![]() ![]() "They continuously make me look good."īut court records tell a different story. ![]() ![]() "I am probably the luckiest on-air personality in the history of television to have had Randy Douthit and Amy Freisleben shepherd my program for over two decades," Sheindlin told Deadline in September. Still, she continued to employ Douthit, Jenest, and Freisleben, and the trio will continue to produce "Judy Justice" for Amazon. Former employees told Insider that Sheindlin exercised minute control over the production, and they believed she was aware of many of the accusations against Douthit and of the way her staff was treated. Many of the accusations were made in public lawsuits filed by former employees going back to the early 2000s until 2008, all of which named the show as a defendant and were reported in the media at the time. They accused Douthit and his deputies - the supervising producer Victoria Jenest and the co-executive producer Amy Freisleben - of fostering a workplace culture in which staffers were pitted against one another, threats of termination were frequent, drinking during work hours was not unusual, cases were manipulated to artificially increase the drama, and a vicious contempt for litigants who appeared before Sheindlin was common.ĭo you have a story about "Judge Judy" or another television show? Contact reporter Nicole Einbinder. The former employees who spoke to Insider described an unrelenting high-pressure environment behind the scenes at the show. An Insider investigation involving interviews with 16 former "Judge Judy" employees, as well as a review of thousands of pages of court records, has found that Sheindlin's long-standing executive producer and director Randy Douthit has repeatedly been accused of sexually harassing employees, making inappropriate sexual comments to female staffers, offering preferential treatment to staffers he found attractive, and ordering junior producers to bring fewer Black litigants on the show. If we settle for mediocrity, we get what we deserve."īut some of Sheindlin's former colleagues, dating back to the mid-aughts until the show wrapped, say she failed to hold the line against racism, sexual harassment, and abuse at her own show. "I'm unafraid to call out irresponsible, un-American behavior. "I bring eyeballs because, at least for one hour a day, people see that someone is holding the line," she said. In a recent New York Times interview, Sheindlin said that while her robe would change color for the new show - from black to a deep maroon - she intended to keep the legacy of the original production going, including her hard-nosed, moralizing style. The deal was reportedly the largest-ever first-season order of a single show by a streamer. Amazon quickly stepped in, paying Sheindlin an estimated $25 million for 120 new episodes of "Judy Justice," which the company hopes will serve as a cornerstone of its IMDb TV free streaming service. She brought in a whopping $47 million a year for just 52 days a year of filming at CBS, and she has held onto the sort of cultural cachet that has eluded many of her contemporaries.įollowing a public dispute with CBS - said to be over money and, improbably, Drew Barrymore's talk show - "Judge Judy" wrapped in spring of this year. The 5-foot-2 family-court judge - known for her black robe, lace collar, and acid tongue - has been doling out tough-love legal verdicts since the Clinton administration, and the approach has paid off. Judith Sheindlin occupies a nearly divine perch in television. Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders. ![]()
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