEMATIC.
SO NO MATTER WHO IS RIGHT IN THIS
STORY, THE OVERALL TENOR OF THE SHOW IS KIND OF LIKE, WHILE
PRETENDING TO HELP SOMEONE, A LITTLE BIT OF HA-HA.
AND
DRAGGING HIM OUT THERE IN THAT SHAPE, YOU CAN'T JUSTIFY THAT
UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE.
YOU KNOW YOU ARE DOING IT FOR THE
RATINGS, WHY DON'T YOU BRING HIM TO A HOSPITAL?
DR.
PHIL SAID IN
THAT SHOW, I'VE NEVER TALKED TO A GUEST WHO WAS CLOSER TO DEATH.
THEN BRING HIM TO THE HOSPITAL INSTEAD OF TROTTING ABOUT FOR
RATINGS.