Judge Judy’s longtime bailiff Petri Hawkins-Byrd is speaking out on the TV judge’s new hairstyle and which look he thinks is more “Judy’cial.”
More than a week after the Judge Judy fandom was rattled after Judy Sheindlin debuted a brand new look on her daytime courtoom TV show, swapping out her iconic look of a brown hair with caramel highlights styled into a short bob in favor of a ponytail, the world is hearing from her trusty bailiff Hawkins-Byrd for the first time.
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Taking to Instagram on Wednesday with before and after shots of Sheindlin, Hawkins-Byrd added his voice to the heated debate.
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“Alright, alright! I tried to stay out of this, y’all won’t let me!” Byrd wrote in the caption. “I prefer my boss with the old ‘do’ (left). More sophisticated and ‘Judy’cial.
“Just my opinion, not law!” Hawkins-Byrd added, urging fans to sound off with their own opinions in the comments.
Fans were eager to do just that, the comments section quickly filling with dozens of posts from fans still shook over the stark contrast in Sheindlin’s new look, which marked her first time changing her hair in more than 20 years.
“I think once it grows out a little more, and she can add some weave in, she’s gonna have fun with it,” one person wrote. “Go with the flow Judge Judy while you still can, most women at a particular age aren’t lucky enough to have all their own hair still, clearly that’s not you.”
“She looks so much older with the new hairdo,” another person voiced their opinion.
“Absolutely hate the ponytail,” added a third. “Not becoming at all.”
Ever since Sheindlin debuted the new look during the Monday, April 22 episode of Judge Judy, social media has been flooded with back and forth debate regarding whether the new ‘do suits the TV judge.
Although fans can’t seem to agree on which hairstyle is more “Judy’cial,” as Hawkins-Byrd put it, that hasn’t swayed Sheindlin from rocking the new look while out and about.
Along with keep the slicked back ‘do, which has reminded many of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s iconic ponytail, on her this week’s episodes of Judge Judy, Sheindlin also sported the ponytail when attending Hofstra University’s “Outstanding Women in Law” reception to receive a Presidential Medal and Lifetime Achievement Award.
