Shelley Duvall Slams Dr. Phil Years After Her Disturbing Appearance on His Show

Shelley Duvall is opening up about her negative experience with Dr. Phil McGraw on his talk show in 2016 after the disturbing interview made headlines for what appeared to be The Shining actress’s fragile mental state. In a new profile for The Hollywood Reporter, Duvall herself speaks out about the TV segment met widely with condemnation for the Dr. Phil host.

Growing distressed at the mention of Dr. Phil’s name, the 71-year-old Duvall told THR, “I found out the kind of person he is the hard way.” Explaining that her mother and longtime friend Dan Gilroy both told her after the interview that it was a mistake to go on the show, Duvall claims Dr. Phil continued to call her mother despite the backlash from the initial segment. “He started calling my mother. She told him, ‘Don’t call my daughter anymore.’ But he started calling my mother all the time trying to get her to let me talk to him again,” the Popeye actress continued.

During the 2016 interview, Duvall told Dr. Phil she believed her late Popeye co-star Robin Williams had not died, but instead become a shapeshifter, and said she had been threatened by the fictional Robin Hood character, the Sheriff of Nottingham. “I am very sick. I need help,” she told Dr. Phil.

After the interview, the daughter of the late Shining director, Stanley Kubrick, called for a boycott of the episode, condemning Dr. Phil for interviewing her while she was “suffering from a pitiable state of ill health.” Vivian Kubrick wrote in a statement at the time, “Unquestionably, this is purely a form of lurid and exploitative entertainment – it’s appallingly cruel. Shelley Duvall was a movie star … whatever dignity a mere unfortunate creature might have in this world, is denied her by your displaying her in this way.”

In the new Hollywood Reporter profile, a spokesperson for the show said in a statement: “We view every Dr. Phil episode, including Miss Duvall and her struggle with mental illness, as an opportunity to share relatable, useful information and perspective with our audiences. We don’t attach the stigma associated with mental illness, which many do. With no one else offering help, our goal was to document the struggle and bring amazing resources to change her trajectory as we have for so many over 19 years.”

“Unfortunately, she declined our initial offer for inpatient treatment that would have included full physical and mental evaluations, giving her a chance to privately manage her challenges,” the statement continued. “After many months of follow-up, in collaboration with her mother, she ultimately refused assistance. We were, of course, very disappointed, but those offers for help remain open today.”