‘Dr. Phil Show’ Is Allegedly Just Like Ellen DeGeneres; Accused of Toxic Workplace!

The “Dr. Phil Show” is getting the 2020 Ellen DeGeneres treatment by former and current employees.

Phil McGraw rose to fame in the 1990s after appearing on Oprah Winfrey’s talk-show.

His show, which is aimed at helping people with mental health issues, family troubles and improving the quality of life, is now under fire for harvesting a TOXIC workplace environment.

Buzzfeed News reported on Thursday, February 10, that several former and current employees have been mentally and emotionally scarred from working on the day-time talk show.

“Dr. Phil Show” Accused Of Being Toxic Workplace

The outlet reports, “a dozen current and former employees say they experienced verbal abuse in a workplace that fosters fear, intimidation, and racism.”

Several of the employees also claim the guests brought onto the “Dr. Phil Show” are “manipulated and treated unethically” with no regard to their vulnerable state.

Per BF’s report, 11 of the anonymous employees suffer from mental health issues.

“I would have nightmares. I would literally be working. In my sleep and have nightmares about something wrong or not turning in something the right way,” one former employee explained. “Even when I quit, I had to go to therapy for it, which is crazy because you’re working for a therapist.”

This employee said the only time they had to relax and exhale was during the summer hiatus, but the anxiety and fear would creep in as it got closer to going back to work.

Employees Had To Get Therapy After Working On The Show

Another former employee explained that everyone was “just pretty miserable.”

“You would walk into the building and there was just a palpable dread and anxiety. Dr Phil – the show about mental health where everybody who works on it has terrible mental. Health because our work conditions were really bad,” they claimed.

It is worth noting that none of the current and former employees of the “Dr. Phil Show” saw McGraw himself exude toxic or abusive behavior in the workplace.

 

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He might’ve not even been privy to what was happening behind the scenes and the lead up to taping.

Adding more salt to this open wound, two current and 10 former employees working on the show told Buzzfeed it was commonplace to be “screamed at and berated by executive producer Carla Pennington and other senior-level-staffers.”

Alleged Racism & Mental Abuse Were Commonplace

Seven employees explained they were encouraged to perpetuate racist stereotypes onscreen, while two others alleged they experienced racism first-hand behind the scenes.

The allegations of toxic workplace get even heavier with one former employee saying they were instructed to withhold prescribed medications from a guest on the show.

“We were specifically instructed, ‘Make sure that she doesn’t take her medication before she goes onstage,’ because they wanted her to look unstable and quote-unquote, ‘crazy,’ for lack of a better term,” the employee said. “She did take the medication because no one got there in time and I remember thinking, ‘My God, I don’t want to be the one to tell them or dissuade them from that.’ And that’s all for the sake of TV. Obviously, this girl should be on her medication and that’s what we’re trying to get her help for, but for the sake of TV they wanted her to look off the rails.”

McGraw and Pennington’s attorneys categorically denied every allegation made in Buzzfeed’s story.

You may recall, “The Ellen Show” was also accused of fostering gross toxicity in the workplace back in 2020.

Throughout 2020, there were an overwhelming amount of reports and claims regarding the REAL workplace culture behind the “Be Kind” slogans that “The Ellen Show” once seemed to represent.

Current and former employees have came forward to share their unpleasant experiences while working on the set and behind the scenes of the popular daytime talk show, including YouTuber NikkiTutorials, who was even once a guest on the show.

Things seemed to escalate in April 2020 when many employees detailed the treatment they received, or rather DIDN’T receive, amid the coronavirus lockdown.

Ellen Had Her Own Toxic Workplace Scandal In 2020

Employees were left in the dark regarding paid leave, given pay cuts and even questioned job status as the show brought on an external production company to shoot from Ellen’s own home.

One former employee told Buzzfeed, “That ‘be kind’ bulls**t only happens when the cameras are on. It’s all for show. I know they give money to people and help them out, but it’s for show.”

These reports generated the “toxic work environment” scandal that involved Ellen DeGeneres, the “Ellen Show” and her top producers!