‘WAR ZONE’

‘Dr. Phil’ Staffers Say Brutal Workplace Culture Worthy of ‘Nightmares’

One former employee said staffers were told to make sure an upcoming guest would be off her medication when she appeared on the show so she would “look unstable.”

Current and former staffers of the Dr. Phil show have likened the show’s control room to a “war zone.” In interviews with BuzzFeed, a dozen current and former anonymous staffers of the show said it was toxic behind the scenes, so much so that it gave at least one employee “nightmares.” An executive producer would scream at staffers, particularly low-level ones, threatening to fire them and calling them names, according to the report. “It was traumatizing. It was the worst hour of your life,” one former employee was quoted saying. Nearly all of those employees told BuzzFeed that working on the show had actively damaged their mental health. “Everyone was just pretty miserable. You would walk into the building and there was just a palpable dread and anxiety,” another former employee said. Seven employees said they were encouraged to perpetuate racist stereotypes on the show, while one said they were “specifically instructed” to make sure an upcoming guest would be off her medication so she would “look unstable.” Lawyers for both Phil McGraw and executive producer Carla Pennington “categorically” denied every allegation made in the story, with an attorney for Pennington calling the investigation a “click-bait story” and “a work of fiction.”