‘Judge Judy’ Producer Allegedly Made Racist, Sexual Comments Including Pig Noises About Litigants

One of the executive producers on Judge Judy, Randy Douthit, has been accused of creating a toxic work environment with his use of negative racial and sexual comments by other co-workers in former court documents. Business Insider reports former workers claim Douthit would make crude and offensive remarks about the female litigants’ breasts while in the control room, even going as far as to publicly debate if they were “too ugly” or “too fat” in certain conversations. According to a lawsuit filed by former segment producer named Shawn Griggs in 2001, Douthit allegedly made pig or cow noises at guests he deemed to be unattractive, referred to a Black women guest as a “ho,” and said he wanted to “get” with litigants he found attractive. 

Douthit denied the claims in court filings, telling a judge that he didn’t call a Black litigant a “ho,” but he “hopes” he didn’t make any rude comments while working in the control room with other coworkers. The case was ultimately dismissed by a judge on a summary judgment notion. Douthit’s lawyer called the claims “completely false” after the ruling. 

Upon investigation, the outlet discovered several other claims of misconduct from other co-workers as well as some documents with Douthit’s producer notes, in which he referred to litigants (who most often lived with limited means) as “gross” and “low rent.” “He’d make comments about their weight, he’d make comments about their teeth… or if they were disabled,” Kurstin Haynes, a former producer who left the show in 2021 told the outlet. 

“He definitely didn’t talk about them like they were people, it was like they were subhuman,”  another former associate producer shared. 

Douthit’s lawyer, again, denied the claims. “Mr. Douthit has always fostered a supportive, productive, safe and inclusive work environment for everyone involved in the show. It is apparent that Insider is relying largely, if not entirely, upon questionable uncorroborated sources, disgruntled former employees, and unfounded allegations, the vast majority of which date back fifteen to twenty years, to paint a false narrative regarding Mr. Douthit and the show,” the attorney told Insider in a statement. 

Though, the story just doesn’t add up with the stories coming from his former coworkers. Multiple former employees say Douthit had a specific obsession with the litigants’ teeth when considering them for the show. “There were many times people would show up without teeth and it was a nightmare, since you’d get in big trouble if that happened,” the associate producer said. “[Douthit] would be like, ‘Who is this disgusting person?’”