Jerry Springer Used Talk Show to Hookup With Strippers and Adult Film Stars, Former Staffers Allege

The show that made Jerry Springer a household name was famously sleazy and now a former Jerry Springer Show staffer is accusing Springer of using the show to arrange hookups with strippers and adult film stars. Springer left the long-running show behind last year and returned this fall as a TV judge. The former staffer is accusing Springer of being "morally bankrupt."

"Jerry Springer is morally bankrupt. Producing his show in the late '90s was only a small part of our job," the staffer claimed to Radar Online. "Our real job was to get pretty girls, strippers and porn stars for Jerry to sleep with."

The staffer went on to claim that "most of the guests" on the show "were fake," adding, "The people making the show knew it - and didn't care."

Springer, 75, launched The Jerry Springer Show in 1991, and it became famous for the outrageous guests and its sensationalism. Most guests were average people, with stories centering on adultery, prostitution and other controversial situations that built up to on-stage confrontations. The series was canceled in July 2018 after 27 years on the air. However, Springer quickly returned to TV this month with Judge Jerry, in which Springer rules on small claims court cases.

Offscreen, Springer's relationship with wife Micki Velton has been marred by controversies. They married in 1973, but a year later, it was discovered he was writing checks to prostitutes while a member of the Cincinnati City Council and resigned. However, in 1977, he was chosen to serve as Cincinnati mayor for a year. He left politics for good after losing the Democratic nomination for Ohio governor in 1982, although he toyed with U.S. Senate runs in 2000 and 2004.

Springer and Velton split in 1990 and finalized their divorce in 1994. In 1998, he was caught on tape with an adult film star and her stepmother.

"Jerry has abused his power and celebrity for years to take advantage of people," Radar Online's source alleged. "Is that the sort of person you want to stand in front of in a TV courtroom?"

While Radar's source claims some stories on The Jerry Springer Show were fake, Springer told TV Line that all cases on Judge Jerry are real.

"The people that file them all around the country, in all 50 states, have no idea they're going to wind up on television," Springer explained. "Out of the blue they get a call, 'Would you like to have your case adjudicated on national television,' with me as a host? And that is a shock to them. Obviously, we pick out the most interesting cases, but it's not a food fight. People dress as if they're really going to court, because it really is a court."

Springer did not comment on Radar Online's report.

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